With coronation day impending, and everybody wondering what the royals will be wearing, it’s a good time to remember the most fashionable royal of all: Princess Diana.
And those with bankrolls worthy of a prince can do more than merely remember. Come August 26 and 27, they will be able to own pieces of Diana’s fashion history.
That is when Julien’s Auctions, in collaboration with Turner Classic Movies, in their Hollywood Legends auction, will put three of Diana’s couture classics on the sale block. Prices are expected to go as high as $400,000 for a sparkling red gown that she wore on an equally red carpet for the November 1991 London premiere of “Hot Shots!,” which starred Charlie Sheen.
The stunner was designed by the then up-and-coming Bruce Oldfield, a favorite couturier of Diana’s. According to Martin Nolan, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s, she went out of her way to “shine a spotlight on young, British designers. Diana liked working with emerging talent.”
She was not alone in having a soft spot for the dressmaker. Camilla, as per Nolan, is also partial to Oldfield. “What’s interesting is that Bruce Oldfield has also designed for Camilla. There is speculation that Bruce is the designer who was chosen to make the dress that Camilla will wear to the coronation.”
For Diana, fashion choices went beyond simple style. “A lot of times [due to her position in the royal family], Diana may not have been able to express her true thoughts publicly,” said Nolan. “But Diana knew the power of clothing as a form of expression.”
Her “Hot Shots!” dress is a perfect example. It was worn in 1991, five years before she and Prince Charles split, dazzling at the Odeon Cinema in London’s Leicester Square, and it spoke volumes about her being more than a frumpy royal. Especially after she encountered Sheen on the carpet.
“She looked incredible,” said Nolan. “She had red shoes and you can see her on the red carpet with Charlie Sheen. She was dressed for the cinema and brought Hollywood glamour to Leicester Square.”
That sensibility earned her a place at the Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile, where 32 of Diana’s dresses are in the permanent collection. “I see Diana’s dresses and I see Diana,” Jorge Yarur, co-founder and director of the museum, told The Post. “The dresses are more than dresses. They are her. Diana had her own style.”
The three pieces, being put up by Julien’s, were purchased at a Christie’s auction, benefiting charity in 1997, when Diana sold 79 of her dresses.
The original buyer of Julien’s three was a Michigan woman by the name of Ellen Petho. She passed away recently and her estate is selling the dresses, with some proceeds going to charity – an act that would have gotten a nod of approval from Diana.
The least known of the garments is an ivory number with bands of black, designed by the late Catherine Walker, who was responsible for more than 1,000 of Diana’s garments. Expected to go for a high price of $80,000, it was worn to a private event and did not get much coverage.
According to Nolan, that was precisely the point: “She was with her close circle and did not want to be the center of attention. That is the message sent by this dress. Diana was classy and elegant and there was no agenda.”
When it comes to another Walker creation, a gown in jade green and black, there was a distinct signal going out.
Nolan believes that the garment symbolized Diana having it both ways. “She wore it to a gala event in Toronto in 1986,” he said of the gown with a high estimate of $200,000.
“It looks beautiful and conservative. But what you don’t see is a long slit on the side. She was expressing all the protocols and expectations of the royal family. But it also has the sexiness you would expect from a woman in the prime of her life. She was respectful but stayed true to herself.”
Considering the long-running appeal of everything Diana, Nolan added, “She did not become Queen, but people still have a love affair with her.”
