The Dress and the Number to Watch
Sotheby's is offering the black silk evening dress Princess Diana wore in 1994, often called the "revenge dress," with a projected price up to £220,000, or $298,110. The sale is set for Dec. 9 during Sotheby's Luxury Week in New York.
The Greek designer is Christina Stambolian, and the gown is off the shoulder with an asymmetric hem and a chiffon train. Sotheby's announced the auction details on Thursday.
Why This Look Became a Moment
Diana arrived at London's Serpentine Gallery for a fundraising dinner in June 1994 wearing the dress. That same evening, a nationally televised interview with the then Prince Charles was expected to include his admission that he had been unfaithful.
At the time, Diana and Charles had been living apart for nearly two years and were not yet divorced. A later documentary said she chose the dress at the last minute after first selecting a more conservative Valentino, which her former stylist Anna Harvey recounted on a program cited by Vogue.
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"She wanted to look a million dollars," Anna Harvey said. "And she did."
Exhibition Stops and Past Sales
The gown will go on public view first at Sotheby's in London during Fashion Week in September. After that, it will be shown in Hong Kong and Geneva before heading to New York for the auction.
Sotheby's said the dress had been auctioned in 1997, without sharing more. In 2023, a black, ballerina-length velvet dress owned by Diana sold at Julien's Auctions in Hollywood for $1,148,080, which was eleven times its estimate.
What It Means for Your Portfolio
High-profile celebrity pieces can draw aggressive bidding, as that 2023 result showed. If you track collectibles, note the Dec. 9 sale and the £220,000 estimate, since outcomes at this level can reset prices across similar fashion and memorabilia.
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