Month: March 2013
PRINCESS DIANA BIRTHDAY CAKE – HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOURA!
BEST BIRTHDAY WISHES TO OUR DEAR FRIEND NOURA WHO RUNS THE http://www.dianaforever.com website!
The cake was made by La Torta in Abu Dhabi, UAE and is a red velvet cake! Congratulations, Noura!
DIANA’S TWO GOWNS GO TO PERMANENT DISPLAY IN KENSINGTON PALACE
Princess Diana’s iconic dresses to go on display at Kensington Palace
Two dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales which were bought for nearly £130,000 yesterday will be displayed to the public for years to come.
The gowns, part of an auction of 10 of the princess’s dresses yesterday, were bought by the charity Historic Royal Palaces, which runs Kensington Palace, Diana’s former residence.
And the palace is hoping to display at least one of the new dresses in an exhibition this summer alongside other items from their Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.
Two dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales will be displayed to the public after being purchased by the Historic Royal Palaces charity yesterday. The charity paid £78,000 for this Catherine Walker gown
To avoid damage, the garments will not go on permanent display but will periodically be shown to the public in exhibitions, a spokeswoman said.
The charity spent £50,400 on a Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the gala opening of Les Miserables at the Barbican Centre in 1985.
They also purchased a pink sequinned crepe dress by Catherine Walker, worn on a state visit to Brazil in 1991, for £78,000.
The garments were originally sold, with a number of others, by Diana herself following her divorce from the Prince of Wales to raise money for charity at the suggestion of Prince William.
While the star lot of the sale at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London sold for £240,000, the auctioneer said she was particularly pleased about the sales to the palace.
The Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown that Princess Diana wore at the gala opening of Les Miserables at the Barbican centre in 1985 sold for £50,400 at the Kerry Taylor auction
Kerry Taylor said: It’s important for the generations to come.
‘Diana was the people’s princess, so the people should be able to see these dresses. This is our heritage, our history.’
A Historic Royal Palaces spokeswoman said: “We are delighted to confirm independent charity Historic Royal Palaces purchased two dresses from the sale of dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales at Kerry Taylor Auctions yesterday.
‘The dresses will remain in the UK to become part of our permanent Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, conserving them for future generations and ensuring that visitors to Kensington Palace will be able to see these unique items for years to come.
dailymail.co.uk
Diana’s Dresses sell and with a surprise!
Diana’s dress, a £240k
surprise for a wife
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Kerry Taylor Auctions’ ‘Fit for a Princess’ auction makes over £800,000 in London, March 19th.
Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said, ‘Bidders were able to buy a unique slice of British history. We attracted bidders from across the world including Asia, America, Austria, Australia and of course, the UK, including three important museums so we are hopeful that now people will actually get to see some of the dresses that belonged to the People’s Princess! The top lot, the famous dress she wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House, made the top price of £240,000. It sold to a British gentleman as a surprise to cheer up his wife. Lucky woman!’
See Kerry discussing the collection on BBC News –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21827632, …and bringing down the gavel on the top lot! –
Full list of results:
Lot 1
A Victor Edelstein bottle-green velvet evening gown, worn for private entertaining, Winter, 1985. Sold for £24,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 2
A Zandra Rhodes white chiffon cocktail dress, worn to the Birthright benefit at the London Palladium, May 1987. Sold for £48,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 3
A Catherine Walker burgundy velvet sheath with embroidered tailcoat, worn for the State visit to Korea in 1992, and to the premiere of ‘Steel Magnolias’, in aid of the Prince’s Trust, 7th February 1990. Sold for £50,400 including buyers premium.
Lot 4
A Catherine Walker sea-green sequined evening gown, worn for the State visit to Austria in 1989. Sold for £90,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 5
A Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the first night gala opening of ‘Les Miserables’ at the Barbican centre, 10th October, 1985. Sold for £50,400 including buyers premium.
