Here are some websites that are using fashion in a positive manner to help out others around the world. They are using something that as ubiquitous as fashion to help a cause that they are passionate about. Please help support them! (:
- The Uniform Project - All credits go to Grace Park for showing me this website! This website was started by Sheena Matheiken who is trying to raise awareness for the Akanksha Foundation, which collects money to provide slum children in India with an adequate education. She wears one simple, black "uniform" dress, to symbolize the uniforms that children are required to wear in India, like she once had to. She realized how children would try to make uniforms their own, by adding in accessories and other pieces to make their uniforms unique. In essence, she is doing that as well. Every day, for a year, starting in May 2009, she will wear the same black dress [although she has 7 of them, one for each day of the week], the only thing changing is how she accessorizes it and styles it to fit different styles. It's incredibly impressive. Every day, she also donates $1 to the fund she is raising and encourages us to help donate as well [she has raised $4458 so far]. Here are some of my favorite looks [she comes up with some ingenius outfits!].
This is the dress in its simplest forms. 
- TOMS Shoes - The first time I heard about this project was in 7th period psychology. My teacher, who is the NHS sponsor, asked us all how interested we would be in decorating our own shoes. Being the artsy-craftsy person that I am [as you can tell by my T-shirt fundraiser], I was extremely up for it. However, conflicts came up [AKA, after school marching rehearsals] and I wasn't able to make the meeting where we could pay for a white canvas shoe and decorate it for ourselves. Okay, let's put my artistic endeavors aside. The real important subject is the movement behind TOMS Shoes, started by Blake Mycoskie. For every pair of shoes that WE as customers buy, they will donate one pair of shoes to a child in need. A simple idea for a great cause. More than 140,000 shoes have been bought, and in 2009, TOMS Shoes donated 300,000 pairs of shoes. If you're not incredibly artistic, you can buy a pair of shoes from their online store, but if you're into arts and crafts like me, you should definitely look into buying a pair and going all out! Actually, even if you're not artistic, I would still recommend buying the white canvas shoes, because let's face it-- how cool is it to design your own shoes!! I will admit, they are a bit pricey, but just remember the cause behind it. Right now, I have my NHS sponsor's pair of white canvas shoes sitting on my shelf that I was supposed to decorate for her over the summer. I'll upload a picture when I finish [... or start...]!
Shake the World - For all my friends who already know about this, they will all know that I am just shamefully advertising for myself. But hear me out. Approximately one year ago, I started this T-shirt making "business." The proceeds are intended to go to help the aftermath of the disastrous earthquakes of Sichuan, China. But these T-shirts aren't your everyday ordinary screenprinted T's. They're unique. Every single one of them is hand-drawn, using fabric paint and plain T-shirts. The customer [YOU!] can simply request whatever they wish and I will make it for you, to the best of my ability. The charge is $10 and goes towards a fund saved up to donate to the Red Cross. [Btw, now I make tote bags too, for $15!] I was at first intending to take out supply costs but realized it is impractical right now unless I earn more so my parents have gladly helped me pay for all the supplies. So far, I have earned $435! But my goal is $1000. So please help me by spreading this around to your friends as well. Some examples of my previous work:
Okay, honestly, these are the only three I have right now. I just really wanted to share the Uniform Project. I promise I will add more later as I find them.
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