# Paper Dresses

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 7, 2000, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505 "2000-02-07T07:29:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/1 "2000-02-07T07:29:00Z")

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I was reading in a Rhino book on Fads about these in the 60s. I can seem to barely recall these.

Anyone have any information on them? Were they actually popular and durable for a couple of wearings or what?

I think my sister may have owned one? It is one of those things you think you know but you may be wrong about thinking.

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/2 "2000-02-07T15:35:00Z")

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Oh, I remember them very well—they were a novelty item in the late '60s, “wear it once and throw it away.” They were made of treated paper, coated with a thin plastic-like substance. My sister had a Yellow pages minidress which she never wore, so I donated it to a costume history museum.

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**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/3 "2000-02-07T17:13:00Z")

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Owww, think of the paper cuts.

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**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/4 "2000-02-07T19:09:00Z")

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All I can think of are those “paper” dresses the GYN gives you to dress in before he/she says,“Okay, scootch down until you reach the end of the table”.

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**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/5 "2000-02-07T19:16:00Z")

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FWIW, when they give you paper scrubs to put on so you can go into the delivery room to “assist” your wife in giving birth – DO NOT TAKE YOUR STREET CLOTHES OFF FIRST!

A friend did just that, and then fainted during the delivery, tearing his paper pants as he collapsed to the floor. The OB nurses, who spend most of the day staring at private parts, but of a different variety, were greatly amused!

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“The labors…are aided by…innumerable lecturers, who diffuse such a various profundity in all subjects of human or celestial science, that any man may acquire an omnigenous erudition without the trouble of ever learning to read.”  
Nathaniel Hawthorne  
_The Celestial Railroad_

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**Author:** ![SeaDiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SeaDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDiver)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/6 "2000-02-07T20:13:00Z")

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I think some designers are trying to bring them back. I’ve only seen them in pictures. Would they withstand drink spills and rain? I’m picturing someone rushing home through the rain, and the dress dissolving all over the sidewalk!

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**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/7 "2000-02-07T20:19:00Z")

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Here’s one: [Paper dress](http://www.consumer-reports.com/Functions/More/Photogal/196602.htm)

I think paper undies were available, too.

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**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\
**Post date:** [February 7, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paper-dresses/13505/8 "2000-02-07T21:06:00Z")

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Sounds like a ripping good time to me! 😉

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VB

I could never eat a mouse raw…their little feet are probably real cold going down. :rolleyes: