The British monarchy is not new to making news, and are always under the limelight of politics, fashion, lifestyle, and occasional drama. Out of the many favoured faces, one lady that continues to shine brighter than the rest, even posthumously, is none other than the late first wife of King Charles III, Lady Diana. The young princess is known both for her refreshingly genuine outlook on royal life as well as for her impeccable sense of fashion, and continues to wow us with her styles, almost 25 years, post her death.
Lady Diana was known to wear some truly colourful and daring clothes. During her lifetime, the princess wore plenty of designer wear such as Versace, Armani, Chanel, Dior, Gucci and Clarks. However, none garnered the kind of attention as a bold, black number that came to ever after be known as the 'revenge dress.'
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The piece in discussion was created by Greek designer Christina Stambolian and reportedly stayed in her closet for three long years before it made an appearance on the one day when King Charles III, then Prince, confessed to his affair with Camilla in a televised interview. Many felt that finally donning the black chiffon off-the-shoulder original, which was until then considered 'too daring' by Diana, was her way to exact revenge from her estranged husband.
Rumour had it that the dress, complete with the sweetheart neckline and a long train, was not her first choice of attire. Rather, she had settled on a safe Valentino number. Clearly angry about her husband's public betrayal, she changed her mind. Anna Harvey, Diana's former stylist said that Diana wanted to 'look a million dollars… and she did.'
Princess Diana wore the 'revenge dress' to a fundraising dinner hosted by Vanity Fair magazine for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, an event she had previously declined. Roughly two days before the dinner, after King Charles admission of adultery had received several days of publicity, she decided to accept. Many see her acceptance of the dinner invitation and her choice of dressing was a public snub to Charles and signified the end of her marriage.
Designer Stambolian compared Diana's action to the black swan, Odile, in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake. She said that rather than taking it demurely, like the white swan Odette, Diana played out this painful scene in her life as the black Odile. "She was clearly angry," said the designer.
Diana's life, much like her dressing, was dramatic until the end. We may never know her motive behind wearing what she wore and doing what she did, but the silver lining — at least for the fashion community — in this entire debacle, was a killer outfit that would make waves in the world of fashion for decades to come.