The cutting-edge fashion might be a bit too sharp for most of us. Yes, it's in vogue, according to some arcane authority, but the items that sometimes end up out there seem so unusual that they seem like they could be a practical joke. But no, this is “just fashion” and we evidently don’t understand it.

The “It’s Called FaSHEIN Sweaty” Facebook group gathers and shares the most bizarre, hilarious, and downright confusing fashion items. So scroll through, prepare your eyes, and be sure to upvote your favorites, however, you choose to define that, and be sure to comment your thoughts below.

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#1 Weird Fashion

Image credits: Deliah Poore

#2 I’ll Just Leave This Beauty Right Here

Image credits: Regeene Ho

#3 Not Sure If I Can Post Memes (Delete If Not Allowed), But Excuse Me?!

Image credits: Natasha Seila

As head-scratching as many of these items are, we are at least blessed to live in a world where we can pretty freely choose what to wear. In the past, many legal codes set out specific rules for who could wear what and at what times. These “sumptuary laws” set apart the rich and powerful from everyone else. Of course, it seems like an interesting question to know just how aggressively they are actually kept.

For example, in ancient Greece, “A free-born woman may not leave the city during the night unless she is planning to commit adultery and a husband may not wear a gold-studded ring or a cloak of Milesian fashion unless he is bent upon prostitution or adultery.” Both of these indicate that you could actually just break these rules if you were willing to forgo some degree of social acceptability.

#4 I Honestly Don’t Even Know What To Say…

Image credits: Alexandra Karnuth

#5 Found Another Interesting One

Image credits: Christy Wyrtzen

#6 Weird Fashion

Image credits: anon

Ancient China and Japan had similar laws, which also made sure to govern not just what one could wear, but even what sort of gravestone they might be able to have. This allowed rulers to feel special, as if palaces and power weren’t enough and it meant that often wealthy merchants couldn’t as easily flaunt their wealth, which was apparently quite annoying to aristocracy. Because evidently, wealth without the “right” blood was just not enough.

#7 These Seem Entirely Practical

Image credits: Rachael Blake

#8 I Am Absolutely Crying

Image credits: Haussy Kira

#9 Shein Your Days Are Numbered

Image credits: Fresh Trendz

In Medieval England, some of the sumptuary laws mostly existed to protect local industries. If people could not spend all their money on foreign items, they would spend it on English goods, keeping gold in the country and indirectly benefiting the crown which would get a portion of it as taxes. Certain items were even “mandated” as “English wear,” such as flat caps, in a particularly amusing instance of state-mandated fashion.

#10 Love It

Image credits: Cyrielle Viany

#11 Sheinsanity

Image credits: Crystal Collins

#12 I Found This Amusing Because It's Listed As Festival Ware, I Wouldn't Be Going With My Anxiety

Image credits: Christy Wyrtzen

And those who “escaped” to North America didn’t have it much better, despite the entire Atlantic ocean between them and the crown. The Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634 prohibited people under a certain level of wealth from wearing lace, silver or gold thread or buttons, cutwork, embroidery, hat bands, belts, ruffles, and capes, among other items. But in an act of early American rebelliousness, these laws were reportedly being defied pretty quickly.

#13 What?

Image credits: Amy Greenwell

#14 Moo

Image credits: Christy Wyrtzen

#15 I Was Just Looking For Pink Boots

Image credits: Savannah Paytash

When it comes to the considerably more contemporary items here and to fashion in general, it’s important to note that not everyone dresses for comfort or even to look good. Sociologists believe that, particularly among teenagers, people will dress to “signal” to others what group they are in. It’s not surprising that most subcultures, regions, and economic classes all have fashion “markers” that set them apart. Of course, generally, it’s nowhere near as ridiculous as anything here.

#16 Not Sure What To Say About This One Lol

Image credits: Jeanine Wilson

#17 While I Was Looking At Suit Combinations For A Friend’s Wedding

Image credits: Liz DUlisse

#18 Who Tf Can Even Wear These?? Someone With Hooves For Feet?? My Lord

Image credits: Stephanie Martin

One influencing factor may be that in 2023, fashion is a mish-mash of previous decades and modern innovations, all thrown together without a specific guiding philosophy. While this freedom may seem liberating and full of possibilities, the result tends to be design choices that confuse and amuse more than anything else. Similarly, some items try to quickly grab people's attention, on, say, TikTok to drive sales before it becomes clear that an item is downright terrible.

#19 First Post- Toast Bra. How Many Bras Equal A Loaf?

Image credits: Liz DUlisse

#20 Not Shein, But ????? Okay Balenciaga

Image credits: Kayde Ferguson

#21 Just: No

Image credits: Pietra Py Albers

Some point to a rising trend in anti-fashion, where people attempt to circumvent fashion norms on purpose. Add in the part of the population that has basically no fashion sense and the result is a lot of outfits that appear to resemble a workplace disaster in a textile mill. As trends now shift so quickly, it’s meaningless to try and keep up, so people just do what they like and, presumably, end up creating a demand for some of the monstrosities seen here.