Princess Diana's revenge dress might be forever iconic, but there's a lesser-known black ensemble that the princess wore for one of her first-ever public appearances—and it was considered rather scandalous at the time.
In the words of Sophia from the Golden Girls, Picture it: London, 1981. A young Lady Diana Spencer stepped out into the glittering world of royal social events with her new fiancé, Prince Charles, and she definitely made an entrance. Dressed in a black strapless evening gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel—who would go on to design her wedding dress—the royal bride-to-be caused quite the royal establishment to clutch their collective pearls.
The ruffled gown itself was a daring creation that broke every unspoken rule of royal evening wear. First off it was black, a color that, at the time, was traditionally reserved for mourning when it came to royal ladies. It was also strapless and, in Diana's words, quite busty. "I was quite big-chested then, and they all got frightfully excited,” she later told journalist Andrew Morton (via Vogue).
Having being given the nickname of "Shy Di," it seems Diana set out to change the media's impression when she attended a fundraising concert to support the Royal Opera House in London. According to Vogue, Lady Diana had asked the Emanuels to design something for the outing, but when she went to pick up her dress, she spotted a gown that a pop star's wife had worn to another event and ended up wearing that instead.
“She looked so grown up, like a movie star, and she loved the idea of breaking the mold," Elizabeth Emanuel shared, per Vogue.
Her plan worked. A New York Times headline from the event read "Prince of Wales Upstaged at Concert by Financee [sic]." The story noted that "the couple were cheered when they arrived at the hall, but the real sensation occurred when the 19-year-old Lady Diana got inside and took off her wrap."
"'Lady Diana wore a low-cut gown, well off the shoulder, there were audible admiring gasps,'' said a breathless BBC reporter who witnessed the event," the New York Times continued.
The princess would later go on to tell Morton that the evening was "horrendous," telling the writer, “I remember my first [royal] engagement so well. So excited. Black dress from the Emanuels and I thought it was okay because girls my age wore this dress. I hadn’t appreciated that I was now seen as a royal lady, although I’d only got a ring on my finger as opposed to two rings…It was a horrendous occasion."
As Vogue pointed out, it couldn't have been so bad, as Diana later brought the gown back to be altered after she lost weight because she wanted to wear it again.
What made the moment truly noteworthy wasn't just the dress's cut—it was Lady Diana's choice to break away from her usual conservative looks. While she hadn't yet gained the confidence she was known for in the 1990s, this black gown was certainly a sign of things to come: Diana was going to do things her way.
