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On Her 60th Birthday, A Closer Look At Diana, Princess Of Wales’s Life In Style
Diana, Princess of Wales once admitted that, when she married Prince Charles aged 20, her wardrobe comprised “one long dress, one silk shirt, one smart pair of shoes, and that was it”. Hence she dashed out to buy “six of everything” in the run up to the royal wedding. Quite the admission from the woman who went on to become one of the world’s most enduring style icons.
In the years that followed her fairytale appearance on the steps of St Paul’s in her fabulously OTT wedding dress, designed by the Emanuels, Diana cultivated a contemporary wardrobe that always honoured protocol, but still reflected her personal penchant for prints and pops of colour.
The evening gowns chosen by the princess defined a generation, as she moved through the bold-shouldered ’80s with a growing confidence. A list of her favourite brands reads like a roll call of the British fashion industry’s leading lights at that time: Catherine Walker (today a staple of the Duchess of Cambridge’s wardrobe), Bellville Sassoon, Victor Edelstein and Donald Campbell.
In the mid ’90s, by then separated from Prince Charles, Diana began to write her own fashion rules. Dior bags, Chanel suits, Versace evening gowns and Jimmy Choo heels entered the humanitarian’s wardrobe, as she blossomed into the world’s most-photographed woman, travelling the world and making headlines with every hemline.
As time has passed, Diana’s off-duty wardrobe has come to be just as influential as her preference for sleek shift dresses and pearl chokers, with photographs of her leaving the gym, or taking her young sons to school, resurfacing as Instagram fodder for a new generation of fans of the princess’s style.
British Vogue looks back at one of the world’s most enduring style legacies on what would have been Diana, Princess of Wales’s 60th birthday.
Rex Features1/1491980
19-year-old Diana was photographed with children from the nursery school she taught at, wearing a sweater vest and a mid-length skirt that famously looked sheer on camera in the sunlight.
Rex Features2/149February 1981
For the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana wore a royal blue suit — purchased off the rack at Harrods — to complement her sapphire engagement ring.
3/149March 1981
At her first official appearance at London’s Goldsmith’s Hall, the soon-to-be princess wore a black taffeta gown by Elizabeth and David Emanuel.
Rex Features4/149May 1981
Ahead of their wedding day, Diana joined Prince Charles in Balmoral for a “pre-honeymoon” wearing a brightly patterned jumper with corduroy trousers and wellington boots.
Rex Features5/149June 1981
Lady Diana – in a statement red dress and matching hat – joined the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Prince Charles at the wedding of Nicholas Soames and Catherine Weatherall at St Margaret’s Church, London.
Anwar Hussein6/14912 July 1981
She watched Princes Charles on the polo field wearing a set of lemon dungarees worn over a collared floral blouse.
PA Photos7/14929 July 1981
Diana married Prince Charles at St Paul’s Cathedral wearing an ivory silk taffeta bridal gown by Elizabeth and David Emanuel. The dress — which had a 25-foot train, the longest in royal wedding history — was embellished with 10,000 pearls and came with large puffed sleeves and a ruffled neckline. In her hair, Diana wore the Spencer tiara that has been a part of the family’s estate since 1919.
Tim Graham8/14919 August 1981
Prince Charles and Diana were photographed on honeymoon in Scotland, with the Princess of Wales wearing a tweed suit by Bill Pashley with a pair of cream shoes from the Chelsea Cobbler.
