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Almost exactly one year ago, Sheena Matheiken vowed to wear the same dress (plus donated and thrifted accessories) for 365 days to raise funds for the Akanksha Foundation, which benefits the education of underprivileged children in India. She's just nine days away from completing The Uniform Project, and we caught up with her to see what she's learned on her incredible journey.
As of press time, The Uniform Project had raised an incredible $71,158, allowing 197 children who would otherwise be unable to receive an education (read all about the project's mission here). And Sheena had turned one simple black cotton dress, designed by a friend of hers, into an impressive experiment in personal style and eco-friendliness. Check out this incredibly inspiring "picture book" that catalogs each of Sheena's original outfits over the past almost-year:
Uniform Project Picture Book from The Uniform Project on Vimeo.
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We rang up Sheena earlier this afternoon to find out what she's learned from her project!
STF: Can you believe a year has gone by since you started this project? Did it go quickly for you?SM: No, it did not feel like it went by quickly at all! So much has happened, it's been an overdose of all kinds of experiences. I'm actually really looking forward to finishing it!
STF: Will you miss the dress on May 2, when you wake up and don't have to wear it for the first time in a year?
SM: I don't know, I mean the dressing up part for me was almost like, it's become so subliminal at this point. The dress is sort of part of my skin, and I don't really think twice about getting ready. Which is kind of ironic, because that's what the project is about.
STF: How did it effect your personal style and the way you get dressed?
SM: The act of dressing up completely changed the way I dress. I don't give it too much thought anymore--I just throw something together and that's that, which is kind of nice. I'm personally curious about what I'll wear when this is over. I don't have any plans, I'll just figure something out come May 1. But I'm curious to see how it changes my personal style. Through the year, I've really sort of channeled so many characters and personalities through these dailies, its not necessarily me, so, I wonder what I'll put on when I don't have to do this anymore.
STF: Did you exceed your expectations with donations and how many children you were able to send to school through the Akanksha Foundation?
SM: I definitely think it's way over what I ever imagined. I'm incredibly grateful and very thrilled about that. When I went to India, that was really the most profound part of this journey for me--going to the Akanksha schools and meeting the staff and going into the slums and meeting the kids and parents, that was really rewarding and fulfilling, to see what we were doing this for. The kids were excited to meet me, and they'd made hand-painted shoes and bangles for me to wear, and I got to sit through some of their classes. They're just so thirsty to learn, because they know what a privilege it is, and they would never have had a chance to get an education.
STF: What are you going to miss most about this project?
SM: I'll definitely miss all of the engagement we've had, and the awesome following and community we've built. Having the daily interaction with people who comment so passionately on the site, I'll miss that.
STF: So, what can we expect from you next? A Uniform Project book? A documentary?
SM: We're really focused on what we want to do next. We have a really good following of people who liked the mission and the cause, and I feel like the platform of what we started can become larger. We're working on phase two. I'm entertaining book deals, we have a few offers but we're looking for the right publisher, because its a very specific kind of book. As far as the philanthropic leg goes, education is the closest mission to my heart, so whatever we do, we want to the charity leg to be enabling, to have a self-sustaining mission to it.
Congratulations, Sheena, you're in the home stretch! To make a donation in the Uniform Project's last days, log onto their website now, then tell us...were you inspired by this incredible story? We sure as heck were!
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