Few looks have made quite the cultural impact that Princess Diana‘s ‘revenge’ dress had three decades ago. When the late royal stepped out in London on 29 June, 1994, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress commissioned by Christina Stambolian, paired with a pearl and sapphire choker, her little black dress went down in history as one of the most unforgettable of all time.
Diana made headlines in the form-fitting dress, which she donned for a fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery after it was publicly revealed that her former husband, King Charles, had been unfaithful to her. 32 years later, the iconic look is making a grand return to the spotlight.
The dress is set to go to auction later this year for the first time since 1997 where it is expected to sell for up to £220,000. But first, royal fans from around the world will be able to view the historic look when it embarks on Sotheby’s global exhibition tour with stops in Hong Kong, Geneva, New York and the UK.
The ‘revenge’ dress will be on display at the auction house in London from 18 to 24 September.
The dress is going to auction
Diana’s famous little black dress, first sold in June 1997, will once again go under the hammer in December in New York.
The dress is expected to sell for between $150,000 and $300,000 (£110,000 to £220,000), with part of the proceeds to be donated to NHS Lothian Charity on behalf of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
© Tim Graham“My late husband and I knew that this dress was something special,” the consignor, who bought the dress during its original sale, said ahead of the auction.
“Princess Diana was walking into the worst night of her life and you would never know it to look at her. It went from a cocktail dress to a statement in the time it took to photograph her.”
They added: “Thirty years on, you can say the words anywhere in the world and everyone knows exactly which dress you mean.”
Diana’s fashion approach
Diana redefined what it meant to dress as a royal with her bold power dressing looks, casual athleisure wear and daring gowns. One of her favourite designers, Jacques Azagury, exclusively opened up to HELLO! about the late royal’s approach to fashion. Jacques shared that “dressing Diana was more about her – I tried to keep the dress as secondary”.
© Getty Images“I would put as little fabric on her as possible – she looked great,” he told us. “I think she’s still influencing fashion – she could step out today and it would still be on trend. They [her dresses] were timeless.”
Jacques recalled the story behind another one of Diana’s memorable looks, a blue dress she wore to a gala performance of Swan Lake in 1997. “Take the blue dress. She wanted to go even shorter than that, and we [Jacques and Paul Burrell, Diana’s butler] said: ‘Look, there’s not much dress at the top, there’s not much at the bottom – you’ll end up with nothing in between!'”
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