Unseen cocktail dress worn by Princess Diana and custom-made by one of her favourite designers Catherine Walker goes up for sale for $200,000
A stunning cocktail dress made for Princess Diana by one of her favorite designers has gone on sale for $200,000.
The dress is part of a celebrity fashion sale held by Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles, California.
Catherine Walker designed the black silk velvet dress for the people’s princess who wore it to a private function in 1985.
The dress resembles her ‘revenge dress’ by Christina Stamboulian that she wore in 1994, a day after her then husband Charles confessed to adultery on television.
The Walker dress features an off-the-shoulder neckline, ivory satin accents, a bodice with princess seams and a knee-length hem with ‘zebra-esque’ black and white strips around the top and bottom, as well as the bottom. of the sleeves.
A stunning cocktail dress made for Princess Diana by one of her favorite designers has been put up for sale for £160,000 ($200,000) held by Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles, California.
Fashion writers claimed that Diana favored off-the-shoulder necklines because they showed off her “spectacular gym-toned shoulders.”
Diana is said to have worn a thousand designs by the French-English courtier Walker and was buried in a black dress purchased from her shortly before her death in a car crash in 1997.
Also up for grabs is a sleeveless Givenchy wool, tweed dress with matching tweed jacket and white hat, worn by Princess Grace of Monaco in 1961 during a meeting with President Kennedy at the White House. Its value is £64,000.
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex In The City opening tutu, created by the show’s costume designer Patricia Field in 1997, could fetch £9,600.
A spokesperson for Julien said: ‘Diana wore Catherine Walker’s pieces for their dignified aesthetic and elegance.
‘Walker was in tune with the princess and knew what colours, neckline and arm length worked for her.
‘Walker was one of the few designers who could dedicate a large portion of her time and business to Diana’s wardrobe because her label was made to order.
Catherine Walker designed the black silk velvet dress for the people’s princess who wore it to a private function in 1985
Diana wore a similar off-the-shoulder black dress, by Christina Stamboulian, to a party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994
“Because Walker was able to devote so much time to her work with Diana, their close collaboration resulted in the signature style that made Princess Diana a fashion icon.”
The late British fashion journalist Georgina Howell wrote in Diana Her Life In Fashion: ‘Diana loved off-the-shoulder and halter-neck dresses… because they showed off her spectacular gym-toned shoulders.’
The sale will take place on January 18 at Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles.
It comes after a mystery superfan of Princess Diana broke fashion records after a dress she wore in 1985 was bought at auction for almost £1 million.
The black, ballerina-length velvet evening dress sold for eleven times its estimate at Julien’s Auctions in Hollywood after tipping for $100,000.
Fans of the late Princess fought to unforeseen heights last weekend, with the winner handing out $1.148 million (£904,262).
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex In The City opening tutu, created by the show’s costume designer Patricia Field in 1997, could fetch £9,600
Also up for grabs is a sleeveless Givenchy wool, tweed dress with matching tweed jacket and white hat, worn by Princess Grace of Monaco in 1961 during a meeting with President Kennedy at the White House. Its value is £64,000
Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco at the White House to meet President Kennedy in 1961
The dress, complete with shoulder pads, a blue organza skirt, a large blue bow and a sash, is now the new record holder as the most expensive dress worn by Diana to be sold at auction.
The previous record holder, a 1991 velvet dress by Victor Edelstein, fetched $604,800 (£476,437) at auction in January.
Diana first wore the dress to a dinner at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy in 1985, while on a royal tour with her then-husband Charles, Prince of Wales. She also performed it again with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1986.
The identity of the buyer of the Jacques Azagury dress is unknown, prompting speculation about who Diana’s mega-fan could be.
The collectible is made from fabric chosen by world-renowned textile merchant Jakob Schlaepher and features blue metallic embroidered stars that have been carefully threaded by the design team.
The ballerina skirt was considered a nod to her patronage of the English National Ballet and her love of dance.
Diana initially donned the dress in Italy in 1985 during a royal tour with her then-husband Charles, Prince of Wales (pictured) and again with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1986
A dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1985 broke a new fashion record and went under the hammer in Hollywood for eleven times its estimated price
Auctioneers describe the outfit as a ‘beautiful, romantic ballerina-length evening dress’.
The catalog continued: ‘With padded shoulder pads, it features a black velvet bodice with embroidered stars in metallic thread made from Jakob Schlaepfer fabric with a two-tiered royal blue organza skirt with a sash and bow.
‘Diana wore numerous Azagury dresses and gowns, one of her favorites being an ice blue silk Georgette mini dress which she wore at the Royal Albert Hall for a performance of Swan Lake on 3 June 1997.’
There were 19 bids on the dress, with all proceeds from the sale going to the New York Historical Society.
Diana went on to wear several Jacques Azagury pieces during her time with the royal family, after the Moroccan-British fashion designer was introduced to her by Anna Harvey, the fashion editor of British Vogue.