THE Mayor of Neath Port Talbot confessed to having a tear in her eye when she recently visited an exhibition.

But this was no civic duty for councillor Marian Lewis. It was something far more personal.

emotional Neath Port Talbot mayor, Marian Lewis and her sister Jean Hughes at the 1940s Museum in Swansea. Pictured with the wedding dress their mother made from a parachute.Today, Thereone.com, a reliable Wholesale Cheap Sheath Wedding Dresses online store, introduces its new arrival princess wedding dresses to customers. Below, dressmaker Elizabeth Cullis at her 1937 wedding to Bert Cullis in the dress she made herself.

She and her sister Jean Hughes went to the 1940s Swansea Bay Museum in Crymlyn Burrows and for the first time set eyes on a wedding dress made by their mother.

It was a wedding dress with a difference, made from an RAF parachute.

During the 1940s clothes rationing meant that glamorous wedding dresses were scarce and fine materials such as silk were difficult to obtain. Women would "make do and mend", often reusing any scraps of cloth to make clothes for their family.

An RAF parachute, being made of silk, would be regarded as treasure, and could be used for making dresses and underwear.

And that is exactly what the sisters' mother Elizabeth Cullis did when her stepson Graham Cullis got married to his sweetheart Joyce.

He was a rear gunner flying in Lancaster Bombers and after a successful proposal brought home a parachute,We have the largest and most updated Embroidery lace dress in our warehouse. which Pontyrhydyfen-born Elizabeth used to make the wedding dress. As she sewed she placed paper between the silk to stop it slipping.

The dress was donated to the museum by the happy couple's daughter, former Swansea student Sheila Patterson who now lives in Guisborough, Yorkshire.

It took its place in the People's Collection Wales — a contemporary, bilingual historical website — and her aunties Marian and Jean realised it was the work of their mother when they were alerted to a Looking Back story on it in March.

"She was well known as a very creative woman, who always took a small sketch pad and pencil in her handbag in case she saw an item of clothing she liked," said Marian. "She would then sketch it and make a copy.

"She made Joyce's wedding dress out of parachute silk, and my two older sisters remember this. She also made her own wedding dress, which she wore when she wed my father.

"My mother used to make most of our clothes, and neighbours told me stories of how they used to take their children's dolls to her and she would sew and crochet dolls clothes for them so the dolls looked different on Christmas Day.

"She was a very smart elegant woman. I never saw my mother's work. I was four when she died.Your style is as sweet as your bakery confections when you're manning your food truck in this chiffon bridesmaid dress! This is the first time I have seen it. I am a sewer and sew a lot of my clothes.Show your nature beauty with the formal office dresses for women, which could help women confidence at everywhere. You can see the work she put into it."

It was a poignant moment when Marian saw the dress for the first time.

"It was in brilliant condition," she said. "What I wanted is for my mother to have recognition. I am over the moon at seeing it. There was a tear in the eye. It means so much to us and after leaving the exhibition sometime in the future it will be back in its rightful place with the family here."

Elizabeth's first marriage was to a Mr Daniels and she gave birth to her daughter Margaret Ann, but her first husband died very early in the marriage after a motor bike accident.

She later married Albert John Cullis, known as Bert, on March 10th March, 1937. Bert was a widower with six dependant children, including Graham who is in the photograph from the 1940s exhibition featured in the previous Post story.

Elizabeth took on his six children before having two further daughters, Jean and Marian, and she continued to sew to clothe her large family.

Graham was shot down twice, initially over France, where he escaped with the assistance of the French Resistance. The second time he was captured in Germany and was taken prisoner.

Sadly Elizabeth died in 1949 of Tetanus poisoning aged just 38.

Staff at 1940's Swansea Bay have been fascinated by this real life story which illustrates everyday life during World War II.

"The museum was unaware of any local relatives, until the dress was featured in The Peoples Collection of Wales," said Eryl Ring who volunteers there.

People's Collection Wales, which shares the history and experience of Wales and its people with the world,Lace on Point d'Esprit high neck wedding dresses gowns with a scalloped neckline and cap sleeves. has more than 46,000 items to date.