Harpercollins, Oops 20 Life Lessons From The Fiascoes That Shaped America [2006 Isbn0060780835]

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.) Graphic artist Harry Gordon used his paperdresses as wearable canvases, emblazoning them with cryptic images suchas an eye, a rocket taking off, or a Buddhist peace gesture.The novelty ofpaper as a haute couture material fascinated European designers such asCONVENIENCE ISN T ALWAYS ENOUGH 111Paco Rabanne, who probably found it easier to work with nonwoven fabricthan with the metal dresses that he had to use pliers and a blowtorch tocreate.Some of the elite, of course, still sneered. I am sure that the ele-gant rich, the tasteful tastemakers, will not throw away that kind of moneyon such wasteful nonsense, fashion designer Oleg Cassini wrote in a 1967newspaper column. Rather, you will notice attention seekers, theatricalsorts, and those who rush to latch on to the latest fad.But that was lost upon the housewives in Des Moines and WallaWalla.To the masses, paper dresses were something different an inven-tion that made the hippest fashion standard accessible to every would-befashion maven within driving distance of a supermarket.Before long,women s clubs in small towns and cities were holding their own paperdress balls albeit, usually without see-through attire.For less formalsoirees, Hallmark offered a complete party package paper cups, plates,and a matching dress for the hostess.The paper industry, meanwhile, foresaw a profitably bright futurefor the disposable wardrobe not just dresses, but swimsuits and evenmen s attire.Ronald Bard, vice president of Mars Manufacturing, boldlytold Life in November 1966 that Five years from now, 75 percent of thenation will be wearing disposable clothing. He dreamed of paper footballjerseys, graduation gowns, children s wear, even disposable undershortsfor traveling salesmen. In paper, you are limited only by your imagina-tion, he explained.Fortune magazine touted paper as the fabric of thefuture, cheaper than conventional textiles.Trans World Airlines experi-mented with paper uniforms for its flight attendants.The U.S.Army evenbegan testing paper underwear for soldiers.American Home looked to pa-per pillowcases and even furniture as fun furnishings that can bebought on impulse without the usual lasting commitment.Amid that chorus of upbeat forecasts of a paper-clad future, a fewdownsides of paper dresses ultimately critical ones were being over-looked.Most of the American women buying paper dresses had neverOOPS 112worn one before, and some had only seen them on TV.As they quicklydiscovered, disposable fashion wasn t necessarily very comfortable. Theydidn t move well, they were uncomfortable when you wore them, and theybillowed out when you sat down, Ellen Shanley, curator of costumes atthe Fashion Institute of Technology Museum, told Newsday in 1999.Andas our newspaperwoman in Kansas discovered, they also were prone tosudden disintegration.Consumer Reports derided the original Scott PaperCaper dress s quality, noting that it is rather sloppily made; the fabric isnot very strong; and the printed color has a tendency to rub off when itgets damp.Paper dress wearers also often found themselves feeling nervous atparties, out of fear that a chance encounter with a Benson & Hedges 100could turn them into a fashionista flamb�.The Los Angeles City Fire De-partment briefly banned the sale of paper dresses in late 1966, until a de-partment chemist determined that they were no more flammable thanother garments.In truth, paper dresses were probably safer than cotton ornylon, since most were treated with a flame-retardant finish.But there was a catch.As the chief of the U.S.Public Health Ser-vice s injury-control program warned in a newspaper interview, the flame-retardant chemicals were rendered ineffective if the garment was washedor dry-cleaned.To be on the safe side, paper dresses could be worn onlyonce unless, perhaps, the wearer had the same blithe disregard for per-sonal hygiene that she had for sartorial convention.Life discovered thatlimitation when it tested paper dresses durability by somehow convincinga woman to wear one every day for a month while she did housework.Though the fabric didn t shred, she complained afterward that I like adress I can wash.As those drawbacks started to sink in, sales of paper dresses plum-meted as quickly as they had risen.In a sense, the paper dress was a victimof its own success.As fashion writer Angela Taylor noted in 1969, the gar-ment became popular so quickly that companies, in their rush to meet theCONVENIENCE ISN T ALWAYS ENOUGH 113unexpected demand, didn t have any time to perfect the materials or man-ufacturing process.Presumably, some of those problems might have beencorrected over time.But the ambience of the pop culture was changing aswell.Disposable clothing was the sort of ultramodern convenience that fitwith a sunny, optimistic view of technological progress [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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