Spanx founder, Sara Blakely helps brides affected by Covid-19 by lending out her wedding gown

The billionaire, Spanx founder, personally wore her stunning wedding dress in 2008 when she married the love of her life, Jesse Itzler. But she wasn’t the first one to wear this dress for her nuptials. The dress, itself, is a family heirloom and was first worn by Blakely’s grandmother in 1918. But she wore another dress at her wedding that had a strapless lacy belted top-half and tulle tea-length skirt. This is the dress that she will be lending out, not her grandma’s vintage dress.

But, since the coronavirus pandemic is changing every aspect of our lives, which includes stores that are not considered to be an essential service have had to temporarily close their doors. Sadly, for thousands of brides to be, across the United States, that means they “won’t be saying yes to a dress,” as wedding dress stores are not considered to be an essential service.

But Sara Blakely helps brides by offering them the chance to borrow her wedding gown. The only glitch is you have to be either a size 4 or 6.

Organizing a wedding under normal circumstances can be extremely stressful, but to do so amidst a global pandemic, it can seem almost impossible. When the virus COVID-19 started making itself at home in our country, that is when Blakley started brainstorming, asking herself what she could do to personally help and how could she use her social networking to help others.

Her goal was to create a feel-good post on her Instagram account that would make people feel good and cared about in time with so-much uncertainty. Plus, she wanted to do something that would create a domino effect, with other women reaching out to help each other. That is when she came up with the idea of loaning out her wedding dress.

 

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Calling all brides to be… do you want to borrow my wedding dress from me? I have already loaned it out twice… once to a good friend and once to a girl I just met. (Swipe to see the dress x 3)! My good friend @JulieDGruber was having a hard time finding a wedding dress so one day I said, “just wear mine.” And she did! Another time I was hiking in Sun Valley and met a lovely woman on the trail, @NatalyDawn. She was newly engaged. Not sure what made me say it, but I said, “I know we just met, and this may sound strange but you can borrow my wedding dress if you want to.” As soon as I said it I thought… well that was a strange thing to say. She looked shocked and as politely as she could said she was looking forward to shopping for a dress with her mom etc. but thank you. We exchanged emails and I found out she was the lead singer of a cool band @pomplamoosemusic. Anyway… fast forward almost a year and I get a call from her. Her dress had been altered and they ruined the dress. It didn’t fit her at all. The wedding was in a few days and could she still take me up on my offer? Of course! She got it the day before her wedding and it fit perfectly! (Reminding me to never second guess that voice inside. I was meant to offer her my dress just didn’t know why at the time.) My heart is breaking for all the brides out their having to cancel and postpone their special day so I thought why not offer my dress to more amazing women! Hoping this will possibly help ease someone’s plans during this time. So if you’re a size 4 or 6 and want to borrow my wedding dress, comment below. Please tag anyone and everyone who needs to see this and feel free to share it! #LoveWins #TBT #Wedding #Bride #WeddingDress #Giveaway

Una publicación compartida por Sara Blakely (@sarablakely) el 19 de Mar de 2020 a las 5:29 PDT

However, this isn’t the first time the Spanx founder has lent out her wedding dress. The 49-year old billionaire first let a close friend in 2010 wear her wedding dress, who was having a hard time finding an affordable wedding dress that she liked. Then in 2016, she lent her gorgeous gown out to a complete stranger that she met briefly on a hiking trail in Sun Valley. The bride-to-be’s dress had been ruined by a bad seamstress, so Blakley came to the rescue by lending her a second wedding gown.

Across the country, engaged couples are having to cancel their wedding plans because new regulations about large gatherings and having to share their special day via zoom or skype with loved ones. Honeymoons, dream wedding cakes, etc. are having to be cancelled but there is no reason to cancel the wedding dress!

Since Blakely’s Instagram post, more than 30 women have reached out to her to borrow her wedding dress. But more than 72 followers have stated that they are willing to follow suit by lending brides-to-be their cherished wedding dresses. Seems like the Spanx founder’s post had the feel-good domino effect that she desired.

But that isn’t the only contribution the billionaire shapewear founder is doing to help. They have been feeding ER staff at local hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia for the last three weeks, by ordering food from local restaurants, which at the same time supporting local businesses.