The Crown 4: Diana’s early eighties wardrobe wasn’t so cool at the time

The fashion icon's style wasn't so in vogue in the early 80s.

Princess Diana represents the fashion icon of the twentieth century. Her character played by Emma Corin in season 4 of Netflix’s The Crown boasts a look that is very popular and very appreciated today but it was not at the time.

The Crown 4, Princess Diana: her wardrobe in early eighties

Although it’s having a moment in 2020, her Sloaney style wasn’t considered so cool at the time. Infact, for example, when she first went on a date with Charles, Diana was a 19-year-old nursery assistant who wore brightly coloured patterned jumpers, Laura Ashley blouses, knee-length pleated skirts and pie crust collars.

Eleri Lynn, the woman who curated the 2018 exhibition “Diana: Her Fashion Story” told Vanity Fair that very soon, this first romantic style disappeared. In fact, Diana realized that it didn’t work very well for print photographs. Then, around the 80s, the princess changed style and her silhouette became more slender and all the decorations became surface embellishments.

This was thanks, at least in part, to British Vogue’s fashion editor Anna Harvey, who helped Diana to upgrade her wardrobe. Harvey walked her away from the pastel ruffles and into a sleeker silhouette of power-shouldered Catherine Walker suits, evening dresses and tailored trouser suits. However, Diana’s upgraded early eighties wardrobe was still far removed from the labels and silhouettes that young people wanted at the time.

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Written by Emma Lewis

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