A Secret Gown That Inspired Princess Diana’s Wedding Dress Is Up for Sale

Key Points

• When Lady Diana Spencer made her public debut with fiancé Prince Charles in March 1981, she wore a strapless dress by David and Elizabeth Emanuel that cemented her status as a fashion icon.

• The Emanuels would go on to design Princess Diana’s wedding dress later that same year.

• There was a second dress designed for the March engagement that inspired Diana’s wedding dress that is now up for sale and expected to net between $20,000 to $40,000 at auction.

In addition to famously designing Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding dress, the husband-and-wife team of David and Elizabeth Emanuel also designed a black gown that was worn to the former Lady Diana Spencer’s first public engagement after announcing her engagement to Prince Charles.

It turns out that there was a secret “Sister Dress” to the black dress worn on March 9, 1981 that cemented Diana as a style icon—and it is now available at auction to be bid on by any Diana lover (or fashion lover, for that matter). The second black silk taffeta gown has been stored at Hampton Court Palace and will go up for sale on June 26 at Julien Auction’s 300-plus item auction of the late Princess of Wales’ items, to be held at 10 a.m. PST at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Of the “Sister Dress,” Elizabeth Emanuel told GB News that she called it as such “because it came from the same bolt of fabric.”

“Diana tried it on,” she continued. “We were considering this, and others—some black with gold sequins—but we kept coming back to this one.”

While Diana opted to go for the strapless option for her big night out with Charles, the “Sister Dress” features a V-neck and is trimmed with ruffles and covered in sequins. Both dresses, as Emanuel said, are cut from the same black fabric, though.

The dress she did end up wearing was far sexier than Diana had been seen in public before and a departure from the “romantic, pastel, frothy dresses” she’d been wearing, according to Emanuel.

“We thought this contrast would create a buzz, though we had no idea just how much,” she added. “That black dress marked the transformation. She became a dazzling starlet in the making. From that moment on, she was a fashion icon.”

Since 1981, the “Sister Dress” has been kept in storage at Hampton Court Palace, along with Emanuel’s archive of designs (per Marie Claire). “It’s in amazing condition because it’s never seen sunlight,” Emanuel told GB News. “It’s exactly the same fabric as the original, made by the same seamstress, Nina. All the workmanship is there. From a historical perspective, it’s really important.”

Per Julien’s Auctions, the “Sister Dress” is expected to net between $20,000 to $40,000 at auction; a swatch of material and sketches are also up for sale amongst over 300 other items from Diana’s collection, ranging from clothes to shoes to handbags to personal, handwritten cards.

“These dresses are memories,” Emanuel said. “They’re part of my life. But I thought it would be nice to bring them out of the darkness—especially for people who loved Diana and everything she represented.”

While the auction itself doesn’t take place until June 26, bidding is open now for “Princess Diana’s Style & A Royal Collection,” and the “Sister Dress” currently has a top bid of $5,000. The gown—which Princess Diana tried on for a fitting—is “made of Jakob Schlaepfer sequin-embroidered silk taffeta,” the item’s description reads. “It features a fitted bodice, a wide V-neckline with a ruffle accent, three-quarter-length sleeves with ruffle cuffs, and an open ballroom skirt tightly gathered at the waistline with a bow accent.”

“This quintessential Emanuel design embodies fairytale romanticism with design elements inspiring Diana’s wedding gown,” it continued.

The sketch and accompanying fabric swatch of the “Sister Dress” is expected to fetch between $2,000 to $4,000, and currently has a bid of $600.

Read the original article on InStyle