I was walking almost on air. Diana had that effect.
Few names resonate as strongly as Princess Diana's, and even fewer biographies are revisited with the same frequency. While each account of her life has a unique focus and tone, one element is constant: Princess Diana was, and remains, a fashion icon.
Diana’s dazzling style influenced everyday fashion decisions in Britain and beyond. Fashion designer Elizabeth Emanuel, who designed clothing for the Princess of Wales, recounts: "Everybody wanted to look like Princess Diana. She would wear a pair of tights which had a bow on the back and suddenly that was everywhere, everybody wanted those." Even decades after Diana's tragic passing, her style and attire inspire. In the Spring of 2018, Virgil Abloh based his complete 40-look collection for Off-White on Princess Diana's wardrobe. In a 2017 interview with British Vogue, Abloh commented:
"She was a strong individual that despite her position had her own personal taste and it came out through the clothes."
In the early 1980s, Anna Harvey, deputy editor of Vogue at the time, advised the Princess of Wales on her wardrobe and style. Harvey suggested working with Victor Edelstein, who at the time was producing high-end couture for private clients, after a few years at Christian Dior in London. Harvey was drawn to Edelstein's work: "Victor’s collection was young, beautiful and much of it was perfect for the Princess.”
Victor was in a league of his own. He had amazing taste and cut.
Edelstein went on to design dresses for Princess Diana for over a decade, from 1982 to 1993. Looking back on this time, Edelstein recounts: "When I started designing for her she was just starting to move away from the first period of clothes – what I think were rather like little girl’s clothes made bigger. Her style became more sleek and sophisticated, and more grown up."
The present dress is a prime example of this sleek and sophisticated style.
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Edelstein Design
1989
Victor Edelstein designed this dress as part of his collection for Autumn 1989. A preparatory sketch for the dress sold at Kerry Taylor Auctions in 2018. His annotations for the dress read "aubergine colored velvet dress with tulip skirt."
Although designed as part of his collection for the season, Edelstein includes the outline of a tiara in the sketch — perhaps suggesting he specifically had Diana in mind for this dress.
In addition to the present dress, Edelstein designed some of Diana's most notable and recognizable looks. Among these looks was the iconic midnight blue velvet gown, now nicknamed the “Travolta Dress” after Diana famously danced with John Travolta in 1985 during her visit to the White House.
She understood how what you are wearing could really convey a warmth, intimidation, it could reinforce hierarchy or it could undermine hierarchy and create more of a relationship
