Highlights-
- Dress bank distributes once-worn wedding attire to the needy for free.
- The bridal outfits are donated by privileged families to women of limited means.
- Dresses for all wedding customs of different religions and castes are available here.
Wedding, the most important occasion of one’s life. All girls fantasise about wearing the most beautiful dress on their wedding day. Every bride wants to look special on their most auspicious day. Be it a lehenga or a gown, everyone desires to have the best bridal outfit. However, not every bride is fortunate enough to be able to fulfill her desire of wearing heavy and beautiful wedding attire. To accomplish the dreams of such underprivileged families, the Kerala man has come up with his unique initiative- ‘Dress Bank’. This one-of-a-kind initiative provides once-worn wedding outfits donated by wealthy families to women with low financial means.
How does it start?
Nasar Thootha, the founder of the dress bank is a native of Malappuram, Kerala. Nasar began the ‘Dress Bank project’ in March 2020. He was moved by the plight of several poor families who couldn’t afford expensive bridal outfits. Weddings are already quite expensive and such families don’t have extra money for those grand outfits. This prompted him to come up with the brilliant idea of a dress bank.
Last year, Nasar began requesting people to donate their idle wedding dresses to the cause via WhatsApp and Facebook. As word spread, a trickle quickly turned into a flood, and dozens of bulky packets containing as-new dresses began appearing on his doorstep, many anonymously.
“We were able to collect the dresses from various locations with the help of different charity organizations and our friends. After dry-cleaning these outfits, we began distributing them to poor families in neighboring regions as needed.” Nasar Thootha, Founder of Dress Bank
Not all angels have wings
Nasar has become an angel for several brides by providing free wedding outfits to needy families. This one-of-a-kind charity model distributes once-worn wedding attire – saris, ankle-length skirts, and dresses – donated by privileged families to women of limited means. The store has dresses for all wedding customs of different religions and castes. To date, the bank has provided free wedding attire to more than 260 underprivileged brides.
All about vanity
“It’s all about vanity when it comes to wedding attire.” They are worn for a few hours before being returned to the cupboards. As a result of this realization, many families came forward to support our cause.” Nasar Thootha.
He further said, “The bride and her parents can go directly to the Dress Bank and choose the dress item that they require, regardless of the cost of the item. We never ask them to return the dress after they have worn it.”
