The essence of Diana, a wardrobe between fantasy and reality for the film Spencer

«The artistic interpretation of an idea». He says it Jacqueline Durran regarding the work done for the costumes of Spencer, the long-awaited film by Pablo Larraìn dedicated to Princess Diana. It already warns the public, anticipating the criticisms it knows will be raised when the film finally lands in theaters. After all, when there is a big hit as the winner of two Oscars in the category curating the costumes for a film Costume design (per Little Women in 2020 and for Anna Karenina in 2012) one cannot expect the homework of those who strive to recreate reality for what it is.

The long-awaited film by the Chilean-born director will be released in the United States and the United Kingdom on November 5 (for Italy it will be necessary to be patient until 2022) and from that moment onwards the biopic, if we can define it that way, it will be consigned to history, including customs. “This is not a film for purists” says Jacqueline Durran firmly speaking of the work done “the clothes worn by Kristen Stewart they have the aura of a princess ».
“We didn’t want to replicate every moment of her life but we didn’t do it because we didn’t want the audience trying to pinpoint the exact moment a scene was happening,” he added, “it was more about trying to create the essence of her, without but to define it completely “.

It is good to remember that the film is set in Sandringham, the estate in which the royal family traditionally spends Christmas at the court of Queen Elizabeth: three days between the holidays in 1991, the year in which the wife of the heir to the throne decides to sever those golden chains and go back to becoming simply Spencer, recovering the identity she had before marriage.

The wardrobe sewn on to the American actress was designed to represent that inner torment between tailored suits created for her public role and the jeans she slipped into everyday private life. This friction had to be clear and strong colors had to be used to emphasize it. “Diana was the most photographed person I’ve ever come across,” says Jacqueline Durran a Entertainment Weekly “If you go to a search engine, there are thousands and thousands of its images. So it was a matter of choosing the direction within this immense range of options. We decided to narrow the field over a period of time between 1988 and 1992 ». Durran explains that he searched for “themes” while carrying out research that he called “scientific.”

Diana was one of the most important fashion icons of the last century and the film will undoubtedly be able to revive dated trends that now have the charm of vintage. With two trailers and a poster the curiosity of the inconsolable was unleashed fandom of Diana to which the new generations have joined, in part thanks to the popularity of The Crown, who on social networks go hunting for the look of the tormented protagonist of the chronicles of decades ago.

If we compare the clothes anticipated in those few minutes of video and those of the years in which the research was concentrated (in the gallery at the end of the article you will find a review) even if we do not see exact copies, we note that the influences are quite clear. Starting from the first outfits that began to circulate with started shots like that of Kristen Stewart in the red coat and the hat with a black veil.
Many trace the garment back to the one worn at Christmas 1993 while in reality it is one Chanel showed off for the first time for a visit to Paris in 1988. Having the ambassador of the French maison at home meant that, among the many original creations, it was also possible to draw from the label’s archive for original pieces such as the now famous red coat from that year’s autumn-winter ready-to-wear collection. Chanel’s support was greatly appreciated: Jacqueline Durran and her team had about eight weeks to make the costumes, even relying on a relatively modest budget – less than $ 20 million – for a production of that genre. “We did it with little money, for love,” he will tell Daily Beast.

The other Chanel dress, the one that appeared on the poster, is already in the legend. Instead of working on a mix of red carpet dresses or big events, they relied on the maison, perhaps betraying Diana who had a complicated relationship with the brand, given the logo. Those two intertwined Cs were banned from the wardrobe after the separation: who would ever carry the initials of her ex-husband (Carlo) and his great love (Camilla) stamped on them with serenity? In addition to the fairy tale dress in organza and sequins from Chanel Haute Couture spring-summer 1988 collection, other pieces peek out like one blue double-breasted jacket without collar in a dramatic confrontation with the queen on the palace stairs.

Among the images already imprinted in the memory, there is the tartan jacket with the velvet collar. The Scottish pattern was well present in the wardrobe of those years as well as the red color. Scrolling through the stock images, we record two coat dress (not jackets therefore) which could have been the starting point of the Durran team’s research. The one worn in Portsmouth in 1989, among other things, reveals the turtleneck, another recurring element in the princess’s style choices in the limited span of time in the search for Diana’s style.

To understand how the costume designer worked, just examine the yellow outfit Kristen Stewart wears as she runs on the lawn: a perfect synthesis of dozens of dresses designed for the princess in most cases by her trusted designer. Catherine Walker, as well as the pirate hat recalls at least three or four models seen on Diana. And that particular shade was also very welcome to the princess.

Easier to take care of casual side of Diana. In researching garments from the years between the 80s and 90s, Jacqueline Durran was lucky enough to find the same designer bomber Worlds worn by the princess when she went to pick up her children from school (the other, the most famous one, is the varsity green gods Philadelphia Eagles). The film also features the baseball cap of theOntario Provincial Police: it is identical to the one portrayed several times in the shots of sporty Diana.

In the appetizer that was made to taste we also see several evening dresses, in addition to that of the manifesto. This is perhaps the most imaginative part of the wardrobe. There are some bubbly dresses, one can see one red and one black one-shoulder, which refer to the creations made for Diana by Bellville Sassoon, Victor Edelstein O David ed Elizabeth Emanuel.

In Durran’s selection, there is a dress that never really made it to the set in Germany. An 80’s dress with a beaded bodice, a large peach skirt and a bow at the waist fell victim to the travel ban early 2021, stuck at customs due to the Brexit he was born in Covid. “I bought two to be sure but in the end it didn’t help,” revealed the costume designer.

And then there is it strange case of the wedding dress. It appears in the trailer but the scene is not in the final montage but above all it only vaguely resembles the one inserted in the annals of the costume. “We didn’t have the money to make that dress that wasn’t even part of the main story” revealed Jacqueline Durran in an interview with THAT ONE “So we just adapted a wedding dress to make something that came close to it: it was a kind of spirit of the dress rather than an exact replica ».

Considering that the story takes place in three days, the prepared looks are really many. Some of these we will never see, if not hidden in the hanging cases that the maids bring into the rooms when the princess reaches Sandringham: in the hanging labels on each dress you can read the abbreviation PoW, Princess of Wales, and an indication of the commitment to which each dress was intended.

The sense of the film travels on that coat hanger that shows us how little margin of freedom Diana also had in the choices of her clothing since each outfit had to be screened before approval. A vice from which in those three days told in the film he had decided to escape. To finally take back the surname he had as a girl.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:
– Diana, because she is still a style icon that is difficult to overcome
– Diana, whose (casual) looks are still alive today
– Christmas with Diana, a journey through the princess’s wardrobe