Parachutes & Trousseaux

Though parachutes would never replace the customary silk, satin and lace of traditional wedding dresses, at least one other overseas service bride wore a dress of this silk.

1LT Virginia Nickerson, a native of Portland, OR, who joined the Army Nurse Corps in June 1942, met her future husband, Army LT Vincent DiGiacinto, during the North African Campaign. While serving in France, the 25-year-old bride-to-be brought parachute silk–also procured by her betrothed–to a local French seamstress, who made her bridal dress and trousseau out of the material. In fact, the bride paid for the dress with the leftover parachute silk. With two attendants each by their sides, the couple exchanged vows in Dijon, France, in 1945.³

In 2005, Virginia’s daughters donated her dress to the Foundation’s Collection. In addition to her wedding dress, the Virginia (Nickerson) DiGiacinto Collection also includes copies of photographs of the couple during their courtship and at their wedding.

3Women’s Memorial Register, Virginia (Nickerson) DiGiacinto, Registration #602172.