Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ is going on tour and on sale

Princess Diana’s head-turning “revenge dress,” which broke royal protocol and created a sensational pop culture moment, is going on sale for the first time in nearly 30 years.

The showstopping evening gown by Greek designer Christina Stambolian will be exhibited in London this month, before heading to Hong Kong, Geneva in Switzerland, and finally New York, where it is expected to sell for up to $300,000 when it goes under the hammer on December 9.

The late Princess of Wales wore the black, silk, off-the-shoulder, asymmetric and figure-hugging dress on June 29, 1994.

It was an historic day, as her then-husband, now-King Charles III, was going to accidentally admitted in an ITN documentary that he’d been unfaithful. The revelation had been leaked days prior by the British press and the documentary aired to 13 million viewers nationwide .

Yet Diana chose to arrive for a party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in a gown so captivating it received its own moniker, becoming known as “the revenge dress.”

Pairing the fashion statement with black heels, a black clutch, bold red nails and a jeweled chocker – created from an antique diamond and sapphire brooch that Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, gifted her for her wedding, according to Sotheby’s – Diana reclaimed her image in the public’s imagination.

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“Fashion can be a language when words fail or are simply not enough. Princess Diana understood that instinctively,” said Morgane Halimi, head of handbags and fashion at Sotheby’s, in a statement Thursday.

“On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinised and emotionally charged episodes of her life,” Halimi added.

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At the time, black was only considered appropriate for royals during funerals . Stambolian’s design is a version of the little black dress, a fashion statement first conceived in 1926 by Coco Chanel to reimagine black, from a color of mourning to one of sophisticated chic, and free women from the fashion constraint of earlier times, according to Sotheby’s.

Diana made the impulsive decision to wear the black design, which had been sitting in her closet for three years out of fear it was “too daring,” Stambolian said in the 2013 Channel 4 documentary “Princess Diana’s Dresses: The Auction.”

The dark outfit and its pop culture moment has since been memorialized in clothing lines, on social media and on TV programs such as Netflix’s historical drama “The Crown.”

“What became a global viral moment – long before social media made the term mundane – also gave license to anyone, but especially women, to use fashion beyond adornment and much more intentionally and meaningfully: as a shield, a weapon or both,” Halimi said.

“What has endured across the decades is not the scandal surrounding that evening, but Princess Diana’s show of confidence and self-possession,” Halimi added.

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Diana “wanted to look a million dollars” when she stepped out in the dress, according to the stylist that helped her get ready, Anna Harvey, Sotheby’s said.

Considering one of Diana’s less famous dresses far exceeded estimates in 2023, selling for $604,800, this dress could hold more value than estimated. After all, Diana’s famous “black sheep” sweater broke records in 2023 when it sold for more than $1.1 million .

The “revenge dress” was last sold in June 1997, when Diana auctioned 79 of her dresses to raise funds for breast cancer and AIDS charities, Sotheby’s said. It then appeared at charity fundraiser events in Scotland before it was last seen on display at the country’s Paisley Museum nearly three decades ago.

A rare copy of the catalogue from the original sale – which credits Prince William with the sale’s design and which was signed by the late princess and the dress designer – will be sold with the gown.

“My late husband and I knew that this dress was something special,” said the anonymous consignor who bought the dress in 1997. “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.”

“Thirty years on, you can say the words anywhere in the world and everyone knows exactly which dress you mean,” they added. “I hope it goes to someone who will enjoy owning it as much as we did.”

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Some of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to health service charity NHS Lothian Charity, according to the auction house.

The dress will be unveiled at Sotheby’s London on September 18 and displayed until September 24, before exhibiting in Hong Kong from October 1 to 15, in Geneva from November 6 to 11, and in New York from December 2.

戴安娜王妃那件惊艳四座的“复仇礼服”打破了皇室礼仪，在流行文化界引起了轰动，如今这件礼服近30年来首次重新上市。

希腊设计师克里斯蒂娜·斯坦博利安 (Christina Stambolian) 设计的惊艳晚礼服将于本月在伦敦展出，之后将前往香港、瑞士日内瓦，最终抵达纽约，预计将于 12 月 9 日在纽约拍卖，成交价最高可达 30 万美元。

已故的威尔士王妃于 1994 年 6 月 29 日穿着这件黑色丝绸露肩不对称紧身连衣裙。

那一天具有历史意义，因为她当时的丈夫，也就是现在的查理三世国王，即将在ITN电视台的一部纪录片中意外承认自己曾对妻子不忠。这一消息几天前已被英国媒体泄露，这部纪录片在全国范围内播出，吸引了1300万观众。

