Following her painful divorce, a Texas woman made quite the scene in a bid for a fresh start.
Brianna Barksdale recently held a "divorce garage sale" to rid her home of all the items that reminded her of her former spouse, including her wedding dress.
While most women would either donate or sell their white gowns, Barksdale decided to set hers on fire, in a display that'll likely be burned in the memories of the unsuspecting shoppers forever.
"This is for every woman who has ever been in a relationship that was abusive, that hurt, that they shouldn't have stayed in, that they didn't know how to get out of," Barksdale told KPRC.
While Barksdale's divorce was finalized on January 31, she said she still needed closure from her tumultuous marriage.
Barksdale said while her ex-husband was both a cheater and abusive, it took incredible strength to leave her marriage.
"It was a really rough situation; it was a bad situation. There are still criminal charges pending so I can't talk about a lot of it, but yeah, not a great guy," she said.
According to court records, Barksdale's ex-husband was sentenced to seven years of probation and an undisclosed amount of community service after pleading guilty to assault of a family member. During the pair's divorce proceedings, she was awarded with everything.
But with a house full of excessive clutter, she decided to make a quick buck from her terrible memories.
"I ended up with pretty much everything and so I'm just getting rid of all of the stuff that was ours and going on with mine," Barksdale said.
Before Barksdale burned her wedding dress, she let people sign it with sharpies, several who left supportive messages marked with profanity.
While some individuals may think Barksdale participated in a pyromaniac act, others said it seemed to be entirely therapeutic.
"I think it's a good release for her and I think that she needs it to get over everything that's she been through," yard sale customer Christina Heck said.
Would you burn your wedding dress if you got divorced?
