The Thrifty Six Celebrate Absurdity Day

It was my turn to choose this month’s Thrifty Six theme and when I realized that our scheduled post date fell on National Absurdity Day, I jumped on the opportunity to share some of our most absurd thrifted finds. The Absurdist Movement began in the post-World War II era when nuclear bombs and concentration camps were tremendous clouds of darkness still hanging over humanity. In connection with existential and nihilistic philosophies, absurdists believe that while human tragedies may have some undisclosed meaning, we will likely never know what that meaning is. Therefore, they choose to construct absurd meanings for things that happen and things that humans do. Human nature is surely the most absurd I have ever witnessed!

National Absurdity Day has become a day to celebrate all things absurd. If philosophical discussions about absurdity are not really your thing, then you can celebrate this silly holiday just by being absurd yourself for a day. I don’t know how many people actually celebrate this weird holiday, but there are many things you can do to honor the ridiculous. You can dress up in a whacky outfit, make an interesting meal of odd food combinations, read a funny book, play a stupid game, or watch an insane movie. And if you are really in a celebratory mood, you could throw an Absurdity Day party! But not many people will attend a party on a random November Monday. Instead, we are having a little blog party to celebrate the absurd. Y’all are invited to join us!

For Absurdity Day, the Thrifty Six challenge was to style something preloved that falls into the category of the absurd. According to Merriam-Webster, the word absurd means “ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, or incongruous; extremely silly or ridiculous; having no rational or orderly relationship to human life; meaningless; lacking order or value.”

The word stresses a lack of logical sense or harmonious agreement, implying a collection of things that simply do not fit together. Synonyms for absurd include words like bizarre, insane, ridiculous, nonsensical, incredible, odd, eccentric, quirky, weird, crazy, strange, preposterous, fantastical, peculiar, whacky, kooky, wild, ludicrous, and outlandish. All words that have been used to describe me and my personal style at some point in time over the last four plus decades that I have been dressing myself in absurd ways.

I know this particular outfit does not appear nearly as absurd and ridiculous as some of my more colorful outfits over the years. For example, check out this whacky outfit that I shared for Absurdity Day 2020. But I really wanted/needed to style this weird gray turtleneck sweater thingy that has no bodice. I think it fits the Merriam-Webster definition of absurd perfectly. This garment really has no rational or sound relationship to human life or human needs. There are so many other garments in the world of fashion and textiles that would serve me better in keeping my neck and arms warm. Like a scarf or perhaps an actual sweater with a body! I don’t even know what you call this thing. Jodie suggested that it perhaps is a shrug but I thought shrugs at least covered your bosom area. But I could absolutely be incorrect in my interpretation.

When I purchased this piece last year, I was drawn to its uniqueness but baffled on how to wear the thing. I bought it because I was intrigued and then it sat in a drawer for over a year until now. At first, I pictured it layered on top of a sleeveless maxi dress. I thought it would be a brilliant way to transition summer sundresses into the cooler seasons. Ha. I was so wrong!

I first tried it with this preloved white sundress and quickly realized there is no body coverage under the arms or over the back so I was freezing! And it looked pretty stupid over that dress, too. Actually, that might have worked better for this absurdity theme. But really, it was beyond absurd and crossed the line into the category of the hideous and awful!

Back to the closet I went to find a different preloved dress to wear with this whacky turtleneck thingy. I ultimately settled on this preloved Zara dress that I shared in a previous Thrifty Six post last year featuring Autumn Outerwear. Actually, I think I may have purchased this dress on the same thrifting adventure that I purchased the shrug thing. I was much warmer and it looked much better with the long sleeved dress. Finally, I accessorized with my brown thrifted cowgirl boots, a preloved wooden zebra necklace, an old black floppy felt hat, wooden earrings, and my very special Shelbee Mala from Zen Spirit Malas.

Again, I didn’t feel like this outfit was as absurd as some of my other more colorful ensembles, but I really liked the end result. I felt very much in tune with my bohemian soul wearing this mostly thrifted concoction of unique and interesting things.

Now let’s check out how my thrifty friends are celebrating and styling the absurd.

The Thrifty Six is a group of international fashion influencers who meet once a month in our little space on the internet to share our thrifty outfits. On the third Monday of every month, we will all share an outfit based on a theme that features preloved wardrobe pieces. Shopping and reselling preloved clothing is so much better for the environment and you can find some of the best fashions in thrift or charity shops. The Thrifty Six are here to inspire you to shop second hand! 

The Thrifters:

• Emma of Style Splash
• Grace of Graceful Rags
• Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade
• Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style
• Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style
• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Emma of Style Splash

Grace of Graceful Rags

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style

Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style

And Me!

How will you celebrate the absurd today?

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Dress and Sweater Thingy-Thrifted (Zara) / Boots-Thrifted (Dan Post) / Hat-Kohl’s / Earrings-Cato / Zebra Necklace-Thrifted / Mala Beads-Zen Spirit Malas