Two months before her death, Diana, Princess of Wales, decided to part with a substantial portion of her wardrobe. A total of 79 dresses that the Princess of Wales put up for auction to raise funds for cancer and AIDS-related organizations, and to which she bid farewell without knowing that, over the years, some would end up becoming genuine collector’s pieces.
Almost three decades later, one of those designs is returning to sale this December. And it is not just any dress. It is the iconic ‘revenge’ dress, probably one of Diana, Princess of Wales’s most famous looks and a garment that ended up symbolizing much more than a fashion choice. A design by Christina Stambolian that drew worldwide attention when Charles III acknowledged his infidelity to Lady Diana with Camilla Parker Bowles.
Why it is known as Lady Di’s revenge dress
Sotheby’s will auction it next December 9 in New York, during Luxury Week, with an estimate of between 150,000 and 300,000 dollars. A figure that could fall short if we consider precedents: another dress of Diana’s valued initially at around 100,000 dollars ended up selling for more than 1.1 million.
Before changing hands, the famous black dress will be shown to the public again. It will travel to London, Hong Kong and Geneva before reaching New York for the auction.
But to understand why, 32 years later, it still generates so much anticipation we must go back to the night that turned it into history. June 29, 1994, Diana was going through one of the most difficult moments of her personal life.
The story was already far from that apparent fairy tale that began in 1981, when a 20-year-old Diana Spencer married Prince Charles before millions of viewers. In the following years, the shy young woman who had joined the royal family became one of the most photographed and popular women in the world.
Her marriage, however, was broken. Charles and Diana had officially announced their separation in 1992, although their divorce would not come until 1996. Their relationship and marital problems had also become the subject of almost constant media scrutiny.
The story of the ‘revenge’ dress
Diana was due to attend an event at the Serpentine Gallery in London. At the same time, British television aired an interview with then-Prince Charles by Jonathan Dimbleby in which he publicly acknowledged that he had been unfaithful during the marriage.
Diana knew the interview would air. She also knew that anything she did that night would be scrutinized in detail. Therefore, she decided to attend an event and appear in one of her most powerful outfits in history. A black crepe design, off-the-shoulder, a fitted silhouette, and a look far more daring than the one she had projected during much of her early years as a member of the royal family.
While Charles spoke about his marriage on television, Diana dominated the front pages. It was then that the press began referring to the design as the ‘revenge dress’, the revenge dress, interpreting it as a visual response to her husband’s confession.
The most curious thing about the story is that that dress hadn’t been created for that moment. It wasn’t even the first option Diana had intended to wear that night.
Diana, Princess of Wales, with the Revenge Dress.
La pieza estaba firmada por la diseñadora Christina Stambolian y llevaba alrededor de tres años en su armario sin estrenar. Según Sotheby’s, había sido diseñado para Diana en 1991, pero la princesa no se había atrevido a ponérselo en público porque le parecía demasiado audaz.
Y hay otro detalle significativo: no se trataba de una creación hecha a medida específicamente para la princesa. Según aquella ficha, Diana lo compró directamente de la colección de Stambolian, ya confeccionado.
Diana, Princess of Wales, with the famous black dress designed by Christina Stambolian.
El propio catálogo señalaba que el diseño había generado numerosos comentarios por el carácter atrevido de sus frunces y su construcción asimétrica.
Durante años, precisamente eso había hecho que Diana dudara a la hora de estrenarlo. Y finalmente aquello que le había parecido demasiado arriesgado terminó convirtiéndolo en el vestido perfecto para una de las noches en las que más ojos estaban puestos sobre ella.
Did Diana have another dress for that day?
Not everyone knows it, but Diana was going to wear a Valentino. In fact, the decision was made practically at the last moment.
Diana had planned to attend the event in a much more conventional Valentino dress, but she ended up changing her mind and reclaiming the Christina Stambolian that had been waiting in the wardrobe for years.
