With a relevancy as eternal as her timeless style, Princess Diana remains a prominent
style icon in both media and culture by which generations have looked to for inspiration.
With trend cycles of everyday wear, television, film, and high fashion editorials, her style
continues to be revered and adored in the hearts of many. Her codes of dress were an
extension of her own heart, developing an entire distinct language throughout the development
of her conscious style.
Her style is one that cannot be defined simply under one label. Diana’s image evolution
has a great range from the Sloane Ranger uniform and athleisure ensembles to romantic looks,
classic suits and daring gowns, her personal style surpasses a look and has become an extension
of her spirit in the moment. Making fashion history time and time again. For instance,
her image impact creating the solane ranger aesthetic, her infamous wedding train, The
"Travolta dress,” the revenge dress, and the Dior slip to the Met Gala. Just to name
a few iconic style moments out of numerous.
Despite her many style labels attained and sported over the years, she was never one
to act in order to attain a look, but rather understood the means to develop a true style.
It entails leveraging your own personality, intelligence, and experiences to produce the
look. Even though others have the same style label as you, your personal style is unique
to you as it is a culmination of all you think, feel, want, and do.
Diana’s approach to dress carried this concept, with statement living looks over statement
pieces, cementing herself in the moment visually. More than words ever could.
Eleri Lynn, curator of “Diana: Her Fashion Story,” spoke to Vanity Fair about Diana’s
style, stating, “It is very surprising how little footage there exists of the Princess
actually speaking. We all have a sense of what we think she was like, and yet so much
of it comes from still photographs, and a large part of that [idea] is communicated
through the different clothes that she wore. [..] She had really sort of transcended fashion
and achieved an incredible chic and elegance, all you saw was her, and the clothes became
secondary to her own presence and her work.”
She was also deeply aware of how clothing might shape her public image and how clothing
was a tool for her to express herself and speak to others in a nonverbal manner. Diana’s
codes of dress did not follow suit to fashion of her time, but rather was mindful and well
suited to her, hence the eternal elegance and timeless looks she is well noted for.
Diana’s styling goals were to not become this style icon she is dubbed today, but rather
to appeal to the senses of sight and touch, in order to convey her gentle and charismatic
nature. This would not only establish her public image, but to garner personal connections
to the people around her. .One instance is her utilization of color psychology, she opted
for hues of cheerful nature to tangibly depict her warmth and openness. Another example of
her styling approach would be to adorn herself with more prominent jewelry so that children
could play with it.
The last example of this section is how she would often wear velvet when visiting the
blind so that physically she was soft and substantial physically.
From these three styling techniques, we can see that her fashion served her as a person,
allowing for her to ground herself and create a space for correspondence. Her infamous gesture
of removing her gloves to hold hands is a simple movement, but one that balanced her
glamour and natural presence all while carrying a heartfelt message through how she handled
garments. Iain Hollingshead of The Telegraph wrote: "[Diana] had an ability to sell clothes
just by looking at them." With this awareness, she would utilize style to endorse charities
and express herself.
Though people take style cues from Diana, her aesthetic is one not to be pinned down.
She is adored for her taste in fashion, but unlike many style icons, she does not have
a single garment that is well associated with her. Instead she has moments by which the
fashion is notable, rather than the other way around. Every look has a story, the look
doesn’t make the story, it simply contributes to it.
Diana adored fashion as it was a personal interest in her upbringing. The term Sloane
Ranger refers to an upper-middle or upper-class individual, who embodies a highly specific
upbringing and outlook. Diana, prior to marriage is one such archetype. While remaining elevated
and classy, the Sloane Ranger style is straightforward, simple, and unpretentious while reflecting
the lifestyle, education, and social standing of the wearer to some extent.
With the newfound requirements for her public figure status she developed an international
presence. "She was always very thoughtful about how her clothes would be interpreted,
it was something that really mattered to her", according to Anna Harvey, a former British
Vogue editor and Diana's fashion mentor. She was consistently photographed and what she
wore was documented, the dress codes to adhere to were established firmly.
In the beginning, Diana possessed more traditionally romantic looks and would often look to British
fashion designs such as Murray Arbeid, Belville Sassoon, and Gini Fratini. These designers
upheld classic tailoring for daywear along with evening wear of romantic nature that
dated back fifty years prior to her time. Her style would remain traditional and produce
the look of the role she was growing into. For those fashion oriented, the living nickname
Dynasty Di was given in honor, for her eye that found wide-shouldered gowns, lush fabrics
and lavish pieces, even making the most casual look upscale, that would influence decades
of fashion. Hats were an essential element of her fashion sense amid her early years
in the press, and they always finished off her ensembles.
