Lady Diana's Dress On Auction

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 15:41

The memory of the historic moment, when Lady Diana met Prince Charles for the first time, can now be treasured by you. This is possible at an auction of the Black dress which Lady Diana flaunted on that very day.

The black taffeta gown, which Diana wore shortly before her engagement to Charles in 1981, has recently turned up in a wardrobe at the studio of dressmakers David and Elizabeth Emanuel and now is set to fetch up to 50,000 Pounds at Kerry Taylor auction.

This dress had made quite a stir in the media. The young Lady Diana wearing this dress had to bend down to get out of the car. The headlines in the next day's newspaper was, "Daring Di sets fashion as she takes the plunge".

It was then an unusual choice, as the Royal Family wore the colour only in the time of mourning. But the 19 year old Lady Diana, did not bother, all she wanted was to look elegant and grown-up.

The public, however, went wild over the dress. At the time to her wedding, the Lady lost so much weight that she returned the gown to the Emanuels to have it taken in.

The alterations required were so drastic that they decided, to rather re-make a smaller version for her. They kept the original and then the whole thing was forgotten.

This gown later went on to be part of the Emanuel Archive of Princess Diana.The collection portrays the transformation of the Princess from a young, inexperienced teenager into a world-renowned style icon.

A large part of the Emanuel Archive boasts the Royal wedding gown, toils for the bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses, the layered tulle petticoat worn by the Princess for fittings and rehearsals at St Pauls Cathedral, and a duplicate sequined veil.All these are expected worth 175,000 Pounds.

It also contains invoices, letters from the Princess' mother, correspondence with Buckingham Palace and a photographic record of the making of the bridal gown.
The collection also features fashion designs for the Princess' official tours to Venice 1984 and the Middle East in 1986.