Now's Your Chance To Buy One Of Princess Diana's Iconic Gowns
Image: Sotheby’s
For some, Princess Diana will always be the ultimate royal fashionista and of the style icon’s famous evening dresses is heading back to auction for the first time in 25 years.
The dress is part of the Sotheby’s Masters Week exhibitions in New York City starting January 21 before it will be up for auction on January 27. The one-of-a-kind dress was created by British society designer, Victor Edelstein as part of his 1989 autumn collection. According to the Sotheby’s website, Edelstein’s design sketches included a tiara,“ perhaps suggesting he specifically had Diana in mind for this dress.”
Image: Sotheby’s
Royal watchers may remember the late Princess of Wales wore the purple velvet gown on several occasions in the 1990’s, including an official portrait by Lord Snowdon in 1991, and later in a 1997 Vanity Fair story after her divorce from Prince Charles featuring photographs from the last official photoshoot before her tragic death by Mario Testino.
Princess Diana sold the purple ballgown, along with 79 other dresses from her personal collection, in an auction at Christie’s the summer of 1997. The Edelstein dress sold for nearly $25,000 to a private collector, and funds from that auction went to support AIDS and cancer organizations.
Sotheby’s estimates the dress now at $120,000. No word on whether any of the proceeds from the upcoming auction will be donated to charity.
Marena Bronson is an award-winning journalist, a life-long nerd, and the Editor-in-Chief of Fashion and Fandom. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
H/T: Smithsonian Magazine
