Silk Dress Made from Vietnamese Silk
Files
Description
Dress made from silk purchased in Vietnam, 1968. Dress was handmade by a seamstress in the USA. Inherited from original owner in 1986. Participant ID 00041, Object ID 00090.
Keywords
Civilian, Captain, Cultural
Collection Site
Utah
Copyright
CC-BY-NC
Collection Date
12-19-2023
War Era
Vietnam
Recommended Citation
Bringing War Home, "Silk Dress Made from Vietnamese Silk" (2023). Bringing War Home Collection. 6.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/bwh_collection/6
Object Story
The father of Participant #41 brought home silk from Vietnam, so her mother had it made into a dress. It preserves the shape of her mother's body. There are mixed feelings toward it. She is happy she has it, but it also represents the tumultuous experiences her family was experiencing during the time. She plans to keep it as a dress because of what it represents. She never saw her mother wear it because she had some surguries and health issues, so her shape changed. Participant tried it on as a teenager to play dress-up, but she did not ever wear it out anywhere. Her father never talked much about the war. Her mother was pregnant with four small children while father was serving. People would put signs on their lawn that said "Baby Killer." When mom gave birth, the baby was stillborn. It was a very difficult time for the family.