I feel very lucky to own this upcycled dress made out of parachute from WWII. It’s one of the collected vintage pieces from @closetvintage. This dress truly embodies the POWER OF THE FASHION DURING THE WORLD WAR.
What it really represents to me are some very early beginnings of up cycling. The reasons behind this were not so much about being sustainable, as fast fashion wasn’t even a thing back in the day.
The trend to make bridal gowns from parachute silk got started well before the war ended. There was a shortage of silk as most of it got used to make the parachutes for the soldiers.
As early as 1943 newspaper articles were running stories about dedicated and fierce young women who were not letting anything go to waste, including the parachutes their husbands jumped from planes in! The act became not only a symbol of resourcefulness and industriousness, but also an act to honor the service of these men.
A soldier’s parachute was a powerful symbol back then…
Such a powerful symbol was the soldier’s parachute that one man even proposed to his future bridge using his parachute instead of an engagement ring and she said “yes.”
But, it wasn’t just the fiancés of men in uniform. One image from a Bergen-Belsen survivor ( Nazi concentration camp) shows a bride in a dress reportedly made from a German soldier’s parachute as a sign of victory.
Just imagine wearing the parachute fabric of someone who tried to wipe out your whole community!
And that’s really where the power of fashion is.
What made it powerful wasn’t even the parachute itself. It was the woman who turned enemy into something beautiful and worn it as a wedding dress to celebrate the most significant day of her life with the man she loved so dearly - “embracing trauma with love”
Fast fashion brands will never have that powerful back story.
IT’S YOU WHO HOLDS THE POWER!!!
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