Edible Clothing

Time for another "What If of the Week." It's a fun, imaginative question. And you think of some of the consequences of such a possibility.

Today's question is:

"What if the use of edible clothing
were widespread in our society?"

What do you think would happen?

Would fashions change as different foods came into season? Would taking someone out to lunch take on new meanings? Would people become more aware of the food they put next to their skin? Would some fruits and vegetables become gender specific? Which ones? What would sports teams (and their fans) wear? What would "high-status" clothes be?

What do you think are the implications (serious, off-beat, social, economic, courtship, religious, and political) of this idea?

For example, Grigor Coric suggests we might end up with: organic clothes, nutritious clothes, diet clothes; freshly fashion and farm fashion; plum, apple and watermelon sizes instead of S, M, L; fridges instead of wardrobes; no ironing; “grow your own clothes” movement.

Shelbey asks: What about a blazer made of Oreos? If so, there'd be plenty of new venues for 'strategic product placement' or whole new forms of advertising. You could have the shirt under the blazer made of the Oreos, and the blazer made of the corresponding wrapper.

And Kris Bordessa adds that edible clothing could mean that we'd never throw away another pair of jeans; we'd just toss them into that night's stew.

Comments

[Randy Bosch]

What a choice!
Do I need a new shirt or biofuel for the roadster?

[Sneha Abraham]

i wonder if perhaps we'd be thinner because we wouldn't want to consume our cover-ups? perhaps it would also lead to new forms of physical affection -- PDA might include taking a bite out of someone's sleeve.

[shelbey]

Great question!

1. Health and allergies: What if you were severely allergic to, say, peanuts, and someone wearing a peanut-based jacket brushed against you? Could you wear a protective or deflective coating on your own body?

2. Synthetics: are these trends just limited to naturally-grown foods? What about a blazer made of Oreos? If so, there'd be plenty of new venues for 'strategic product placement' or whole new forms of advertising. You could have the shirt under the blazer made of the Oreos, and the blazer made of the corresponding wrapper.

3. Emotion and moods. I have things I wear when I want a 'mood boost;' what about a fuzzy shirt made of peach skin? Beautiful shades and fragrant too. If someone's mood goes sour, maybe their 'ripe clothing' would pick up on and reflect that by turning sour.

4. For certain ages or groups, clothing signifies rebellion. I picture a black turtleneck made of Vegemite.

5. Special occasions-- wedding dresses, Academy Awards, debutante balls, etc-- might be made of things that were hard to find, or a once-in-a-lifetime gourmet creation. "The bride wore raspberry coulis' would be a commonplace statement! On the dark side...what about a different taboo, like clothing made from an endangered species, just as status symbols for these events?

Tons of great puns also come to mind. Love to see what others say!

[Clarissa]

In April, Alicia Mayer wore that lettuce bikini for PETA, let 'vegetarianism grow on you.' When I saw the picture, I stopped eating salad for a few days. Honestly. Lettuce does not belong down there... food and nudity. This makes eating sexual and sex foody. Could you handle it? I mean, how would your wife look wearing a lasagna?

[Roger von Oech]

Randy: A lot of new choices would be created. Although edible clothing would create some interesting "two-fers." Do I feed myself, or do I clothe myself?

Sneha: I guess our edible clothing wouldn't worn thin; who'd want to eat something past its "Consume By Date."

Shelbey: Great stuff. "A blazer made of Oreos." Too much. Wear it uneaten (black) to formal events. Eat off the outer layer for white summer events.

Clarissa: Yeah, I checked out that link. Hmmmm. I don't know about lasanga, but she looks good in ratatouille.

[Jorge Castillo]

All clothes would need to show an expiration date, chefs could become the new fashion designers, and Victoria Secret would launch the Transgenic Summer Sale!

[Ahmad Alhashemi]

* George Costanza would say: I was so hungry I ate my underwear and then would argue weather or not your underwear is the first piece to eat when you are hungry.

* Summer will be the best month for fashion with all the exotic fruits.

* What will they use to make police uniforms? life jackets? bullet proof vests? firefighter uniforms? doctors white coats?

[Grigor]

Hi Roger,
thanks for mentioning.
Those "what if" questions are real fun and at the same time an excellent imagination exercise.

[hidden persuader]

"Would taking someone out to lunch take on new meanings?" ahahah that's quite amusing and a interesting question?

[Greg Krauska]

Roger, edible singlets would be great for my marathon training. No need for Goo or Sport Beans, just tear off a bit o'shirt and keep running. No loss of minerals and electrolytes, either, since they would be recycled. Now, if Cargill could invent a way to make them breathable. . . . .

[Greg Krauska]

Guys, don't buy your wives the lasagna for her birthday. They get as excited about that as they do a toaster oven.

[mike paahana]

my secrest lover gave me eatable thong that she lick lick me head 2 toe

[Vintage Mannequin]

My problem with edible clothing is that I'd always be inclined to take a nibble. So I'd end up looking pretty ragged fast :-/

[plumbing]

Fans of foods and fashion will be intrigued by these outrageous edible clothes.b That's very cool and great. Keep it up !

[plumbing]

Your ideas are great and very unique. I love to hear more from you.

[Double Glazing]

But what I found interesting in edible clothing is that it took inspiration from molecular food and all its process, in order to create different textures. The result is also beautiful and very poetic.

[Double Glazing]

That is scary! I am afraid that the insects will all come for me if I wear such clothes.