Are You Wearing Red on February 5th? Support Heart Health Now!

Before you plan your wardrobe for Friday, remember that it's National Wear Red Day. Why should you don this cheery color less than 10 days before it's next big holiday (read: Valentine's Day)? On February 5, Americans are encouraged to wear red to show their support for women's heart disease awareness on what is now known as National Wear Red Day.

Charities, celebrities, everyday people, and even cities are getting into the spirit and helping out with the effort to raise awareness. Why is this such an important cause? According to The Heart Truth's website, "Although significant progress has been made in increasing awareness among women from 34 percent in 2000 to 69 percent in 2009 — most fail to make the connection between its risk factors and their personal risk of developing heart disease. In fact, heart disease kills one out of every four American women." Women may be taking great efforts to get regular mammograms and pap smears, but many women are still unaware of the risk that heart disease poses. It is still thought of by many as mainly a male issue.

This is the exact reason the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services intervened and established efforts like The Heart Truth — a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease, National Wear Red Day, and the Red Dress, which "was designed to build awareness that women are at risk for heart disease, and motivate them to take action to reduce their risk." Celebrities heeded the call and recognized the need to promote the cause. You've probably already seen images from the fashion shows the organization has held for the past few years. Celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Valerie Bertinelli, Susan Lucci, Paula Abdul, and Brittany Snow have all participated in the annual Red Dress fashion event.

During the Red Dress fashion event, which will take place this year on February 11 during New York's Fashion Week, The Heart Truth pairs some of today's hottest celebrities with custom-designed red dresses for a one-of-a-kind event. After the celebs walk the runway in the red dresses during the show, the dresses are then auctioned off through Clothes Off Our Back, with proceeds going to The Heart Truth. If you visit the Clothes Off Our Back site, you'll see that other celebrities are also joining in the fundraising effort by auctioning off dresses and jewelry they have worn to other events; for example, Christina Hendricks from Mad Men had donated her striking red dress from the SAG Awards to the cause.

Want to support The Heart Truth and buy a red dress of your own, but not interested in bidding on one of the celebrity dresses from the fashion show? Macy's and INC have teamed up to design a limited edition red dress to benefit the American Heart Association. Through the creation and sale of the dress, which will be available at select Macy's stores, the chain hopes to "bring even more exposure to the red dress symbol and awareness of heart disease, as we continue to fight this No. 1 killer of women," Neil Meltzer of the American Heart Association said. In addition to the Little Red Dress, any customer wearing red in a Macy's store (anything from red lipstick to the signature Red Dress pin to an entire red ensemble qualifies) will be given a special 20 percent discount in Macy's from February 3-7 as part of the Wear Red Sale Event.

Finally, on an even more national level in support of the event, entire cities are "going red" on the fifth to support women's heart health awareness. On GoRedForWomen.org's Flickr stream, you can see photos of cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Denver aglow in crimson in honor of Heart Health and the Red Dress campaign. NationalWear Red Day is truly one that can be "celebrated" with individual, celebrity, and city-wide efforts. We hope that you'll join in and find a striking red top (or a Red Dress) to wear on the fifth.

Photos: Backstage at the 2009 Red Dress Fashion Show courtesy of The Heart Truth; Logo courtesy of The Heart Truth