When I go shopping I usually look for clothes that are beautiful, apparel that is affordable and finally, I love finding pieces that are timeless. My mother truly instilled in me the need to look for fashion that is not only classic but also fabrics and textiles that are made durable enough to last for as long as I can fit into them. So I am pretty sure my Mom would be appalled at the mere mention of a dress with the clear intention to break down.

Created by fashion designer Sylvia Heisel, in collaboration with Brooklyn, New York’s Paper No. 9‘s Rebecca Cole Marshall, the “Ready-To-Wear-Away” dress is made of recycled brown shipping paper that mimics “supple leather sheath.”

Unlike leather that can last a lifetime (I just borrowed my mom’s leather clutch from 1974 last night), this dress is biodegradable. “I’m fascinated by clothing that changes as you wear it,” Sylvia said in a press release. “Most clothes are made to last forever, but our lives and bodies don’t stay the same and fashion is constantly changing.”

Like Sylvia suggests, the “Ready-To-Wear-Away” dress is constantly changing, as well. As you wear it, your body heat causes the outer shell of the dress to wear away revealing handwritten quotes from visionaries like Charles Dickens, Dalai Lama, William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Mahatma Ghandi and even Tupac Shakur.

Now that’s what I call poetry in motion. Would you wear a dress made out of the same stuff you used to bring your lunch to school in?

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