Diana’s Wedding Dress: What Designers Missed

Diana Spencer’s dress, in which she married Charles, Prince of Wales on July 29, 1981, has gone down in history as one of the most famous wedding dresses. Diana, who was about to turn 20, was not yet a style icon – the royal court was seriously concerned about the girl’s wardrobe. However, the stubborn Diana herself chose the designers of the “dress of the century” – and afterwards the only person Lady Di consulted about the outfit was her mother.

Along with young London designers David and Elizabeth Emmanuel, Diana was featured after the British Voque editor’s engagement. A few years before this acquaintance, they had opened their fashion house and were full of ideas and ambitious projects. David later recalled that Diana was looking for a nice dress then – and won him over with her shyness and good manners.

The couple’s first collaboration with the future Princess of Wales was Diana’s black ruffled neckline dress, worn by his girlfriend for her first major appearance as Charles’s wife, at a dinner in honor from the Princess of Monaco in the spring of 1981. The spectacular outfit almost caused a serious argument with the groom – he did not like the black color – the color of mourning – and also too frank styling. As Diana later recalled, the attention of all the press was riveted on her bare shoulders. Fortunately, for Diana’s wedding dress, the designers opted for a less daring cut, in line with Buckingham Palace’s vision of how a princess should look when she marries.

Since the wedding took place in St. Paul’s Cathedral, the bride and the designers wanted the outfit to be up to her waist. It was meant to be “dramatic” and showcase Diana’s beauty. “The dress had to be such that it would be preserved in history and at the same time please Diana. Since the ceremony was to take place in St. Paul’s Cathedral, the dress had to fill the aisle and be quite impressive,” Elizabeth wrote in her 2006 book, A Dress for Diana.

Spouses Emmanuel studied the archives of royal weddings and discovered that the record for the length of the train was 20 feet – 6 meters and a little, the future Princess of Wales was offered to lengthen it by 5 feet (1, 5 meter). The almost 8-meter train of Diana’s dress has gone down in history – none of the British royals has yet broken this record. The designers did not fail: the train, which required about 130 meters of fabric, looked really luxurious both on the steps of the cathedral and inside the building. It is said that for Lady Dee rehearsals a train of a dozen sheets was sewn – and she practiced wearing it.

The veil, which was attached to the 18th century Spencer family tiara, required nearly 140 yards of fabric. For the ruffles, they used handmade vintage lace that belonged to Elizabeth II’s grandmother, Mary of Teck – according to British tradition, there should be something ‘old’ about the outfit. the bride.

The dress, with long puffed sleeves, a crinoline and a lace bodice, was made from a huge amount of expensive ivory colored silk taffeta, it was decorated with ten thousand sea pearls and thousands of sequins of mother-of-pearl. Neither the designers nor Diana took one thing into account: taffeta is an incredibly wrinkled material. And, having arrived at the wedding venue in a wedding car, in which the crinoline and the train barely fit, the bride already looked very crumpled. Someone thought it was pretty cute, but later many saw a bad sign in this situation with Diana’s dress.

It is said that Princess Diana herself dreamed that her wedding dress would be part of the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in the end, she bequeathed the “dress of the century” to her sons. After Lady Di’s death and until the day Prince Harry turned 30 (this condition was in the will), her brother Charles Spencer was the guardian of the famous outfit. Sometimes the famous dress “tours” around the world, it can be seen at exhibitions.

Emmanuelle, Diana’s famous wedding dress, had a double. Its designers created it in case the design of the “main” outfit fell into the hands of the press and was released even before the ceremony. The style of the second dress was similar, as was the trim, but with a more pronounced V-neck and no antique lace. Diana never tried a fallback, and the Emmanuelles never finished it – there wasn’t enough time.

The fate of this dress is unknown. As Elizabeth told the Daily Mail, the outfit sat in the studio for a long time and then disappeared. According to her, they might have sold it to someone and forgotten about it. But some think that the creator is hiding something: how can we forget the twin of his most famous creation?

In addition, the couple then made another duplicate – for Madame Tussauds. In 2005, the British auction house Cooper Owen auctioned off a copy of Diana’s wedding dress. It was purchased by an anonymous collector for $175,000 (twice the original price). According to Elisabeth Emmanuel, the auction did not sell a “relief” dress, but a double made for Tussauds.

Another ‘official’ replica of Lady Diana’s dress was made in the 21st century by costume designer Amy Roberts for the TV series The Crown. During the work, she consults the Emmanuelles – every flourish and every pearl is discussed. The wedding dress in the series is an exact copy of the famous Emmanuelle.