What would you do if a dress once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, turned up on the rail of a second-hand shop? One woman in 1980s England had other ideas. As Vanity Fair Italia recalls this week, she bought the outfit, had it altered, wore it to a wedding and, by the end of the day, had champagne down the front of it.
A turquoise suit made for a royal tour
The piece in question is a slubbed turquoise silk ensemble by Catherine Walker, one of Diana’s favourite designers: a dress with vertical pleats on the bodice and a softly gathered skirt, plus a matching jacket. According to the catalogue of Kerry Taylor Auctions in London, Diana wore it on 24 April 1983, during the royal tour of Australia and New Zealand with the then Prince Charles. That day, at the Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae in Gisborne on New Zealand’s North Island, she was photographed receiving the traditional Māori hongi greeting, in which noses are pressed together.
Kerry Taylor told The Telegraph that the suit was part of a large order Diana placed with Walker, whom she trusted so completely that she did not even ask to see sketches first. The auction house adds that Walker’s studio recalled making only one ensemble in exactly this style, solely for the Princess.
From a Hampshire dress agency to the dance floor
After the tour, the suit took an unexpected route. In the 1980s it was bought from a dress agency in Hampshire, where the seller was told in confidence that the clothes had come from a relative of Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The buyer’s daughter picked up a Diana dress of her own on the same trip: a brown tartan day dress by Caroline Charles that the Princess wore to the Braemar Highland Games in September 1982.
Neither piece stayed in a wardrobe. The mother had the turquoise jacket altered (comparing old photographs with the auction pictures, the gathered cuffs appear to have gone) and wore the whole outfit to a wedding, where champagne was spilled down the front. The daughter, with a figure very close to Diana’s, wore the tartan dress without changes.
A costly toast, but still a collector’s piece
When both dresses came up at Kerry Taylor Auctions’ Passion for Fashion sale in December 2016, the alterations and stains told on the estimate: the auctioneer said the turquoise suit would otherwise have been valued at around £6,000 rather than £600. Collectors were not put off, and it sold for £4,200. Vanity Fair Italia reports that the tartan dress fetched £5,500.
It is a charming reminder that even the most famous clothes were made to be worn and enjoyed. If a jewel-toned outfit is on your list for the next wedding, a touch of colour from our aquamarine earrings or sapphire pendants works beautifully with turquoise, while our jewellery sets, bracelets and women’s shoulder bags finish the look. Just keep the champagne at arm’s length.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, Kerry Taylor Auctions, The Telegraph, Marie Claire.