Lot 6
A Catherine Walker pink sequined ivory crepe gown with asymmetric neckline, worn at a banquet given by President Collor at the Itamaraty Palace whilst on a State visit to Brazil, 23rd April 1991. Sold for £78,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 7
A Catherine Walker black velvet and beaded evening gown, worn for the Vanity Fair photo-shoot by Mario Testino at Kensington Palace, 1997. Sold for £108,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 8
A Catherine Walker burgundy crushed velvet evening gown, worn for a State visit to Australia and to the film premiere of ‘Back to the Future,’ 1985. Sold for £108,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 9
A Catherine Walker Mughal-inspired lavishly embroidered pink slubbed silk evening gown and bolero, made for the State visit to India, February 1992. Sold for £66,000 including buyers premium.
Lot 10
A Victor Edelstein midnight-blue velvet evening gown worn to the State dinner at the White House given by President and Mrs Reagan, when Princess Diana memorably danced with John Travolta, 9th November, 1985. Sold for £240,000 including buyers premium.
For more information, please contact info@kerrytaylorauctions.com or 00 44 208 676 4600.
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  Left: Lot 10, A Victor Edelstein midnight-blue velvet evening gown worn to the State dinner at the White House given by President and Mrs Reagan, when Princess Diana memorably danced with John Travolta, 9th November, 1985. Sold for £240,000 including buyers premium. Right: Lot 3, A Catherine Walker burgundy velvet sheath with embroidered tailcoat, worn for the State visit to Korea in 1992,and to the premiere of ‘Steel Magnolias’, in aid of the Prince’s Trust, 1990. Sold for £50,400 including buyers premium.
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Left: Lot 8, A Catherine Walker burgundy crushed velvet evening gown, worn for a State visit to Australia and to the film premiere of ‘Back to the Future,’ 1985. Sold for £108,000 including buyers premium. Right: Lot 7, A Catherine Walker black velvet and beaded evening gown, worn for the Vanity Fair photo-shoot by Mario Testino at Kensington Palace, 1997. Sold for £108,000 including buyers premium.
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Left: Lot 9, Catherine Walker Mughal-inspired lavishly embroidered evening gown and bolero, made for the State visit to India. Sold for £66,000 including buyers premium. Right: Lot 4, A Catherine Walker sea-green sequined evening gown, worn for the State visit to Austria. Sold for £90,000 including buyers premium.
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Left: Lot 6, A Catherine Walker pink sequined ivory crepe gown with asymmetric neckline, worn at a banquet given by President Collor at the Itamaraty Palace whilst on a State visit to Brazil, 1991. Sold for £78,000 including buyers premium. Right: Lot 5, A Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the first night gala opening of ‘Les Miserables’ at the Barbican centre, 10th October, 1985. Sold for £50,400 including buyers premium.
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Left: Lot 1, A Victor Edelstein bottle-green velvet evening gown, worn for private entertaining, Winter, 1985. Sold for £24,000 including buyers premium. Right: Lot 2, A Zandra Rhodes white chiffon cocktail dress, worn to the Birthright benefit at the London Palladium, May 1987. Sold for £48,000 including buyers premium.
10 ICONIC PRINCESS DIANA GOWN GO ON DISPLAY IN LONDON
10 ICONIC PRINCESS DIANA GOWN GO ON DISPLAY IN LONDON FOR MARCH 19 AUCTION
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Lot 10, A Victor Edelstein midnight-blue velvet evening gown worn to the State dinner at the White House given by President and Mrs Reagan, when Princess Diana memorably danced with John Travolta, 9th November, 1985. Estimate £200,000-300,000
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Left: Lot 9, Catherine Walker Mughal-inspired lavishly embroidered evening gown and bolero, made for the State visit to India. Estimate £80-120,000. Right: Lot 4, A Catherine Walker sea-green sequined evening gown, worn for the State visit to Austria. Estimate £30-50,000.
PRINCESS DIANA’S MATERNITY WEAR & SKETCHES TO GO ON DISPLAY
Princess Diana’s maternity ideas go on display in fashion exhibition
Sketches of maternity wear created for Diana, Princess of Wales, are to go on display, showing how she personalised designs to stamp her own style on her pregnancy wardrobe.
