Talk about Lady Diana’s style and someone with faintest knowledge in fashion would know her. She was the Princess of Wales but the real queen of fashion back in the early 90s. Since the last two years, seasons of The Crown have been airing and stirring dailys for it’s story – based on the British royal family. However, this year when Season 4 released the internet was brewing with praise and love for Princess Di – as fondly called by her people.
Recently, Instagram saw many replicating the looks of Princess Diana. Her classic white shirts with pearls, pink sheath dresses, extravagant gowns, they all have been not just great fashion choices but trendsetters. Even today, after years her fashion is inspirational and on-point. Accused by her husband of being frivolous, she made fashion so important and a synonym to herself that it keeps her alive even today.
She was engulfed with melancholic depression and was said to be accompanied by eating disorders; however, she was a people’s person who loved to give and be out there helping people. Paul Burrell, in his book, The Way We Were: Remembering Diana, writes how a trip to India changed her and made her want to give her life to helping the needy.
However, on the flip side, fashion remained synonymous to her. Perhaps, her sartorial choices were not just colours and designers but had a deeper meaning to it. Elizabeth Holmes, in her book, HRH writes, “19-year-old Lady Diana Spencer turned up to her fiancé’s polo match in a kitschy knit. It was the summer of 1981, and the world was enchanted by the soon-to-be wife of the future king of England. Over a ruffled blouse, Diana wore a bright red sweater covered in white sheep. Was it a sign of hesitation about her upcoming nuptials? Or was it simply a young woman who thought a wool sweater covered in sheep was kinda funny?”
Well, she wore the same sweater again in 1980. But Holmes says, “And then there is this intriguing twist: The sweater Diana wore in 1983 does not appear to be the same one she wore two years earlier. It’s the same style, but not the same garment. There are noticeable differences in the pattern, including an extra sheep on her shoulder. The black sheep’s nose points to her left on the first and the right on the second. Perhaps her dramatic weight loss between those two years meant she needed another size? Whatever her reason for tracking down another sweater, going to the effort to do so makes the message seem that much more intentional.”
She always believed that fashion is a way of expression and that is how she has used it, strongly making a point with her sartorial choices. The most talked about ensemble, which one might think of it to be her wedding dress, was actually her parting away dress. A black off-the-shoulder dress called the Revenge Dress by Christina Stambolian and a choker arriving at the Serpentine Gallery in London from 1994.
Remembering Princess Diana today, on her birthday, here are her iconic looks that have made history and are still prevalent in the fashion spectacle: