Dahven

Thrift By Numbers began as a Hundred Day Project among friends. The Hundred Day Project is a commitment to do an act of creativity every day for a hundred days within the context of a bigger or ongoing project. Dahven set out to create 100 fun recycled outfits exclusively from clothes thrifted by the pound, but soon realized she could create outfits with meaning. Fashion, like other visual arts, is a form of communication and self-expression. People may be saying, "I can afford designer clothes and I want people to know it," or "I think fashion is a waste of time and money," or "Take me seriously, I am a professional," or "I refuse to conform to your bourgeois expectations." Dahven's outfits may be saying, "Remember Iwo Jima" or "Let's cure hemophilia." 

Dahven works back and forth between the clothes she finds by chance at the Goodwill Outlet for $2 per pound and the list of National Days -- to interpret both silly and important causes through clothing, like Bubblegum Day and Torture Abolition Day. Each day of the year has been assigned roughly 5-15 cause celebres. Try looking at the list of National Days for each day and guessing which one the outfit best captures. Look first to the clothing, then to the posture, gestures, and props. Alternative interpretations encouraged!