Everything about Princess Diana, the princess of hearts, is very popular despite the passage of many years since her departure, so it was expected that the same would apply to her famous dress that she wore during her dance with star John Travolta at the White House, which was nicknamed the “revenge dress” when it was presented. For sale at an auction organized by Kerry Taylor House of London on Monday.
The princess wore this long dark blue velvet off-shoulders dress during a dinner hosted by US President Ronald Reagan at the White House in honor of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The dress was estimated at between 250 and 350 thousand pounds (297 to 416,000 euros) and this dress was made famous thanks to pictures showing Diana dancing with John Travolta to the tunes of "You Should Be Dancing" from the movie "Saturday Night Fever".
The next morning, photos of her incendiary outfit were splashed across the British tabloids' front pages: "Revenge is chic," wrote the Sun. "Di last night showed Charles what he's missing."
Almost thirty years later, the dress — and the empowering moment it signifies — remains one of the most indelible pop culture moments in history. And it will likely gain a new audience, thanks to the fifth season of Netflix's historical drama "The Crown," airing November 9. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor Elizabeth Debicki — who will take over the role of Diana from Emma Corrin — highlighted the Stambolian dress as key to understanding Diana's character. "It provoked something in me as an actor," she said. "I can't really explain it. It's pretty incredible that a dress would represent a moment in history, or that this human's life would represent so much and become so iconic. So that was a big day on set for me!"
After news of her casting broke, Debicki told EW the hallowed dress was among the first questions on many lips. "It fascinated me how entranced people were with that dress," she said. "When it became known that I had the part, I received these text messages saying congratulations, (but) there was also a huge amount of text messages about the Revenge Dress. 'Do you get to wear the Revenge Dress?' 'Oh my God, you get to wear the Revenge Dress!'"
Diana's decision to wear the dress that evening was apparently an impulsive one. According to "Princess Diana's Dresses: The Auction," it had been sitting in her closet for three years before its fateful outing, for fear it was "too daring," said designer Stambolian. Instead, the Telegraph reported Diana had been fitted for a Valentino dress — but a premature press release sent by the fashion house alerting journalists to the ensemble put her off. But while it may have been a snap judgment, the revenge dress created a legacy that would endure for nearly three decades, and counting. It was a moment of sartorial autonomy: a rebellion against royal dress codes and enforced notions of chastity and compliance. Instead of submitting to public shame or scorn, Diana told the world she would not go quietly.
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