Image 1 of 2
The ‘fairy princess’ dress Photo: (Tim Graham/The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon by David Sassoon and Sinty Stemp)
By Roya Nikkhah, Royal Correspondent
9:00AM GMT 17 Feb 2013
As the most stylish royal of her day, Princess Diana was the ideal model for couturiers to showcase their latest creations.
Now, a new exhibition featuring designs for her maternity wear will include sketches tweaked by Princess Diana, demonstrating how she closely collaborated with designers on her wardrobe.
They include the “fairy princess” dress she wore shortly before announcing her first pregnancy, and several glamorous outfits on to which she stamped her personal style.
The designs will feature in a retrospective of the fashion house Bellville Sassoon, founded in the 1950s by Belinda Bellville, the socialite, and David Sassoon, the designer who worked closely with Princess Diana from her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981, through to the 1990s.
Sketches from Sassoon’s personal archive will go on display at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, including the design for the hand-painted, off-the-shoulder white and blue chiffon dress that Princess Diana wore to an opening at the V&A Museum in November 1981, while two months pregnant with the Duke of Cambridge.
A floral day dress (The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon by David Sassoon and Sinty Stemp/Empics)
Sassoon, 80, said: “We called it the fairy princess dress because we received so many letters about it, especially from children, who thought that was what a fairytale princess should look like. Diana loved this dress – it appealed to her sense of romance.”
During Princess Diana’s pregnancy, Sassoon sent sketches to Kensington Palace, on to which she scribbled her ideas to be incorporated into the designs before fittings.
One sketch of a turquoise, bouclé maternity dress features her notes: “Please could I have this one without the high collar and bow?”
Sassoon said: “She had a very clear idea of what she did and didn’t like and she’d look at sketches and make notes asking if we could put a sleeve or a neckline from one design on to another dress.”
Another sketch for a claret taffeta dress with bows, shows her enthusiasm to have the dress made up, with the words “Yes please!” next to the design which she wore to the opening of the Barbican Centre with the Queen in March 1982, when she was six months pregnant.
The claret dress the Princess wore to the Barbican opening (The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon by David Sassoon and Sinty Stemp/Getty)
“We had to let it out at the very last minute because her bump had suddenly grown,” said Sassoon. “She was very excited about the baby but also conscious of looking appropriate for the occasion during her pregnancy.”
He added: “Diana didn’t like coats. I used to ask ‘are you going to be warm enough wearing that?’ and she’d say, ‘don’t worry, I’ll wear my thermals underneath’. She was a great one for thermals.”
Also on display will be the design for a velvet maternity dress with a lace collar including her notes: “This one in dark blue please.” Sassoon made the dress in 1982 using lace which had belonged to Queen Victoria.
The original sketch for the white chiffon empire-line dress which the Princess wore to a West End production of The Little Foxes, starring Elizabeth Taylor, will also be exhibited.
A maternity gown she wore while expecting Prince Harry (The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon by David Sassoon and Sinty Stemp/Tim Graham)
Sassoon said: “Diana enjoyed fashion and getting a reaction from her outfits. In fittings, she’d say ‘this will get them going – this will get a response’.
“Everyone thought she was fussy about clothes but she wasn’t. Many other members of the Royal family would ask for hundreds of changes in fittings and ruin the whole outfit, but not Diana.”
With the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge undertaking her first official engagement of the year this week, royal maternity wear is likely to be under the spotlight once again.
The Princess chats to David Sassoon (Getty)
The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon will open in September, featuring designs spanning more than 50 years from the fashion house whose clients include the late Audrey Hepburn, Helen Mirren and Jerry Hall.
Sassoon also designed for the late Princess Margaret, the Princess Royal and Princess Michael of Kent, whose wedding dress will go on display.
* The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon at the Fashion and Textile Museum, September 20 to January 11, 2014, http://www.ftmlondon.org
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