A dress worn by Princess Diana dubbed her “revenge dress” is being put up for auction.
The late Princess of Wales wore the strapless black silk evening dress to a party in London hours after her then-estranged husband Prince Charles admitted to committing adultery during their marriage.
Her dramatic arrival at the Serpentine Gallery in 1994 in the outfit became an iconic pop-culture moment.
Auction house Sotheby’s expects the dress to sell for up to £220,000 ($300,000) when it goes under the hammer on 9 December – the first time it has been up for auction since 1997, when the princess sold 79 of her dresses just months before her death to raise money for charities.
Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said in a statement that Princess Diana “understood instinctively” that fashion can be a language in its own right.
“On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinised and emotionally charged episodes of her life,” she said.
“She walked into a moment in which so much of her story was being told for her and, through what she chose to wear, reclaimed the narrative for herself.”
The same evening as the Serpentine Gallery fundraising dinner, a documentary had aired in which the Prince of Wales (now King) had admitted that he had been unfaithful to Diana, after years of rumours and media reports.
The content of the ITV interview had been leaked a few days prior, meaning Diana’s first public appearance after it aired was widely interpreted as her reply.
Anna Harvey, her stylist at the time, has been reported as saying that the princess “wanted to look a million dollars”.
She made a last-minute wardrobe change before heading out to the event, setting aside a less striking Valentino gown in favour of the off-the-shoulder dress with an asymmetric hemline and chiffon train by Greek designer Christina Stambolian, which she accessorised with a royal necklace, black clutch and black heels.
The “revenge dress” will be toured around the world prior to its sale, appearing at Sotheby’s London showroom from 18 to 24 September, before heading to Hong Kong for the start of October, Geneva for the start of November and then on to New York, where it will be sold.
It was last auctioned by Diana herself, as one of dozens of items sold to raise funds for cancer and Aids charities.
The dress was bought by then-Glasgow resident Briege Mackenzie and her husband Graeme, who paid £39,098 for it.