According to Anna Harvey, Diana’s stylist at the time, the princess simply wanted to look spectacular. She paired the dress with simple black shoes, a mini bag, and a red manicure that did not go unnoticed either.
But probably the other great protagonist of the look was the stunning pearl necklace with a large sapphire surrounded by diamonds. The stone originally came from a brooch that the Queen Mother had given to Diana and that had later been transformed into a necklace.
What did Diana’s appearance in this dress signify?
The dress also symbolized Diana’s transformation. Although the princess was already undergoing change as she began the divorce, it was clear that Lady Di was beginning to build a public identity increasingly independent of her status as the wife of the heir.
Romantic dresses, large volumes, and the more traditional codes of her early years in the royal family gave way to simpler and more modern silhouettes. Diana began using clothing not only to comply with protocol but also to communicate who she was.
Christina Stambolian herself compared the choice of the black dress to Odile, the black swan from Swan Lake, in contrast to the innocence traditionally associated with the white swan. A metaphor that seemed to fit that new stage of Diana.
Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing the black dress designed by Christina Stambolian.
Su transformación tampoco se limitó a la moda. La princesa convirtió su enorme visibilidad en una herramienta para apoyar causas que entonces seguían rodeadas de prejuicios, como el VIH y el sida, y más tarde hizo de la lucha contra las minas antipersona una de sus grandes causas públicas.
El 26 de junio de 1997, Christie’s celebró en Nueva York una gran subasta para la que Diana había seleccionado 79 vestidos de su armario. El objetivo era recaudar fondos para organizaciones relacionadas con el cáncer y el sida. La venta obtuvo 3,25 millones de dólares para estas causas.
¿Quién compró el vestido de la ‘venganza’?
El matrimonio escocés formado por Briege y Graeme Mackenzie se hizo con él por unas 39.000 libras. Se calcula que Diana había pagado originalmente alrededor de 900 libras. Desde entonces, el vestido ha permanecido en manos de la misma familia.
Hay un detalle que inevitablemente cambia la forma de contemplar aquella subasta desde el presente: Diana moriría poco más de dos meses después. El 31 de agosto de 1997, la princesa de Gales fallecía a los 36 años tras el accidente de tráfico ocurrido en París.
Etiqueta del vestido de Diana de Gales diseñado por Christina Stambolian.
Aquella venta se convirtió así, sin que ella pudiera saberlo, en una de las últimas grandes decisiones relacionadas con su armario.
Ahora, tras la muerte de Graeme Mackenzie, su viuda ha decidido que el vestido vuelva a cambiar de manos. Parte de los beneficios obtenidos en la nueva subasta se destinará a NHS Lothian Charity en nombre del Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
Otros vestidos de Lady Di ya han superado el millón de euros
Los entre 150.000 y 300.000 dólares que Sotheby’s calcula que podría alcanzar el vestido de la ‘venganza’ son solo una estimación. Y las últimas subastas relacionadas con Diana han demostrado que es especialmente difícil anticipar hasta dónde están dispuestos a llegar los coleccionistas.
Uno de los ejemplos más sorprendentes se produjo en diciembre de 2023. Un vestido de noche de Jacques Azagury que Diana había llevado en Florencia en 1985 salió a la venta con una estimación de alrededor de 100.000 dólares. El diseño combinaba un cuerpo de terciopelo negro decorado con estrellas y una falda azul de organza de inspiración bailarina.
Terminó alcanzando 1.148.080 dólares, más de once veces su estimación inicial y convirtiéndose entonces en el vestido de Diana más caro vendido en una subasta.
Solo unos meses más tarde, en junio de 2024, volvió a comprobarse el interés que despierta su armario. Un vestido de noche de Victor Edelstein, confeccionado en seda magenta y encaje y utilizado por la princesa en 1987, se adjudicó por 910.000 dólares. Su estimación inicial estaba entre los 200.000 y los 400.000 dólares.
