A Princess Diana Evening Dress Rocketed Past Estimates to Sell for $1.1 Million
Julien’s Hollywood Legends auction turned out to be truly legendary.
The four-day sale, which wrapped up on Sunday, raked in more than $7 million and attracted a record 16,351 bidders from across the globe. The bestseller was an evening dress worn by the late Diana, Princess of Wales that hammered down for a bonkers $1.15 million.
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Designed by Jacques Azagury, the ballerina-length gown sold for 11 times its original estimate of $100,000. It now holds the world record for the most expensive Lady Di-worn dress sold at auction. (The previous record holder was a velvet Victor Edelstein gown that sold for $604,800 at auction in January.)
Princess Diana donned many of Azagury’s dazzling garments throughout her reign. (The Morocco-born designer studied at the London College of Fashion and St Martin’s School of Art before opening his flagship store in London in 1987.) This particular dress features a black velvet bodice embroidered with stars and a two-tier royal-blue organza skirt with a sash and bow. The princess wore it in Florence, Italy on April 23, 1985.
The Emanuel blouse Diana sported in her famous 1981 engagement portrait also achieved an impressive sum during Sunday’s sale. Crafted by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the pink chiffon design sold for $381,000, or nearly four times its original estimate of $80,000. Captured by Lord Snowden, the royal’s engagement photo was featured in the February 1981 issue of Vogue and has since been immortalized in British history. So too has the blouse. The Emanuels, who also designed Diana’s wedding dress, sold the blouse in 2010 for a comparatively modest $27,900.
It wasn’t just one blue blood dominating the auction extravaganza, though. More than 1,000 iconic pop-culture artifacts were sold from December 14 to 17. Most notably, an animatronic model of E.T.’s head realized $635,000, the robot from Lost In Space achieved $455,000, and Bruce Lee’s nunchaku from Fist of Fury sold for $162,500.
In addition, the relaxed garb Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) wore in The Big Lebowski netted $169,000 and the “Proteus” submarine model from Fantastic Voyage sold for $158,750.
Julien’s says the four-day blockbuster was the most successful Hollywood memorabilia auction in its 20-year history. Legendary, indeed.
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