The Black Taffeta Gown

It is a week since the engagement of HRH the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer was announced, and the future Princess’s first public engagement is to be a musical recital at Goldsmiths’ Hall.



The 19-year-old Diana has chosen a black dress from the Emmanuels. When her car arrives at Goldsmiths’ Hall, she steps out to a mass of flashing cameras.

An excitable writer describes it as ‘the greatest moment of sexual theatre since Cinderella swapped her scuffed scullery clogs for Prince Charming’s glass slippers’.

Diana, already nervous, is taken aback. ‘I was quite big-chested then and they all got frightfully excited,’ she says later.

As the evening progresses, Diana grows even more unsure of herself. ‘It was an horrendous occasion. I didn’t know whether to go out of the door first. I didn’t know whether your handbag should be in your left hand or your right hand.’

A reception at Buckingham Palace follows. The 52-year-old Princess Grace, the object of this sort of attention back in the Fifties, notices Diana’s discomfort, and suggests they retire to the ladies’ room for a little chat.

Diana tells Princess Grace that she is worried her dress is unbecoming. It is, she explains, two sizes too small.

Her experience tonight has suddenly made her realise how unbearable it will be to have hundreds of people always looking at her. She sees stretching ahead of her a life without any form of privacy. What should she do? She bursts into tears.

Princess Grace puts her arms around her and pats her on the shoulder. She cups her cheeks in her hands and jokes, gently: ‘Don’t worry, dear. You’ll see — it’ll only get worse.’


The two women return to the throng, there to mingle and be assessed.
Eighteen months later, Princess Grace is killed after her car fails to take a sharp corner on the serpentine D37 outside Monaco. Though the Prince of Wales sees no reason why Diana should attend the funeral, she is adamant that she should go.

By now, she has grown used to the hullabaloo surrounding her every appearance, and in some way appears to feed off it. Now in another black dress, far more demure, she is the centre of attention at the funeral. She doesn’t put a foot wrong.


At the reception afterwards, she speaks to Princess Caroline of Monaco about her mother. ‘We were psychically connected,’ she tells her. In June 2010 the dress is bought at a London auction for £192,000 by a fashion museum in Chile

The Queen Mary Emerald Choker

For today's Memories of Diana I thought it would be really nice to look back on the occasions that Diana wore the Queen Mary Emerald and Diamond choker.

During her life as Princess of Wales, Diana wore the choker on many occasions, in different ways, as a headband on tour in Australia, and also as a choker.

Diana and Kate Fashion twins?

Blue Gowns: Kate Middleton wore an elegant BCBG dress to a ball in 2006, mirroring the blue gown Diana wore at her first official royal tour of Australia solo.


Floppy Feathers: The iconic feathered cap that Kate Middleton wore to the wedding of Laura Parker-Bowles in 2006 was strikingly similar to Princess Diana’s traditional beige cap.

The Power Suit: As Kate has recently become more groomed for her role of Princess, she was spotted in this red skirt suit, similar to the belted skirt suits Princess Diana wore. The turtleneck adds the conservative flair necessary for Royal outings.



We loved Princess Diana’s shy nature, and we equally love Kate’s confident, put-together style. Word is Kate has been reviewing footage of Diana since the engagement so she’ll know how to carry herself like a true princess. As far as her fashion goes, it looks like she’s got it down. Let’s just hope royalty treats Kate better.

30 years ago today

With all the coverage of William's engagement. I thought it was a good time to look back at February 24, 1981. The day that Charles & Diana offically announced their engagement. Diana dressed in a cobalt blue suit, bought off the peg from Harrods.
Showed off her famous engagement ring for the first time. And set a new fashion trend with her signature white hose and flat pumps, that would become 2 of her early fashion hallamrks.

The Caring Dress

Diana had a nack for finding the right outfit for the occasion. A blue flowered dress by Beville Sasson became her "Caring Dress" it was worn on several occasions, and numerous hospital visits. Diana felt that the dress was cheerful and made the patients feel better. The most famous example is the photo of Diana in her caring dress holding a child in hospital in Brazil. The dress was also worn on a trip to Canada, to a church service with a matching blue hat.

Diana's Favorite Fashions

Like every woman, Diana had her favorites. Although she was know as fashion icon, she also had a few favorites that she wore on several occasions.
The white and blue coatdress by Catherine Walker was made for a 1985 visit to Italy.
Apparently Diana loved it so much she wore it 10 times. That tops the number of times she wore any outfit in public. Sometimes with the sailor hat made by Graham Smith some times with red accessories, but it was a servicable dress and suited many occasions.
The other outfit was the Hachi beaded gown. Made for the 1983 royal tour of Australia,Diana wore it on several occasions most notably to two James Bond Film premiers, six years apart! Also Diana had worn it the previous night to a private party at Balmoral. The dress also made the 1985 trip to America. It was also one of the 79 dresses sold at the infamous Christie's Auction.

Catherine Walker dies

Sad news that Catherine Walker, 65, owner of the Chelsea Design Company. Has passed from breast cancer. Catherine designed thmost of the outfits that Diana wore from the begininig of the 1990's, Diana wore one of Catherine's shift dresses on her last public engagement in July, 1997 and Diana was buried in a black Catherine Walker design. Catherine became the closest thing to a personal designer to Diana than anyone and was a major factor helping to change Diana from shy di to Dynasty Di to a business woman.