Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Whatever happened to Princess Diana's Mermaid Dress?

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This shimmering dress was designed by Catherine Walker. The dress is slit to the knee, and embroidered all over with petrol-green sequins by Jacob Schlaepfer. Described in the auction catalogue as 'A Long Sequinned Dinner Dress by Catherine Walker'
Of deep green embroidered overall by Jacob Schlaepfer to give a mermaid effect, the dress is V-necked and has long sleeves. The bodice is loosely ruched at the front and the dress is slit to the knee.  
Jacob Schlaepfer is an award winning Swiss textile and design manufacturing company. They have been in business for 100 years and during the pandemic, they have turned their attention to making glamorous face masks, including ones with sequins!

Diana labelled this her "Mermaid" dress. It was worn during a State visit to Austria at a gala performance of 'Love For Love' at the Vienna Burgh Theatre on April 14, 1989. A charity ball at Osterley House for a fundraiser for the British Paraplegic Society in May 1989, a Diamond Ball at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in December 1990, and the 'Biggles' film premiere in 1993.

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When Diana decided to include it in the auction, one of her sons expressed doubt anyone would buy the style in the late 1990s. Despite this, Lot #50 sold for $24,150 to Maureen Rorech Dunkle. She purchased the most dresses at the auction, including the iconic Travolta Dress. It formed part of the Dresses for Humanity touring exhibit, raising money for humanitarian causes.

After declaring bankruptcy in 2010, the dresses were auctioned in 2011 in Toronto. There was some issues with the Toronto auction and it turned out some of the dresses had not been sold after all because only three met their reserve price. The remaining ten dresses were auctioned again in 2013; this one to unknown ownership. In 2016 Kerry Taylor Auction House sold the dress for $126,000 to an 'unnamed British Museum' which turned out to be Historic Royal Palaces.

© Marilyn Braun 2020

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.

Rare Diana dresses bought by unnamed British Museum
Last airing of Diana's gowns?
Princess Diana gowns sell for $1.2million at auction
Sold! Princess Diana dress sells for 800K
Butterfly in Remission - Princess Diana review of Kensington Palace Exhibition
Princess Diana - See how much her iconic dresses really went for at auction
Video - Examples of Jacob Schlaepfer's work
My Decade With Diana by Maureen Rorech Dunkle
Christie's Auction Catalogue - Dresses from the collection of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana - Her Life in Fashion by Georgina Howell

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