The Crown costume designer who recreated Princess Diana’s ‘revenge dress’ says look was ’empowering’

A costume designed from The Crown has discussed recreating Princess Diana‘s most memorable looks for the small screen – including her famous ‘revenge dress’ – in an interview with The Times.

The late Princess of Wales famously wore the Christina Stambolian black ruched mini dress to the Vanity Fair party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994.

It was the same evening King Charles confessed to being unfaithful in a television documentary, admitting what he said done, but saying it only happened once the marriage had ‘irretrievably broken down’. 

According to Princess Diana’s close friend Anna Harvey, cited in a 1997 Vogue article, the royal originally feared the mini black dress was ‘too daring’ and planned on wearing a Valentino design to the event, but after finding out about her ex-husband’s documentary, wanted to ‘look like a million dollars’ on the difficult evening.

Now the look has been recreated for series five of The Crown, with Sidonie Roberts, buyer and assistant costume designer on the Netflix show, telling the outlet that the look represented ‘the birth of an icon for women all over the world’. 

‘Revenge dress’: Diana, Princess of Wales, famously donned this Christina Stambolian black ruched mini dress to the Vanity Fair party at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1994 (pictured)

The outfit, including the pearl necklace with a large sapphire, was recreated for Netflix’s royal drama (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki playing Princess Diana in series five of The Crown)

Sidonie, who oversaw the recreation of the fashion moment, said: ‘We can’t overestimate its impact. 

‘In the revenge dress not only do we have the birth of a new woman, we have the birth of an icon for women all over the world. It was a deeply empowering moment.’

The look can be seen in the trailer for series five, which will air on Netflix from November 9.

In a short clip within the trailer, the fictionalised Diana (played by Elizabeth Debicki) is seen arriving at the Serpentine Gallery’s summer party in June 1994. 

That same night, the King’s BBC documentary Prince Charles: The Private Man, the Public Role aired to the public in an effort to restore his reputation following his divorce. 

During the infamous interview, the monarch admitted to journalist Jonathan Dimbleby that he had been unfaithful in his marriage – but only once it had ‘irretrievably broken down’.

According to Sidonie Roberts, buyer and assistant costume designer on The Crown, recreating the royal’s well-known outfits involved ‘an extensive amount of research’ (pictured: Diana, Princess of Wales at The Serpentine Gallery Fundraising Gala in 1995)

A similar gown was shown in the programme, but worn by the actor playing Diana in a scene depicting one of Diana’s final public appearances, when she attended a royal gala performance of the English National Ballet’s Swan Lake in June 1997 (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki playing Princess Diana in series five of The Crown)

The black minidress is just one of the outfits recreated by the show. According to Sidonie, there is ‘an extensive amount of research’ involved in recreating the well-known ensembles worn by the royal. 

She told The Times, that the production team is aware that ‘everyone is waiting for those moments’, and so they ‘try to do them justice by steering as close to the reality as possible’. 

Another outfit which may look familiar to royal watchers is a blue mini dress with a plunging necklace, which is near identical to one the Princess wore in 1995 at a Serpentine Gallery fundraising gala in Hyde Park.  

However the scene is actually depicting one of Diana’s final public appearances, when she attended a royal gala performance of the English National Ballet’s Swan Lake in June 1997.

 Another iconic look donned by the royal was this red coat which she paired with black trousers and a blue baseball cap during a skiing holiday in Lech in 1994 (pictured)

A clip from the trailer shows the fictional version of the royal wearing a very similar red puffer jacket and blue cap (pictured: Elizabeth Debicki playing Princess Diana in series five of The Crown)

Also missing from the Royal Albert Hall scene is the pearl and diamond necklace that became so synonymous with the engagement that it sold at auction as the ‘Swan Lake necklace’ 20 years later for £10million. 

Another outfit seen in the trailer, which replicates one of Diana’s famous looks, is one of the looks she wore during a skiing holiday in Lech in 1994, where she paired a blue baseball cap with a red puffer jacket.

Also touching on the process of creating original costumes, Sidonie said that putting together costumes for outfits that weren’t captured on camera could be more difficult than recreating the famous looks worn by actor Elizabeth Debicki in the series.  

It was announced last year that Elizabeth would take over from Emma Corrin and play Diana for the fifth and sixth series, which will cover Diana’s death in 1997. 

The actress said of her casting last year: ‘Princess Diana’s spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many. It is my privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.’