Coco Chanel may have invented the concept of the “little black dress.” And Hollywood legend Audrey Hepburn later embodied its prototypical wearer in a legendary Givenchy version as Holly Golightly whisking around in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
But the “little black dress” — both in concept and manifestation — was given even more indelible life in 1994 by the designer Christina Stambolian, who created the so-called “revenge dress” for the late Princess Diana.
It’s the famous dress the Princess of Wales wore to communicate to her cheating husband, then Prince Charles, that he was missing out on plenty while engaging in his just-admitted adultery. The dress’s dramatic effect has reverberated ever since.
Think of it as a dress that said simply: You are a fool who doesn’t know what he’s missing. That is articulate and talkative couture.
Diana just now happens to be on plenty of minds once again because of a confluence of two events.
One, her ex-husband has just been made the King of England, once a grand title indeed. And two, season 5 of Netflix’s The Crown, which revisits the most tumultuous days of the modern royal family — and features the failing marriage of Charles and Diana.
The award-winning costume designer for The Crown, Amy Roberts, told the New York Times that the dress was a detail that the show knew it was “important to get right.” But though Roberts tried to reach out to Ms. Stambolian, she was unable to connect with the designer. Nevertheless, Roberts said, she hopes Stambolian, “wherever she is,” is “pleased.”
The revenge, as you can see below, never stopped.