然而，戴安娜选择穿着一件如此迷人的礼服出席在伦敦蛇形画廊举行的派对，这件礼服甚至有了自己的绰号，被称为“复仇礼服”。

戴安娜将这身时尚装扮与黑色高跟鞋、黑色手拿包、醒目的红色指甲和一条珠宝项链搭配在一起——据苏富比拍卖行称，这条项链是由伊丽莎白王太后送给她的结婚礼物——一枚古董钻石蓝宝石胸针改造而成——从而重塑了她在公众心目中的形象。

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苏富比手袋及时装部主管摩根·哈利米周四在一份声明中表示：“当语言无法表达或不足以表达时，时尚可以成为一种语言。戴安娜王妃本能地理解了这一点。”

哈利米补充道：“戴安娜王妃以她自己的方式，将这条裙子变成了她一生中最受关注、最情绪激动的时期之一所传递的最有力的信息之一。”

乔治·德克尔/赫尔顿档案馆/盖蒂图片社

戴安娜王妃的“关爱连衣裙”在已故王室成员服装的最大规模拍卖会上拍出超过50万美元的高价。

当时，黑色只被认为适合皇室成员在葬礼上穿着。据苏富比拍卖行称，斯坦博利安的设计是小黑裙的改良版，这种时尚宣言最早由可可·香奈儿于1926年提出，旨在重新定义黑色，使其从哀悼的颜色转变为精致优雅的颜色，并将女性从早期的时尚束缚中解放出来。

斯坦博利安在 2013 年英国第四频道纪录片《戴安娜王妃的礼服：拍卖》中说，戴安娜一时冲动决定穿上这件黑色礼服，这件礼服已经在她的衣橱里放了三年，因为她担心这件礼服“太大胆了”。

这套深色服装及其在流行文化中的影响力，此后被服装系列、社交媒体和电视节目（例如 Netflix 的历史剧《王冠》）所铭记。

“在社交媒体让‘时尚’一词变得平淡无奇之前，时尚就已成为全球病毒式传播的事件，这也赋予了任何人，尤其是女性，将时尚用于装饰之外的更有意义的用途：作为盾牌、武器，或两者兼具，”哈利米说道。

哈利米补充道：“几十年来流传下来的不是当晚的丑闻，而是戴安娜王妃所展现出的自信和沉着冷静。”

坎贝尔·艾迪/苏富比/宾夕法尼亚通讯社

据苏富比拍卖行称，戴安娜王妃的造型师安娜·哈维表示，戴安娜王妃希望穿上这件礼服时“看起来光彩照人”。

考虑到戴安娜王妃一件不太出名的礼服在2023年以604,800美元的价格售出，远远超出预期，这件礼服的价值可能比预估的还要高。毕竟，戴安娜王妃著名的“黑羊”毛衣在2023年也创下了纪录，以超过110万美元的价格售出。

苏富比拍卖行表示，这件“复仇礼服”上次出售是在1997年6月，当时戴安娜王妃拍卖了79件礼服，为乳腺癌和艾滋病慈善机构筹款。之后，这件礼服曾在苏格兰的慈善筹款活动中出现，最后一次展出是在近30年前的佩斯利博物馆。

一件礼服将与一份珍贵的原版拍卖目录一同出售，该目录注明了威廉王子对此次拍卖的设计，并有已故公主和礼服设计师的签名。

“我和我已故的丈夫都知道这条裙子非同寻常，”这位1997年购得此裙的匿名委托人说道。“戴安娜王妃当时正走向她一生中最糟糕的夜晚，但你从她的装扮上根本看不出来。在她被拍下照片的那一刻，这条裙子就从一件普通的鸡尾酒裙变成了一件引人注目的礼服。”

“三十年过去了，无论你在世界哪个角落提起这件事，每个人都知道你指的是哪件礼服，”他们补充道。“我希望它能找到一位像我们一样喜爱它的人。”

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还记得戴安娜王妃身穿一件性感——而且是秘密修改过的——礼服惊艳亮相 Met Gala 吗？

据拍卖行称，此次拍卖的部分收益将捐赠给医疗服务慈善机构 NHS Lothian Charity。

这件礼服将于9月18日在伦敦苏富比拍卖行揭幕，展出至9月24日，之后将于10月1日至15日在香港展出，11月6日至11日在日内瓦展出，12月2日起在纽约展出。