Dynasty Di. If ever a name stuck to a royal, it was that one. And it all came about because of one dress. That frock features in the new exhibition at Kensington Palace - Diana: Her Fashion Story. Let's face it, a retrospective of Diana's style would be poorer without it. It's one of her most familiar and famous looks. It's time for Diana. the Dynasty Dress.
Back in 1986 when this dress wowed on an official visit to Austria, Dynasty was about as big as it got in the TV world and Diana was about as big as it got everywhere else. The most photographed woman in the world, she was already a style icon but this dress marked a move into more confident and individual dressing. The style that would make her an icon was being shaped before a global audience.
Diana called it her mermaid dress and it's easy to see why. It's a shimmering, sequinned set piece with a fitted skirt that gets tighter as it heads to the floor and it only made manageable by an unusual slit in the front. It was designed by Catherine Walker and with its shoulder pads and sequins, it wouldn't have looked out of place in the Carrington mansion. Instead, it was worn at high profile royal events through the late eighties before eventually being auctioned in 1997 when it made over $24,000. It would be sold again in 2013 for £90,000. In terms of telling Diana's fashion story, it's priceless.
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