Yes, Reese Witherspoon’s latest TV character — Elena Richardson in
Little Fires Everywhere — is most definitely a shady lady. But it really doesn’t seem as though the actor and her clothing company, Draper James, were trying to pull off some kind of underhanded, Elena-like scheme when they launched a contest for teachers to score a free Draper James dress.The Nashville-based brand, whose Southern living-inspired frocks go for around $80 to $175 USD each, announced early this month that they would be giving away a collection of dresses for hard-working teachers whose jobs had been affected by COVID-19. The company claimed that the offer was a gesture of appreciation for all the hard work that teachers do.[video_embed id='1552349']BEFORE YOU GO: Reese Witherspoon told her daughter she's bad at basketball[/video_embed]Cue: a mad rush to claim one of the free dresses. A report by the
New York Times says that the small company of only 30 employees received — wait for it — ONE MILLION contest applications. “The application form crashed almost immediately,” writes the
Times, “Just days after the original Instagram post appeared, it had been viewed more than 400,000 times. Teachers were emailing one another and sharing it online. By the close of the application period, Draper James had almost one million applications — which was approximately seven times the total number of dresses they had sold in 2019.”Oops.
And while the original Instagram post did state that the contest would only remain open while supplies lasted, Draper James *might* have been better off stating the number of dresses that they were willing to give away.As a kind of mea culpa for the fashion flub, a gracious Witherspoon has written a cheque to an organization supporting students teachers across the US with funds to purchase school supplies and meals. “The donation from Reese and Draper James will support all of our highest-need teachers in New Orleans, Atlanta and Nashville, and many more throughout the country,”
said a rep from the non-profit DonorsChoose. Faux pas: fixed.[video_embed id='1939706']BEFORE YOU GO: Father-daughter dance duo puts out another classic with an unexpected ending[/video_embed]
