“Oyster” and “mini skirt” are words that one would probably have a hard time associating with each other, but with the strange world our society has now evolved into, the fashion industry did not fail to come up with strange ideas that have kept its audience amazed and, well, speechless on more occasions than one.

It seems to me that many people are gifted with an uncanny ability to express their artistic skills while completely changing, if not defeating, the purpose of apparel. To demonstrate to you what I mean, check out these three dresses that nobody in the 20th century would probably dare to wear.

1.    Web vest- Want to help your parents in cleaning the old house? Well, this man from Yuan province in China made a one-kilogram clothes that is made up of 300 pieces of cobwebs. Apparently, clothes made up of cobwebs are not unusual for Kucong tribe, an ethnic minority neighbouring his region in the province. According to Zheng, the designer of this vest, Kucong people were so poor in the past that their clothes were mostly made of cobwebs and banana trees leaves.

2.    Dissolvable Dress- With the knowledge of organic chemistry and a little bit of fashion sense, Professor Helen Storey and Professor Tony Ryan invented the world’s first dissolvable dress. The fabric is made from a clear polymer, polyvinyl alcohol. According to an article, the dresses dissolve at a pace that they will be able to survive a sweaty party. In an upcoming exhibition, eight dissolvable dresses will be put into enormous goldfish bowls where they will slowly liquefy– now that’s one exhibition scientists and non-scientists can attend without any qualms.

3.    Lettuce Lingerie- need I say more?

It amazes me how people don’t seem to run out of ideas, no matter how incredible or weird. These strange clothing are far from being a public statement, however they become a tool for artists, as well as scientists, to express their individuality and “resourcefulness”. Not only do these trends raise environment awareness (see third picture of this article), they certainly provide us with a lot of entertainment.