Princess Diana’s iconic ‘revenge dress’ is going to be auctioned in New York, three decades after it became one of the most recognisable fashion moments of her life. The story behind the dress is as scandalous as the outfit itself as Diana wore the strapless black silk evening dress, designed by Christina Stambolian, to a fundraising dinner at London’s Serpentine Gallery in June 1994, hours after a televised documentary in which then-Prince Charles publicly admitted to adultery during their marriage. It was soon dubbed as the ‘revenge dress’.
Auction house Sotheby’s expects the dress to fetch up to £220,000 (when it is auctioned on December 9. It is being offered for the first time since 1997, when Diana sold 79 of her dresses to raise money for charity.
Furthermore, according to Sotheby’s, Diana’s stylist Anna Harvey recalled that the princess “wanted to look a million dollars”. She had initially planned another outfit but made a last-minute change, choosing the daring Stambolian dress, which she paired with a black clutch, black pumps and a royal jewel.
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s Global Head of Handbags and Fashion, said Diana understood that fashion could be “a language in its own right”, adding that she used the dress to reclaim her narrative at a highly scrutinised moment.
The dress joins a growing list of Diana’s wardrobe pieces that have commanded major prices at auction. Her famous black-sheep sweater sold for £920,000 at Sotheby’s in New York in 2023. Earlier this year, the vintage Jaguar XJ40 she arrived in at the Serpentine Gallery event sold for £66,250.
{{/usCountry}}The dress joins a growing list of Diana’s wardrobe pieces that have commanded major prices at auction. Her famous black-sheep sweater sold for £920,000 at Sotheby’s in New York in 2023. Earlier this year, the vintage Jaguar XJ40 she arrived in at the Serpentine Gallery event sold for £66,250.
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