Pictures of Diana, Princess of Wales wearing casual-chic moccasins in the late ’90s have become a part of the royal’s style legacy – one that’s receiving airtime in season six of The Crown. Tod’s Gomminos, specifically, are synonymous with her summer wardrobe, providing low-key polish and comfort while on Red Cross visits and en route to Chelsea Harbour Health Club appointments. Just as her daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, will forever be associated with LK Bennett courts, Diana was a poster girl for Tod’s trademark shoe.
Created at the end of the ’70s, the Gommino used ’50s driving shoes as the smart slip-on’s blueprint. Instantly identifiable owing to the 133 pebbles on each sole, Diana’s pale blue and tan moccasins were the hot-weather equivalent of her prim Rayner and Clive Shilton pumps. With a Sloane Ranger-approved crisp shirt and cropped chinos, her moccasins became a wardrobe binder that solved any outfit conundrum during ’97 and ’98’s warmer months.
“After the divorce she was much freer,” Diana’s stylist Anna Harvey once told Vogue of her client’s increasingly relaxed approach to fashion. “Everything became more streamlined and somehow athletic, in line with her role as a committed charity worker, and she moved to navy blue, greys and pastels. The clothes she wore for her trips to Angola and Bosnia – the crisp white shirts, cotton chinos – were her own idea and entirely appropriate.”
Since that time, when Diana distanced herself from the royal family and put her work first, the Gomminos – now including a thicker-soled wintry version – have been worn by stars, from Uma Thurman to Jourdan Dunn. As ever, Diana’s marketability holds true, but the craftsmanship of the Tod’s driving shoe speaks for itself. Around 100 steps goes into the making of a single hand-made moccasin to ensure its unrivalled flexibility (meaning no pinched toes like leather loafers). Available in Easter egg and rainbow shades, it’s that soft Diana shade that still makes the style a chic investment.
