On Wednesday, June 29, 1994, Princess Diana made one of her most talked-about appearances. The mother of Prince William and Prince Harry attended Vanity Fair’s annual gala to raise funds for the Serpentine Gallery in London, wearing a dress that would become known as the “Revenge Dress”.
This iconic black silk garment, which fit Princess Diana’s figure perfectly and left her shoulders bare, completely broke with royal protocol.
Princess Diana black revenge dress: Why is it so called?
The day Diana wore the famous black dress coincided with the release of the two and a half hour television documentary about Prince Charles, where the son of Queen Elizabeth II made public his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, which is why the dress is known as the revenge dress.
For many, Charles’ documentary was a clear effort to project a more positive image after his divorce with Diana, but his confession of infidelity sunk him even further in the public eye.
While everyone in England was watching the Prince of Wales’ documentary, Princess Diana was seen wearing the most talked about dress of her life.
Who designed Princess Diana’s revenge dress?
The iconic dress was designed in 1991 by Christina Stambolian, by that time Princess Diana considered it quite revealing, as it had a revealing V-neckline, an asymmetrical hemline, bare shoulders and a very short sexy skirt.
“She thought it was too daring,” Stambolian said in 2013.
It should be noted, Diana had planned to wear for the Vanity Fair gala another dress, a Valentino design but changed her mind after information was leaked to the press of what she would wear for that event.
It is not known if Princess Diana was aware of the reaction that the revenge dress would generate, although it was learned from her former stylist Anna Harvey, that Diana wanted to look radiant that day.
What happened to the iconic revenge dress?
Finally, two months before her death, Diana auctioned several dresses among them, the ‘revenge dress’ which was purchased for 65,000 dollars, the money raised went to charities related to cancer and AIDS, two causes that defended the “People’s Princess”.
