Research Presentation - Diana Princess of Wales and Her Influence on Fashion.

Diana Princess of Wales and Her Influence on Fashion.

Diana, Princess of Wales, was wife of Prince Charles and mother to Prince William and Prince Harry. When Diana first entered the public eye she was working in a nursery, although she was herself a member of an aristocratic family before marrying into the Royal Family.

In a similar way as we see today with Kate Middleton, Diana Spencer was immediately welcomed and liked by the public worldwide. 750 million people across the world watched her Royal wedding to Prince Charles. It is because of her fame that the world analysed everything about her, including her undeniable fashion sense.

Diana had a troubled life, divorcing Charles after his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles and tradgically dying in a car accident in Paris nearly one year after her divorce aged just 36.

"When it came to fashion, Princess Diana knew exactly what she was doing. From 'The Revenge Dress' to the 25ft wedding train she so elegantly dragged behind her on her big day, Diana's style moments were well thought out and planned down to a fault." 

- S. Ramsdale, Marie Claire

Princess Diana in Victor Edelstein, 1985

Diana in the Public Eye

• As soon as Diana entered the public eye she began setting fashion trends.

• The press and public paid attention to what she wore all throughout her courtship, engagement, married life and beyond.

Diana's Wedding Dress

• Amongst Diana's most famous outfits was her wedding dress.

• This dress was of a ‘meringue’ style which then became a popular wedding dress trend for other brides throughout the 1980s.(Weston Thomas, 2015)

• Diana's famous wedding dress was designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel.(Weston Thomas, 2015)

Princess Diana's wedding dress featured a 25ft train and was designed by Elizabeth Emanuel

Diana and the Fashion World

• When Diana had divorced Aug 28th 1996 she expressed her new freedom as she was no longer part of the royal family. She preferred clothes by foreign designers such  as Valentino, Moschino, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel. (Wackerl, 2012)

• Diana was a fan of and wore many dresses by designer Catherine Walker, in fact she wore over 500 of her creations. (Ramsdale, 2013)

Diana's Influence on Fashion

• Shortly after Prince William's christening in 1982 Diana adopted the tailored big shoulder look. (Weston Thomas, 2015)

• Diana wore a lot of hats, particularly to weddings and engagements. This sparked a fashion for hats, something that had been in decline during the two previous decades. (Weston Thomas, 2015)

• Later in the 1990s the suits that Diana wore started to define her figure rather than adding padding and structure. (Weston Thomas, 2015)

The Revenge Dress

The Revenge Dress by Christina Stambolian 

'We called that "The Revenge Dress",' says auction house boss Kerry. 'She wore that the same evening Prince Charles confessed to his adultery with Camilla. Diana had a public engagement at the Serpentine gallery and while some would have been like "I can’t face it this evening" Diana went out in that dress looking drop dead gorgeous. She made a big statement right there.'  

 - S. Ramsdale, Marie Claire

Kate's style is often influenced by Diana

      

     As Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, now finds herself the centre of attention, she can be thankful for the fashion legacy that Diana left behind. As Kerry says: 'Her influence meant that royals didn't have to be dowdy. You didn't have to wear pastel colours, a massive handbag and hat. You could love fashion and look good. She was a breath of fresh air.' 

 - S. Ramsdale, Marie Claire

References:

Ramsdale, S. (2013).Princess Diana's Dresses: The Truth Behind Her Most Famous Fashion Moments. [Online]. Available from: www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/suzannah-ramsdale/543592/princess-diana-s-dresses-the-truth-behind-her-most-famous-fashion-moments [Last accessed 21st October 2015].     

Wackerl, L (2012) Royal Style. Prestal Publishing

Read more at http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/suzannah-ramsdale/543592/princess-diana-s-dresses-the-truth-behind-her-most-famous-fashion-moments.html#lUZCCZyJO43fCU4i.99

Weston Thomas, P. (2015) Princess Diana 1980's -90's Fashion Icon. [Online]. Available from: www.fashion-era.com/diana_80s_fashion_icon.html [Last accessed 21st October 2015]. 

 

Whitchurch Silk Mill Exhibition

The first and second year degree student's dresses went on display at the Whitchurch Silk Mill for a private viewing before being included as part of an exhibition at the Mill. It was good to see everyone's work on display as I know that we had all put so much effort into creating these special garments. Inside the mill itself are some exhibition spaces where our sketchbooks, samples and photos were on display already. There were some awards given at the viewing too. The exhibition of work will remain at the mill for a couple of months to celebrate the Mill's 200th birthday. Below are some photos taken on the evening of the private viewing.

My dress on display.

All of our dresses on display.

Some of my samples in the exhibition space.

Our groups dresses.

Me with my dress.

Silk Mill dress- catwalk and photoshoot

Below are a few behind-the-scenes photos from a photo shoot of my dress that was made for the Whitchurch Silk Mill exhibition. As well as those from the photo shoot, I've also included pictures of the dress on the catwalk when it featured in the end of year show.

Both at the photo shoot and the show it was great to see the dress being worn and to see that it was a very wearable garment, especially after all the hard work that went into making it. The dress and some of my work as well as some of my fellow student's work is now on display at the Whitchurch Silk Mill as part of an exhibition to celebrate 200 years since it was built.

Live Project - The Making

We worked in groups during the making of our final garments. Below are a series of images that show the progress of the work leading up to my final garment being completed.

The top photo is of my group's samples, with my knit samples being in the centre. The other photos show the making of my embroidered fabric, with the bottom pictures in particular showing the construction of the dress. 

I really enjoyed making such big pieces of freehand embroidered fabric as I have only made small pieces previously. The knitted panels were made quite quickly. In the end I did not use a pattern to make my dress, instead I pinned the pieces of fabric onto the mannequin and sewed it from the measurements taken. It was not as easy as I had thought, sewing the stretchy knit to the silk embroidered panels, however I have learnt a lot from this project especially in terms of making the dress itself. I will definitely be combining embroidery into my future projects. 

Julian Roberts Dress for MOTHS

Here are photos of my final dress made for the Modelling on the Stand (MOTHS). To create this dress I used the Julian Roberts pattern cutting technique. I had previously tried this technique twice so I felt quite confident in making my final dress using it. Using the two fabrics for the dress was not an easy task as they were both light weight and difficult to handle. I tried to recreate the toile that I had made for the dress earlier in the project, however it did not work well with the lighter fabric so I changed and adapted my approach. I played around with different pieces, pinning them in different places, until I was happy with the result. 

Overall I am really happy with how this project has gone and how my final dress has turned out. It was good to try new techniques and to work outside of my comfort zone.

Drawing on the bodice pattern.

Cutting out the dress.

All of the fabric removed.

Me holding the shoulder seams together, before anything was sewn. 

The back view of my complete dress. 

The front view of my completed dress.

Close up of the hand sewn gather. 

Close up of the invisible zip.

Julian Roberts Toile for MOTHS

For my final garment for the Modelling on the Stand project (MOTHS) I made a toile. Below are a series of photos that show some of the stages of this process.

I used the Julian Roberts pattern cutting technique to construct my garment. I experimented with two fabrics of different weights that were slightly different colours so that I could see how it might work in my final garment. The photos that I have taken during the process will help me to recreate the bottom half of the garment when I come to make the final dress as this section has no set paper pattern.