Princess Diana’s ‘Revenge Dress’ To Be Auctioned for the First Time in 30 Years by Sotheby’s New York

LONDON – Princess Diana’s black silk strapless “revenge dress,” which she wore to a 1994 fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in London on the same night her estranged husband, Prince Charles, revealed his marital infidelities on national television, is going under the hammer for the first time since her death in 1997.

The dress, by the Greek designer Christina Stambolian, will hit the auction block on Dec. 9 in New York during Sotheby’s luxury week with an estimate of $150,000–$300,000. Prior to the sale, it will go on tour, starting with London on Sept. 18. It will travel to Hong Kong and Geneva before landing in New York.

The princess first sold the dress herself in June 1997, a few months before she was killed in a car accident in Paris. It was one of 79 dresses that the royal sold at auction to raise funds to benefit cancer and AIDS charities.

A rare copy of the original catalogue, numbered and signed by the princess and Stambolian, and crediting the young Prince William with the idea of the sale, will be included in the lot. Part of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to NHS Lothian Charity on behalf of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

The dress has been held in a private collection since 1997, and the consignor, who remains anonymous, said it transcends fashion and celebrity.

“My late husband and I knew that this dress was something special. Princess Diana was walking into the worst night of her life, but you would never know it to look at her. It went from a cocktail dress to a statement in the time it took to photograph her. Thirty years on, you can say the words anywhere in the world, and everyone knows exactly which dress you mean,” the person said.

“Bidding at auction and winning it was one of the great days of our life together. With him gone, that chapter has closed, and so should this one. I hope it goes to someone who will enjoy owning it as much as we did,” she added.

The dress quickly became a popular culture symbol, giving rise to the phrase “revenge dressing” as shorthand for clothing chosen to project confidence, independence and a break with the past.

While the dress may have been locked into the public imagination, it has not been seen in public for nearly 30 years.

Following the 1997 sale, the dress was used for charity fundraising events around Scotland, including an evening at the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow that Stambolian attended. Its final time on display was at Paisley Museum in Scotland, after which it disappeared from public view for nearly three decades.

Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion said, “On her own terms, Princess Diana turned the dress into one of the most powerful messages she ever made, during one of the most scrutinized and emotionally charged episodes of her life.”

She added that “what became a global ‘viral’ moment also gave license to anyone, but especially women, to use fashion beyond adornment and much more intentionally and meaningfully – as a shield, a weapon or both. Princess Diana 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.”

Diana’s choice of the dress was a last-minute decision. She was originally going to wear a more conservative Valentino design, but decided that, given the world’s eyes would be on her, she needed to make a statement. She had initially considered the dress to be “too daring,” which is why it had been hanging in her closet, unworn, for three years.

According to Anna Harvey, the late Vogue editor and Diana’s stylist at the time who had helped her prepare for the Serpentine event, the princess “wanted to look a million dollars” that night.

She accessorised the dress, which had an asymmetrical hemline and a train, with black heels, red nail polish, a clutch bag and a statement choker created from an antique diamond and sapphire brooch given to her as a wedding gift by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

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