We’ve all heard stories about WWII brides who made their wedding gowns out of the parachutes that saved their sweethearts, but how often do we get to see the stunning results? Not even close! As a result, we’ve highlighted a few of the most beautiful and notable parachute dresses of the era below. Enjoy!The trend of making bridal gowns out of parachute silk began long before the war ended.

Newspaper articles ran as early as 1943 about dedicated and fearless young women who were not wasting anything, including the parachutes their husbands jumped from planes in! The act became not only a symbol of resourcefulness and ingenuity, but also an act to honor these men’s service.The soldier’s parachute was such a powerful symbol that one man proposed to his future bride using his parachute instead of an engagement ring, and she said “yes.”

But it wasn’t just the fiancées of servicemen. One image from a Bergen-Belsen survivor shows her wearing a dress made from a German soldier’s parachute as a victory symbol. Consider wearing the parachute fabric of someone who attempted to wipe out your entire community!Many of the parachutes were made of pure silk in delicate cream, making them ideal for dresses, as did the thinner nylon material.

Servicemen brought back parachutes as souvenirs, but many were deemed unfit for use after their soldiers used them to land in seawater or were otherwise damaged. Many women in the United States, Europe, and Australia joined the trend supporting their battling fiancés. It might not have been easy to find a lot of white or cream fabric, but a parachute provided more than enough for a voluminous dress with puff sleeves,

a grand train, and any other frilly details a girl might need for her wedding dress. Some of these dresses are now in museums, while others are prized possessions of family members, and they rarely come up for auction, making them a rarity on the vintage clothing market. Watch the touching video below about a World War II couple’s parachute wedding gown.