Literature Review Final Dissertation

 Diana her life in fashion

Diana Her Life in Fashion (Howell, 1998) is the resource that I have most used during my research as it has the most relevant research into her life from a perspective of fashion. “What message will I be giving out if I wear this?” (Howell, 1998, p.14). This is a quote from Jasper Conran, one of Diana’s favourite British designers, which appears in the introduction of Howell’s book and illustrates the connection of the book to the fashion theory of Semiotics.  The book refers throughout to Diana’s fashion and how she was using it through different stages of her life, both before marriage and during marriage, and in the short time after her divorce. The book also details the history of what was happening in the times of her life and how events played out. Not everything in the book is directly relevant to my question but even those parts are very important in providing background information and context.

Diana Woman of Style

Diana Woman of Style (Modlinger, 1998) is another book that I have looked at during my research. It contains a good number of interviews with the designers she used most during her life. The book has detailed information on key dresses and outfits she has worn. For example, the ‘Wedding Dress’ and the ‘Revenge Dress’. The book was particularly helpful for researching about the ‘Revenge Dress’ and it even includes a fashion illustration for the original design of the dress. I found this book to have very similar information to another book that I have been using, Diana Her Life in Fashion, which has been useful to back up and confirm what I have learnt from Diana Woman of Style.

 Royal Style

Royal Style (Wackerl, 2012) is a book that looks at Royal fashion from all over the world and has a section on Princess Diana. Despite being in only a short chapter of the book, the author really manages to highlight many of the key outfits that Diana became well known for in the eyes of the media and public. In this book it refers to her fashion biography, Diana Her Life in Fashion (Howell, 1998), which it uses a quote from and that I have used as an important source for this research project. Royal Style was helpful in the initial stages of my research as it gives a short overview of Diana’s life as a fashion figure in the public eye.