In the 1960s, something unusual happened. Scott Paper Company, makers of paper towels and toilet paper, began offering a paper dress as a mail-order promotion. To Scott's surprise, the dresses were extremely popular, fueling a craze among consumers for fashionable paper clothing. The media and fashion designers alike thought disposable paper clothes would be the way of the future. Instead, the paper dress was merely a fad, with demand fading after just a few years. So what made the paper dress so popular? And where did things go wrong? This is the story of the paper dress fad of the 1960s.
0:00: Intro
0:59: Origins of Paper Dress
1:41: Kaycel and Dura-Weve
2:31: Clothes of the Future
2:41: Paper Tennis Dresses
3:29: Scott's "Paper Caper" Dress
4:10: The Waste Basket Boutique
5:03: The Paper Tycoon
5:33: Walking Advertisements
6:11: Why Were Paper Dresses Popular?
6:57: The Perils of Paper Garments
7:27: Costs
8:40: The End of the Paper Dress
10:27: Final Thoughts & Outro
Sources
“It’s Only a Paper Dress Worn Over a Paper Slip,” Gaile Dugas, NEA, Jul 22, 1955
“Disposable Paper Dress Foreseen,” Gay Pauley, The Windsor Star, Aug 21, 1956
“Net Fashion Boils Anew,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jan 5, 1961
“Paper Packed Prospect,” Alison Adburgham, The Guardian, Mar 24, 1961
“Paper Dress on Hallowed Courts,” Elizabeth Benn, The Daily Telegraph, Jun 22, 1961
“Paper Dress for Tennis Short-Lived,” The South Bend Tribune, Sep 3, 1961
“Thow-Away Apparel is Paper Thin, Lloyd Stewart, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Mar 22, 1966
“Scott Draws Attention,” Tom Schmidt, Delaware County Daily Times, Jun 25, 1966
“The Paper Dress Gets Fast Start,” Sally Ryan, A.P., Jul 2, 1966
“Hampers May Be Obsolete,” Joan Metzner, The Miami News, Aug 25, 1966
“Paper Products Producer Tries Hand in Fashion Field,” News-Record, Sep 1, 1966
“Paper Dress-Fun But Not Thifty,” Margaret Dana, The Buffalo News, Oct 29, 1966
“The Wastebasket Dress Has Arrived,” Helen Carlton, LIFE, Nov 25, 1966
“The Man from Mars and His Paper Fashions,” Eugenia Sheppard, Liverpool Daily Post, Dec 1, 1966
“Hang Onto Gift Paper Wrapping….Wear It,” Opal Crockett, The Indianapolis Star, Dec 12, 1966
“Party Accessories Match Colorful Paper Dresses,” Martha Espedahl, The News Journal, Jan 23, 1967
“Fashions Made of Paper Explode into Popularity,” Eleanor Adams, Copley New Service, Mar 21, 1967
“A Paper Caper,” Kathy Larkin, Daily News, May 28, 1967
“Disposable Dress Not for the Poor,” Eleanor Lambert, The San Bernardino County Sun, Jun 11, 1967
“Man in Gray Paper Suit,” Eugenia Sheppard, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jun 20, 1967
“Going Out in a Paper Dress? Beware…Don’t Go Up in Smoke,” La Nae Rowell, The Palm Beach Post, Aug 12, 1967
“Cut a Caper in Paper Doll Fashion,” Nancy Millard, The Star Press, Sep 10, 1967
“Paper Fashions Fly High,” Valley Times, Aug 15, 1968
“The Paper Dress Has Changed Its Address,” Angela Taylor, N.Y. Times News Services, Warren Times-Mirrors and Observer, Jun 25, 1969
“Paper Dollies,” Norman Hartnell, Western Daily Press, Jan 21, 1970
Dress and Popular Culture, Patricia Anne Cunningham, 1991
“Garment or Garbage,” Gayle Worland, Wisconsin State Journal, Mar 3, 2007