In 1994, Princess Diana donned a plunging black off-the-shoulder gown that had lived in her closet for three years yet remained unworn until the June evening when she was set to attend a fundraising gala for Vanity Fair at the Serpentine Gallery. It was a last-minute switch, according to her stylist Anna Harvey, as the Princess had previously planned on wearing a Valentino dress until the look was prematurely leaked to the press. Diana chose this specific evening, the night that her former husband Prince Charles publicly admitted on television that he had cheated on Diana, to reach for the Christina Stambolian dress. Instead of shying away from the cameras that would’ve undoubtedly been trained on her that evening with or without the Christina Stambolian gown, Diana consciously chose to wear a dress that had previously felt far too daring and walk in with her head held high. Thus, the birth of the revenge dress.
A History of Why We Love The Revenge Look – CR Fashion Book
