Postal Gowns by Freewear

Freewear is an ongoing project that explores the possibilities of creating garments out of free materials provided by other city dwellers. The Postal Gown, the first product of Freeware, was made using USPS Tyvek envelopes. All the notions needed to sew the dress were obtained via a gift-economy network called Freecycle. The Postal Gown is a revival of the Paper Dress of the 1960s, which was extremely popular because it only cost one dollar and was disposable. The Postal Gown does not have to be thrown away after use and is completely free, encouraging users to refuse to pay for materials and to reuse stuff that otherwise will turn into waste. Along with the exchange of goods, Freecycle also entails an exchange of stories: You are open to encounters, with strangers and with the city itself, that might otherwise have been foreclosed by dominant modes of exchange and consumption. Hacking the post office to get the main resource enables users to divert the infrastructure to their own purposes.

Geraldine Juárez, Postal Gowns by Freewear, U.S. Postal Service envelopes, Freecycled notions, machine sewn seaming, 2007. (© Geraldine Juárez. Photo © Santanu Majumdar.)