For her wedding in 81, she was dressed in a down that embraced modernity of this point
in time with large sleeves and an over-the-top 25 feet long train that flowed behind her,
the longest in royal wedding history.
The short lived ruffles and frills would transform her staple silhouette to become sleek with
embellishments or adornments that would compliment her beauty for events and press photographs.
Her dubbed "royal uniform" cast away the 80s nuances and romantic variables of her look
for a fluid embracive silhouette that flattered the silhouette and went onto becoming a timeless
option many opt for to this day. With the helping, talented hand of Catherine Walker,
Diana's style began into the renowned one she is more associated with: her sleekly elegant,
tailored looks that worked for her public image and own personal diplomacy of fashion.
Walker contributed in the formulation of Diana's codes of dress from the 1980s forward so that
she could maintain her modern look while catering to the image of her public life. For public
events and in her travels, she would often colorblock, print play, or make use of leading
lines to have diplomatic, eye-catching looks. She would consciously think of others’ culture
and adapt her to pay respect to the people around her.
Diana's style shifted following the events of her life, the most emblematic being the
“Revenge Dress.” Anna Harvey, her former stylist, stated how Diana strived to look
"like a million dollars" this night. Initially she was meant to wear another dress, but the
last minute switch was made despite her hesitancy as she saw the dress as too daring. “[The
princess] chose not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white. She was clearly
angry. She played it like Odile, in black. She wore bright red nail enamel, which we
had never seen her do before. She was saying, ‘Let’s be wicked tonight!’” she was
quoted as saying.
The Christina Stambolian dress was an off the shoulder form fit with a flowing back
trail. Diana paired this with silk Manolo Blahnik heels, sheer tights, and statement
choker. It had a flowing black trail and a sweetheart neckline. Diana wore a pair of
silk Manolo Blahnik high heels, sheer black tights, and her statement choker necklace
to finish it off. Though the look was dark, her brightness shined through and her statement
was made clear to events surrounding the night.
Her codes of dress were no longer necessary to cater to royal protocols and her fashion
icon status would grow with her new independence. She began to wear more Jacques Azagury in
the 1990s, which encouraged lower hemlines and low cuts.
However, she began to gravitate toward European designers, such as Versace, Valentino and
Dior, Lacroix, and Chanel. With a refined and staple silhouette and a high visual interest
to be found in the details. Her signatures included luxurious, well crafted pieces with
strong cutes paired with coordinating handbags, jewelry, and shoes as her calling card. Diana
was regularly pictured holding distinct Gucci and Dior handbags during the 1990s. She made
the purses legendary, and they became so closely identified with her that they were dubbed
Gucci Diana and Lady Dior, correspondingly. Her language of style contributed greatly
to the enduring look of fashion in the late twentieth century.
For example, when Princess Diana wore an all-white ensemble to go shopping in Knightsbridge in
1994.with a foundation of white streamlined trousers and turtleneck, An olive green jacket
and a black chunky belt accented and pulled together the look.
Unlike before, her natural waistline is highlighted and the structured blazer refines the look
while maintaining the elevated casual essences. The outfit is completed with white and brown
loafers paired off with a matching tote.
Often designers on runway pay homage to Diana through their creative visions that carry
on her spirit in the modern world. For example, Virgil Abloh's Princess Diana-Inspired Collection
For Off-White and Tory Burch Spring Summer 2020.
Editorials have as well such as Hailey Baldwin as Princess Diana ‘Vogue Paris’featuring
Diana’s relaxed, chic, laid-back looks with athletic undertones. Sunniva Vaatevik paid
tribute to Princess Diana For Spanish Vogue, styled by Sara Fernandez Castro, to recreate
the earlier princess style through brands such as Chanel, Dior, Valentino.
The fashion of Diana is one that is not just timeless visually, but her presence and aura
has made her imagery eternally elegant, as she as a person, was simply that. Her glamour
and vulnerability have made the many garments and styles hold further meaning.
In and out, she was a gorgeous woman who was unabashedly herself at all moments, her wardrobe
was caring, a sartorial share from her heart that the world carries on to this day into
the future.
I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, please subscribe, like, turn on notifications,
and comment. Thank you so much for watching.