The wedding dress can be transformed into five new fashion pieces due to its material.(Agencies)

The age old dilemma about what brides should do with their wedding dress once their honeymoon is over appears to have been solved by scientists.

British researchers have developed an environmentally friendly garment that can simply be dissolved in water after being worn.

Fashion and engineering students at Sheffield Hallam University developed the wedding dress, which can be transformed into five new fashion pieces.

The dress has polyvinyl alcohol, a biodegradable substance that is used in laundry bags and washing detergents, knitted into the fabric. This enables it to be dissolved into water without harming the environment.

Their creation is to be featured in an forthcoming exhibition, titled, a sustainable marriage, which will be shown at the university later this month.

But the payoff for the bride wearing this dress would be that they would need to wear an umbrella to their nuptials if rain was likely to spoil their big day. The design might not be to everyone’s fancy either.

"The students wanted to challenge the notion that a wedding dress should only be used once and aimed to explore modern society's attitudes towards throwaway fashion,” said Jane Blohm, a fashion lecturer.

“The project is a union between art and technology which explores the possibilities of using alternative materials for our clothing.

“The wedding gown is perhaps one of the most symbolic garments in (a woman's) wardrobe and represents the challenges of ‘throwaway fashion’."

She added: “In order to reduce fashion's impact on the environment, the fashion industry must begin to challenge conventional attitudes and practices.”

A survey in 2008 found the average cost of a wedding was now more than £20,000, compared with £14,643 five years ago.

The average price of a wedding dress alone was £997.

新娘度完蜜月后该如何处置婚纱这个难题由来已久，现在看来科学家们已经找到了解决办法。

英国研究人员研制出了一种穿过后可在水中溶解的环保型婚纱。

这款婚纱由谢菲尔德哈勒姆大学时装和工程系学生研制，可演绎成五种新的时尚款式。

这种婚纱的材料中含有一种常在洗衣袋和洗洁精中使用的生物可降解物质——聚乙烯醇，该物质可让婚纱在水中溶解而且对环境无害。

这款婚纱将于本月末在谢菲尔德哈勒姆大学举办的“可持续婚姻”展会上展出。

不过穿这款婚纱的新娘在出席婚礼时必须备一把伞，因为如果碰上下雨淋湿了衣服，可能就会坏了她们的好日子。看来这款婚纱的设计并非十全十美。

时装讲师简•布洛赫姆说：“学生们想向婚纱只穿一次的观念发起挑战，旨在探讨现代社会对一次性时尚的态度。”

“这款发明是艺术和科技的结合，探索了使用替代材料制作服装的可能性。”

“婚纱可能是女人衣柜中最具象征意义的一件衣服，代表了‘一次性时尚’的挑战。”

她说：“为减少时尚对环境的影响，时装业必须开始向传统的观念和做法发起挑战。”

2008年开展的一项调查显示，当年英国一场婚礼的平均花费超过两万英镑，五年前这一数字仅为14643英镑。

而单单一件婚纱的平均价格就高达997英镑。