Central Texas woman continues ‘Dress a Day in May’ movement to help empower other women

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Central Texas woman is wearing a dress a day in May for the 14th year in a row.

Autumn Outlaw started the movement in May of 2011 with just a handful of friends and now hundreds from around the country have joined her.

The idea is to help women have a place to wear dresses that hang in their closets and in the process empower them by boosting their confidence.

“Over the last 14 years, it’s grown to where we have a Facebook group of about 400 women who participate,” Autumn said.

The women all take pictures wearing their dresses each day and post them online. The group has a blog, Facebook and Instagram page.

Outlaw says it’s been fun to create a community of women from not only Waco but all across the United States.

“I have friends who have joined in for a year and then they’ll take a couple of years off and then join back in,” she said.

Seven years ago, Autumn added to her mission by only wearing dresses purchased from The Clothesline, a shop with gently-worn women’s clothing and accessories. Proceeds from that store benefit Mission Waco, a nonprofit that helps the poor and marginalized in Central Texas.

“I decided after a couple of years of wearing a dress each day and sharing pictures that I really wanted to have a mission behind what I was doing,” Autumn said.

Autumn said she looks forward to “Dress A Day In May” year-round and is thankful for the community it’s created.

“It’s really been fun to see this movement grow and empower women to dress up, just for no reason just because they want to,” she said.

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