The
aim of this essay is to investigate to what extent Princess Diana had an
influence on fashion. I want to find out about certain fashion choices that she
made and how deliberate those decisions were. For example, was Diana influenced
by other people wanting her to look a certain way or did she make those choices
for herself. I want to look into some of the key fashion choices that Diana
made, such as her wedding dress and the famous ‘Revenge Dress’. I wish to
discover more about these examples and the impact they had on the wider fashion
industry as each of the dresses gained an enormous amount of interest, not just
from the British public but also globally.
I aim
to investigate the period when Diana moved from solely wearing British designed
clothes to her beginning to incorporate other global brands such as Versace and
Chanel in to her outfits after her break off from the royal family. It seems
that Diana managed to channel her inner feelings through her style and as she
was the most popular royal the public wanted to know everything.
This
report will use findings from a variety of resources including sources of
secondary research that includes a range of books and authority websites. The
resources cover Diana’s fashion experiences from when she was first brought
into the public eye right through to the months before her untimely death.
Every
single one of Diana’s outfits was carefully planned
and thought out. She was always considering ‘what
would she be communicating?’ if she wore certain things. In the early days of her life in the public eye, at the age of
19, she was very young and to some extent naïve. Diana's first picture proved
to be famous, she was wearoing a see-through skirt by British designer Laura
Ashley. Photographers had manipulated
this first photo opportunity by deliberately placing her in front of the light,
in turn making her skirt see through revealing her legs. This was the
first official photograph of her and the press had managed to capture the perception of her that they desired.
It is said however, that even from this first picture she was
communicating her emotions through fashion. The skirt was covered in a small
heart print and Diana was very much in love.
Charles
was 12 years Diana’s senior and at her first royal engagement she wanted to
look grown up and sophisticated. To achieve
this she enlisted the help of the Emanuels,
David and Elizabeth. Diana wanted a strapless black dress and for a girl of Diana’s age black was seen
to be the most sophisticated colour. She chose a sample dress from them and
although it was pretty it did not fit like a glove. Diana did not have anyone
to suggest alterations to her, which resulted in the dress being deemed too revealing.
Not only was it seen to be too revealing but also against
the royal mind-set as black was seen to be the colour of mourning. This infamous black taffeta dress was the
first indication that Diana would depart from the routine of royal clothing and experiment with striking and original fashion
choices.
ABSTRACT **
A summary of key points of the research project. **
TITLE PAGE *
Title, author, date, university. *
CONTENTS PAGE *
Chapters, sections, page numbers. *
INTRODUCTION (INCLUDING LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY)
***
What you aim to achieve. *
Focus or angle taken. **
LITERATURE REVIEW ***
To show how your reading and research has used previous
sources of secondary information. **
To show how these sources have been interpreted for the
purposed of your work. ***
Review
the books I have looked at as they will be main research.
METHODOLOGY (if relevant) *
To outline how any primary research was conducted. *
To explain your sample group and research methods. *
DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION ***
Identify key points from your reading. **
Identify key results from your primary research (if
relevant). *
Analyise and evaluate your findings (in relation to the
historical and technical *, social ** and theoretical *** using in-text
citations and quotations).
My key
points will be Wedding dress/revenge dress – KEY OUTFITS AT CERTAIN TIMES –
Diana’s role as power of fashion symbolism SYMBOLIC (but she knew when to
use the revenge dress)
I want to look at the revenge dress as
I see this a crucial turning point in Diana’s life as well as her fashion
choices. She had just heard of Charles admitting to his adultery with Camilla
Parker Bowles, and this dress was seen to be the ‘revenge dress’.
After her break off with the royal
family she no longer wanted to have all the attention on her as she realised
the great things she could do with all her charity work. She still managed to
look fabulous in all her uniformed suits she had to where- clearly mines from a
war.
Just a few month before Diana died she
sold off all her dresses at a charity auction at Christie’s auctions rooms in
New York. This was definitely Diana saying goodbye to her previous life as a
royal. I have the auction book which contains some beautiful pictures.
Hats/suits – TYPES
OF DRESS WHICH MADE THEM POPULAR AGAIN – Diana’s role in being a fashion leader
and popularising fashion ACCIDENTAL FASHION
Designers –
PROMOTING BRITISH DESIGN – Catherine Walker etc (wore Italians when she
got divorced) DELIBERATE FASHION
CONCLUSION **
Draw together and summarise thoughts about the research
findings and their significance
BIBLIOGRAPHY *
To provide details of the material used as background for
the project, whether cited in the text or not.
REFERENCES **
To provide details of the sources cited in the text.
APPENDICES (if relevant) *
To provide supporting details and materials which, if
included in the main body of the report, would interrupt its flow for the
reader.
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