So far, this is possibly the only dress whose colour has been influenced by the World Cup Championship.
Lot 65 in the Christie's auction is described as 'A Long Evening Dress in Ivory Silk Crepe, by Catherine Walker'
The one-sleeved dress is embroidered in pink sequins and woven with gold thread to give the effect of shadowy flowers. The neckline is trimmed with sequins.
It was worn during an official visit to Brazil in April 1991. The colour of the sequins was a safe one. Catherine Walker noted in her autobiography,
The Princess of Wales took great care to honour the traditions and feelings of each country that she visited. Shortly before this visit to Brazil, the national football team had lost to Argentina in the World Cup and...in view of these circumstances we should not design anything in green, yellow and blue, which were the official colours of the team and definitely not in blue and white, which were the colours of the Argentinian football team.
Diana wore it a second time, in August 1991, to the premiere of Stepping Out. She attended the after party where she was photographed laughing and chatting with Liza Minelli.
Maureen Rorech Dunkle paid $35,600 for the dress, and as with all of the dresses she purchased, this was a strategic bid,
"From a geographic standpoint, I wanted most of the continents represented in my collection, and this was the first selection the Princess had worn in South America."
This dress, formed part of her popular Dresses for Humanity tour. In 2010, all of the dresses went up for auction in Toronto. This was a controversial sale and only three of the dresses met their reserve prices. The ten remaining dresses, including this one, were once again auctioned in 2013, this time at Kerry Taylor Auction House. Historic Royal Palaces bought two of dresses, paying £78,000 for this one and a dramatic black velvet Bruce Oldfield dress. Both now form part of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection.
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Sources
My Decade with Diana by Maureen Rorech Dunkle
Christies: DRESSES from the Collection of Diana, Princess of Wales Auction catalogue
Catherine Walker - An Autobiography By The Private Couturier to Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana's Dresses - Dresses for Humanity exhibition program
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