THE MONTHLY DRESS TOUR, DAY 4: MY FAVORITE MOMENTS, MY GOAL FOR THE TOUR, AND WHAT I LEARNED

The last day of The Monthly Dress Tour was just as magical as all of the others! It has been so amazing to reflect back on the tour and all of the wonderful women I’ve had the opportunity to meet. Today I wanted to share some of my very favorite moments from The Monthly Dress Tour.

NEEDLE AND THREAD DRESS C/O  (wearing a UK 6)

BADGLEY MISCHKA SHOES C/O

BLUSH VELVET HAIR CLIPS

SIMILAR KATE SPADE FLORAL EARRINGS

SOME OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS FROM THE TOUR

• One sweet mother and daughter talked with me at the beginning of the night, and stayed until the very end. The mother came back up to be and hugged me and said, “I wanted to hug you one last time, you have no idea what you have done for us.” The daughter messaged be later that night saying they had had a very difficult day and that the dress tour helped to cheer their spirits that night.
• One husband forgot to buy tickets for his wife and panicked when he saw it was sold out. He shot me a frantic DM and I opened up 2 slots for them so he could get tickets. He sent me a DM of him waking up his wife surprising her with the tickets and she started crying! They were so fun and so cute!
• One husband flew him and his wife to the tour from Pennsylvania.  He arranged for sitters for their kids, a hotel, places to eat, everything. He pretended it was for a work trip and she didn’t know they were actually there for The Monthly Dress Tour until she walked up to the doors and saw where they were! Makes me emotional just thinking about it!
• One sweet girl was in her mid-teens and told me how much she loves fashion and designing clothing but didn’t know if it was something she should pursue. I chatted with her a bit and encouraged her to continue working hard at it because she loved it. She had tears streaming down her face and thanked me for believing in her! Sometimes all we need it someone to tell us they believe in us!
• One cute aunt drove her 2 nieces from Arizona to come to the tour. They were the first ones waiting for the doors to open and were so cute having a blast on their girls trip!
• One woman came to one of the speaking nights and told me how her husband had just started law school and they had two small kids at home. I gave her a huge hug and thanked her for coming. I told her I knew exactly how much paying $50 for a ticket feels like at that point in life and how much it meant to me. She said her husband saw my segment on ABC and told her that she had to come here me speak. I loved how many supportive husbands there were!

< cute Cash came along the second night!>

• One adorable group of older women walked up to me and they looked so chic! They were all wearing fascinators and had incredible outfits on. I commented on how amazing they looked and they said, “we never get an excuse to dress up like this anymore and we are so happy you threw this tour so that we could dress up and feel beautiful for the night!”.
• One mom of three boys left them with her husband and flew to Pasadena from San Francisco for a fun little solo trip. She was so excited to see the dresses and it was her first time away from her kids. She said she felt rejuvenated and refreshed and I was so flattered and impressed that she decided she wanted to come and made it happen!
• I got to meet one of the sweetest readers in real life and it was such a treat. She talked to me about what she was going to wear at the tour and the dress she was most excited to see for weeks leading up to the tour. She was one of the first ones to arrive and brought a photobook of all of my dresses she had made for her coffee table that she wanted me to sign. She also had a section with all of Jills drawings and a spot for Jill to sign! She said “Everyone at my work knows how excited I was for this dress tour and I’m going to be talking about it all week long!” I loved getting to meet her in person and thank her for her kind words!
• I had a handful of really special moments with my team throughout this tour. We had worked so hard and so long to prep for this! In Utah I remember Jill walked in my dressing room right after getting her makeup done and I had just finished putting on my dress and we just stared at each other freaking out. We couldn’t believe it was actually happening!
• I mentioned on my instagram about how the tour was a little bittersweet for me because I had wished my dad were still alive to see it (he passed away from prostate cancer 12 years ago). One special thing we talked about before he passed was that he would send us a rainbow to let us know when he is thinking about us. Since his passing I have had some really special experiences seeing rainbows in the sky, or reflections from a mirror at significant times in my life. On the first night of the tour in Utah I had just finished with hair and makeup and I put on my dress and walked into the ballroom to see the final set up of all of my dresses before the night started. As I entered the ballroom the light hit the chandelier just right and there was a rainbow reflection along the floor as I entered the ballroom and I knew he was there with me!
• The other really special experience I had I was lucky enough to catch on film and shared it in this post. As a little girl my dad sang the song “Edleweiss” to me every night. He passed away from cancer 12 years ago, and I always sing this song to my boys at night and tell them it’s a lullaby from Grandpa Hafen. After the final guest had left and we wrapped up our very last night night of the tour, Garrett asked me to dance with him before we left the space. For some reason, my playlist I had playing ended at that exact moment, and Spotify just plays random songs when it’s over. We started dancing and the most beautiful version of Edleweiss started playing out of nowhere. Truly one of the closest times I’ve ever felt to my dad since he died. It was like he was there with me telling me how proud he was. A moment I’ll never forget.

MY GOAL OF THE MONTHLY DRESS TOUR

I had a few different goals going into this tour, but one of my main goals was to be able to connect face to face with women I’ve only chatted with over social media. I wanted to be able to hug these women and look them in the eye and thank them for all of the encouragement they have given me during The Monthly Dress Series.

My second goal for the tour was to inspire my guests to be creative. I wanted to show them that you don’t have to have the right degree, a big following, or tons of money to be able to create something that they are passionate about. I have seen how much joy creating dresses has brought me, and I want that same joy to be felt by others for diving into their own creative passion!

WHAT THE MONTHLY DRESS TOUR TAUGHT ME

I was absolutely floored at the number of women who came to the tour. This taught me most of all about how important human connection and tangible experiences are! Seeing something online and connecting online is amazing, but to be able to travel and experience it first hand is so powerful!

Women out there are craving creativity and femininity. My guests wanted a reason to dress up and feel beautiful and feminine. They also want to create. There are plenty of women out there who are just as passionate about their interests as I am about creating dresses, and I really hope this tour gave them a little nudge and the permission to express themselves creatively simply because of the joy that creating brings.

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