LONDON: Glittering gowns, elegant suits and bold mini-dresses worn by the late Princess Diana will go on show from Friday on the 20th anniversary of her death in new exhibition charting her style reign.
“Diana: Her Fashion Story,” hosted in her London residence Kensington Palace, follows her evolution from the demure outfits of her first public appearances to the glamorous gowns of her later life.
The show charts how she not only rewrote the rules of royal dressing with a more informal style but also expressed herself through her fashion choices, before her 1997 death in a car crash in Paris.
“Each of the dresses is like a mini biography... They’re not just what she wore but they tell stories,” Libby Thompson, a curator, told AFP.
Curator Eleri Lynn said: “We see her growing in confidence throughout her life, increasingly taking control of how she was represented.”
Some of the highlights include the discreet pale pink Emanuel blouse she wore for her engagement portrait in 1981 and the dazzling ink blue Victor Edelstein velvet dress she wore when she danced with John Travolta at the White House in 1985.
So iconic is the “Travolta” dress that it sold for £250,000 ($310,000) at auction three years ago.
Another gown, a silk velvet dress she wore for private events at Buckingham Palace during the 1980s, is sure to charm many visitors.
Tiny fingerprints believed to belong to one of her sons — Prince William and Prince Harry — have been found on the material, preserved through the last 30 years.
The show will also highlight how throughout her years as one of the world’s most photographed women, Diana revealed herself to be a diplomatic dresser.
The “Gold Falcon Gown” is a perfect example.
She wore the Catherine Walker cream silk dress embroidered with gold falcons — the national bird of Saudi Arabia — during a visit to the country in 1986.
But it was by breaking the codes of royal dressing and embracing a more practical style that Diana transitioned from the Princess of Wales into the “People’s Princess” — the term used by then prime minister Tony Blair after her death.
She developed a more informal “working wardrobe” of chic Catherine Walker suits and tailored shift dresses to champion the causes she cared about.
These outfits, designed to convey approachability, she wore on charitable outings including meeting people with HIV and visiting children in hospital.
Following her separation from Prince Charles in 1992, Diana threw the rulebook away again by adopting a bolder look featuring many figure-hugging mini dresses.
The cream silk mini she wore while attending a charity auction of her more memorable dresses in 1997 is testament to that.
Held in Kensington Palace, her residence for 15 years, the exhibition will extend to the gardens where her sons have said they will add a statue of her to mark the anniversary of her passing.
Princess Diana’s iconic dresses on show for anniversary
Princess Diana’s iconic dresses on show for anniversary
‘The Wrecking Crew’ — Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista head enjoyable romp
RIYADH: Angel Manuel Soto directs this odd-couple action-comedy with a confidence and flair that — along with the chemistry between its central performers and its better-than-you’d-ever-expect script — just about raises it above the slop swarming the streamers.
Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista play estranged half-brothers Jonny and James Halle. Both have the same father — a not-much-liked private detective called Walter who’s just been killed in a hit-and-run in Hawaii (where they were raised and where James, a Navy SEAL, still lives). Neither brother is particularly upset to hear the news of Walter’s death, but when Yakuza henchmen attack Jonny in his Oklahoma home (where he’s a maverick, heavy-drinking cop) demanding a package sent by Walter (a package he hasn’t yet received), he decides to return to Hawaii for the first time in years to attend the funeral and investigate further.
Jonny’s reunion with James is less than cordial, but he does meet James’ wife Leila and their kids for the first time. Leila is a child-psychologist — not afraid to call the brothers out on their emotional shortcomings, nor to try and help them fix their fractured fraternity.
The brothers’ investigation uncovers a plan to build a casino on Hawaiian home lands (an area held in trust for Native Hawaiians). The developer is the extremely wealthy Marcus Robichaux (played with gleeful pantomime-villain campness by Claes Bang), who — it turns out — had hired Walter to investigate his wife, who had hired Walter to investigate her husband.
Now our heroes know who they have to bring down, they’re into far more comfortable territory (both for the characters and, you suspect, the actors). Yep. Forget the dialogue, it’s action time.
Cue multiple scenes of high-octane mayhem expertly helmed by Soto in what’s essentially a slightly updated (emotional healing!) throwback to the dumb-but-fun action blockbusters of the Eighties and Nineties. The nostalgia isn’t hidden, either. The soundtrack starts with Guns N’ Roses and ends with Phil Collins. And there’s a shoutout to Jean-Claude Van Damme in between.
There’s a plot here too, but, honestly, who cares? Momoa and Bautista get to flex their considerable muscles, show off their ink, and make a few wisecracks. No one’s watching this for a clever twist, right? Watch it hoping for a couple hours of entertaining excitement and you’ll be well satisfied.
