Hi, I hope this is the right place to post! I was just wondering if anyone could confirm that this is a genuine parachute silk dress please? I've seen 1 other person on Etsy selling a blouse in a salmon/pinky colour like this which was genuine parachute silk. I also washed it (by hand!) in cold water & the material felt & looked almost like a wet tent! Not like any fabric I have seen before. I purchased it on Ebay along with a big bundle of 50s & 60s hats and think I paid about £20 for the lot. It was listed as the woman selling it found them in an attic she was clearing out. Any info would be great help, thank you in advance! I would love to know more about it, It's a really beautiful dress!
Parachute silk is really nylon (or perlon), not silk. The only garments I have ever handled that were known to be made from parachute 'silk' were white (three wedding dresses and some underwear). The vast majority of parachute silk clothes were made from surplus material after the end of the war and it was always white (as far as I have ever read). The romantic notion of making clothes from an actual parachute is almost mythology because it was illegal to make anything from an actual parachute - they had to be turned into the government (on both sides). There were some exceptions of course, but it wasn't common, so really all the parachute silk clothes are postwar, not wartime. Your dress with its puffed sleeves, looks more c. 1940 than 1945, so its probably made from a tissue silk. Is there any spot where you can snip a bit of fabric for a burn test (it should smell like burning hair if its silk).
Thank you both for your replies, they are much appreciated! Very interesting info about the parachute silk, I had no idea, glad I know now. I have a part of it I can burn test so will do so to find out. Thanks again, Lizzy.
It's a bit hard to see in your photos, but I think I'm seeing a subtle pattern in the weave, a damask perhaps.
