Queen of Fashion

Throughout her brief life; Princess Diana supported many British designers, especially the Emanuels, Arabella Pollen, Bruce Oldfield, Amanda Wakeley, Murray Arbeid, Gina Fratini and Catherine Walker. She placed British fashion, with its traditions of classic tailoring for day and romantic evening wear, in the international spotlight.

As the years progressed; she gained confidence in her own fashion style and became more elegant as she began to understand what suited her. She started to wear clothes by international designers of her own choice including Versace, Christian Lacroix, Ungaro and Chanel. Initially she was encouraged by staff from Vogue Magazine to pursue a particular look.

Before her marriage, Lady Diana Spencer dressed in the manner of the Sloane set she mixed with. She liked to wear high necked frilly ruffled blouses, pearls, floral skirts, loose short sleeved shirt blouses, low pump shoes, simple dresses and country tweed suits. All were clothes very much liked by the 'country set'. Once engaged, she began to wear slightly more glamorous clothes although sometimes these seemed too old for a woman so young. First Official photographs of her wearing a deep green taffeta silk ball gown before her marriage shows a romantic Diana.

The Emanuels conferring with Diana at Kensington Palace on designs and materials for more contributions to the Princess' wardrobe

The Princess chose designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel who designed her much criticized puff ball meringue wedding dress in 1981. The beautiful dress was based on a romantic look of huge puffed sleeves with a full skirt of ivory silk pure taffeta, old lace and hand embroidery incorporating 10,000 pearls and sequins. The dress had a twenty five foot train and when the Princess emerged from the carriage at the cathedral; the world saw how creased the dress appeared. The creases soon dropped out, but the fabric and construction method used was criticized worldwide. David Emanuel complained in a TV interview that the carriage was far too small for both Diana and her robustly built father along with her full skirted dress, hence the inevitable creases, and he was probably right, no fabric deserves to be treated that way.

Within five years of her marriage, she had developed the Dallas factor with big hair, big shoulder pads and big name glitzy outfits. The full skirted taffeta silk crinoline ball dress with puffed sleeves was widely copied by stores such as Laura Ashley and it became the dress style to wear to May Balls and similar events. Getting out a romantic fantasy ball gown was an occasion to shed the power suit showing the woman of aspiration and taste beneath. The Princess Of Wales adopted the tailored big shoulder look shortly after the christening of Prince William in 1982. She was already setting fashion trends. The soft dreamy styles adapted from the New Romantic look and hats which had been passé for decades were instantly a hit with all who saw her as an inspiration for living out their dreams of fashion.

She soon fuelled the fever even more as she wore sharper and sharper square shouldered suits. Like any young woman she experimented and not all of her outfits were a total success, but in the 1990’s, something rather different happened. In the 1990's till her tragic death in 1997, she was a world renowned fashion icon with a pared down cool sophisticated assured style in a honed and fit body. the suits simply defined her well honed figure, rather than adding padding to it.

Diana wore suits in the way a business woman wore them. She had found her style and suits were part of her working wardrobe. Her look became more international with a sophisticated and simple silhouette. The effect was all in the details that became her hallmark; superb cut, materials worn with coordinated accessories, handbags, jewelry and shoes. The Princess now had the resources, the independence and the experience to create a unique and personal style. British designers continued to provide outfits, notably Catherine Walker and Jacques Azagury, but increasingly she turned to international designers, to Versace, Valentino and Chanel.

The Princess understood that millions of people followed her as a fashion icon and that the crowds who gathered to meet her expected glamour. She also understood that the worldwide media coverage of her image could be used to good effect; to raise money for the charity causes she so passionately supported. On the year 1997, the Princess of Wales made a great decision by selling 79 dresses to support her charities. In fact, this was Prince William's bright idea to his mother; believing that this action will turn heads and the world would support the charities she worked on. By then, the princess decided to sell her favorite dresses on Christie's Auction House in New York city. The media covered this event, and the people were thrilled to see the Princess who attended the event and want to own Diana's beautiful dresses. The results were tremendous. The Princess of Wales raised more than three million dollars in that particular event and donated the money to all her charities through the Princess of Wales Funds in London.

Diana’s image will inevitably define a fashion look of the late 20th century. Some say she died young enough to only be recalled as a great beauty of her era rather than an ageing royal outsider.

Reference: Diana: An Extraordinary Life, a tribute magazine in 26 issues. Published in 1997.