EVENING STAR

SHE SHONE AT NIGHT IN GOWNS DESIGNED TO DAZZLE

She was always the belle of the ball and when Diana got dressed up for an evening out, she certainly knew how to make an impression. As a newly engaged 19-year-old, she chose a strapless black taffeta evening gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel for her first official public appearance with her fiancé, at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London in March 1981 – oblivious to the flurry of flashbulbs and frontpage photos it would trigger.

“Up until then she had worn quite gentle, romantic dresses with frills and flounces, but this was a seriously grown-up dress, with lots of cleavage,” says Elizabeth. “She looked absolutely amazing, like a movie star, and the whole world seemed to go mad.”

The Emanuels continued to create gowns for Diana, such as the pale blue spotted confection she wore to a concert in Cardiff in 1982 and the one- shouldered green gown in which she wowed on tour in Melbourne.

Other favourite British designers were Murray Arbeid, who designed spectacular evening gowns for the Princess, and Victor Edelstein. The latter made the midnight-blue silk velvet ballgown Diana showcased as she danced with John Travolta at a state dinner hosted by President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy at the White House in 1985. The dress was one of her favourites and she wore it for the last time in 1997 for an official portrait taken by Lord Snowdon.

‘Up until then she had worn gentle, romantic dresses with flounces and frills. This was now seriously grown-up’

Diana’s love of texture and drama was showcased in this frothy confection of a dress by the Emanuels, which she wore to a concert in Cardiff in 1982

This low-cut taffeta gown for Diana’s first appearance after her engagement set flashbulbs popping. It was by the Emanuels – who would go on to make her spectacular wedding dress

Clockwise from above: In Victor Edelstein with John Travolta at the White House in 1985; in Catherine Walker for a premiere, London 1987; in Murray Arbeid for another premiere in 1985; and in a gown by the Emanuels, Melbourne, 1985