Caroline McCauley wrote that instead of 'cowering in shame' following Charles's admission, 'Diana arrived in a figure-hugging black silk dress with a pearl choker necklace, black pumps, and scarlet lipstick and nail polish'. The dress was analyzed by Caroline McCauley in Fashion, Agency, and Empowerment: Performing Agency, Following Script, and it was interpreted as part of Diana's couture of 'revenge' following the breakdown of her marriage to Charles after years of having 'snippets of a seductive glamour hidden by a proper royal purity'. But also: fashion hath no greater thrill than when being deployed for the purpose of expressing rage, froideur or an insouciant dose of 'look what you're missing ''. Holt wrote, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. In 2020, writing for The Daily Telegraph Bethan Holt stated that the dress encompassed 'the act of reclaiming the narrative', and was the 'ultimate modern example of revenge dressing', in an article about women who have found inspiration in Diana Spencer's choice of the dress. Įlle Pithers, writing for Vogue magazine, described the dress as the 'progenitor of 'revenge dressing ''. It's amazing what some people will do to avoid press speculation. She could have watched a video, played bridge or simply washed her hair and curled up in bed. The Princess of Wales did not have to dine out before the television cameras at the Serpentine Gallery last night in order to avoid seeing her husband sharing his soul with the nation on the box. The day following the event, The Daily Telegraph wrote: Palumbo later recalled that Diana 'bounded out of the car in that wonderfully athletic way that she had'. The photographer who captured Diana arriving at the event, Tim Graham, said that her arrival lasted only 30 seconds in total, and that Diana would have known a large number of photographers would be present following her husband's revelations. ĭiana was seen wearing the dress after she exited her car and was greeted by Lord Palumbo, the chair of the trustees of the Serpentine Gallery, before entering the gallery. Diana's biographer Sarah Bradford wrote that Diana 'feigned indifference' in regards to the programme. Charles and Diana had separated two years prior to the broadcast of the programme. A television programme about her husband Prince Charles was broadcast, in which he admitted to having been unfaithful to her after their marriage had 'irretrievably broken down'. An example is in some newspaper headlines they reported 'Charles: I Cheated on Diana' and 'Di told you so'. Diana found out about Charles' infidelity in different ways prior to the dinner.

Diana had declined the dinner invitation however, two days prior to the dinner, following several days' publicity of Charles' infidelity revelations, she accepted the invitation. The event to which the dress was worn was a 29 June 1994 fundraising dinner hosted by Vanity Fair magazine for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. Princess Diana wearing the revenge dress, 1994

Anna Harvey, Diana's former stylist, said that Diana 'wanted to look a million dollars. Diana had planned to wear a dress by Valentino before choosing Stambolian's design. She was clearly angry.' Diana had owned the dress for three years before she wore it, fearing it was 'too daring'. Stambolian compared Diana's choice of black to the black swan Odile in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, saying that Diana 'chose not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white. The dress, an off-the-shoulder black silk evening gown, was designed by Christina Stambolian. The garment has been interpreted as having been worn by Diana 'in revenge' for the televised admission of adultery by her husband Charles, then Prince of Wales. It was worn for the first time to a 1994 dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. The ' revenge dress' is an evening gown once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales. Dress once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales

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