Travolta dress

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Princess Diana in a midnight blue Travolta dress at the gala dinner in the White House

The Travolta dress is one of the most famous dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales ; it was designed by Victor Edelstein , and Diana wore it for the first time at a state banquet on November 9, 1985 at the White House in Washington, DC

Although Diana had several dance partners on this gala evening, the appearance of the princess and her festive evening dress during her dance with the American actor John Travolta were perceived as particularly glamorous . As a result of the "media sensation" that this event triggered in the English-language newspapers, the princess' ball gown was given the name Travolta dress .

The Travolta Dress 1997 released by Diana few months before her death to charity for auction and it was sold for 100,000 pounds sterling . It was auctioned again in 2013, this time for £ 240,000. It is currently owned by an anonymous buyer.

design

The off-the-shoulder, asymmetrically cut evening dress made of gathered, midnight blue silk velvet was designed by the London- based fashion designer Victor Edelstein, who was inspired by the fashion of the Edwardian era (early 20th century). The formal, V-shaped evening dress, decollete on the front and back, has a slim silhouette with a softly flowing skirt that pops up below the knee. The elaborately crafted, tight-fitting, asymmetrically draped top is characterized by an arched, deeply recessed waist . On the left side of the dress, at knee height at the transition to the skirt part, a fabric loop made of the same material was attached. Journalist Jackie Modlinger described it as "dramatic in style" and "regal in material".

State reception in Washington

Arrival of the Crown Prince couple

Princess Diana and her husband, Prince Charles , had been on an official state visit to the United States since the beginning of November 1985 and, arriving from Hawaii early in the morning of November 9 , met with jet lag caused by the five-hour time difference on the Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. At the airport they were received by the British Ambassador Sir Oliver Wright and greeted by around 2,000 onlookers with flowers and flags. A helicopter then took the royal couple to the British Embassy , where they stayed until they traveled to Florida on November 12th.

Informal reception at the White House

After a brief rest, the couple drove to the White House in the British Embassy’s silver, bulletproof Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow , where they were informally greeted by President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy . During the welcome, several dozen demonstrators protested outside the cordon against the British military presence in Northern Ireland and chanted " IRA all the way".

During the rest of the day, the prince and princess attended four carefully planned receptions, partly together, partly separately, and finally a press conference with more than 100 American and British journalists at the British embassy. Several accompanying British journalists who had not complied with the requirements of the royal house in Australia had not been invited.

Official state reception with dinner

Official reception on Saturday evening, November 9, 1985

On the evening of the same day, a state reception with a gala dinner for 80 people was given in the White House in honor of the Crown Prince couple, to which the President and the First Lady had invited. On this occasion, the princess wore the midnight blue gown by Edelstein, a sevenfold, tight pearl necklace with one of diamonds framed sapphire and initially long gloves.

The festivities began with the official reception of the couple and guests in front of the White House. Among those invited were greats from show business , politics, science, sport and business, for example the opera singers Beverly Sills and Leontyne Price , the actors Tom Selleck , Clint Eastwood and John Travolta , singer and songwriter Neil Diamond , and the oceanographers Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Robert Ballard , former astronaut Alan Shepard , sports official Peter Ueberroth , figure skater Dorothy Hamill , ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov , artist David Hockney , philanthropist Brooke Astor , painter and designer Gloria Laura Vanderbilt , entrepreneur Henry John Heinz II. As well as other friends and acquaintances of the President and Crown Prince couple. Hundreds of reporters, photographers and TV technicians were on the South Lawn to cover the arrival of the celebrities.

After taking official photos of the state reception, dinner was held in the State Dining Room on the State Floor , featuring a Maryland crab menu with lobster mousseline, glazed chicken, and peach sorbet , with each course served with a different American wine. Speeches and toasts were made during dinner . The US Marine Orchestra and US Army Strolling Strings accompanied dessert. Then Leontyne Price performed a selection from Madama Butterfly and Porgy and Bess .

The event that gave the dress its name

After dinner, the company moved from the State Dining Room to the adjacent Entrance Hall , which is used for dance events on such occasions. At around 9 p.m., in front of the entrance , Nancy Reagan had informed John Travolta that the princess would like to dance with him later.

Diana had taken ballet lessons in her youth , but largely gave up this type of dance because of her size. But she remained true to her interest in ballet and especially her admiration for the dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov later on. This background later led to speculation that she would have liked to dance with Baryshnikov during the reception, but Baryshnikov, who, at 1.70 m tall, was also considerably shorter than Diana (1.78 m), was with one that evening Foot injury came to the state dinner.

John Travolta and Princess Diana as a dancing couple

The band had also received prior instructions, and when they began playing a medley of tunes from the Saturday Night Fever movie at midnight , Travolta asked Diana to dance. The dance floor in the Entrance Hall emptied and Travolta, elegantly dressed in Armani , and Princess Diana, in midnight blue evening gown, began to dance in disco style . Those in attendance later commented: "... Saturday Night Fever broke out ..."

When the band had finished the last piece of music after more than a quarter of an hour, Travolta bowed deeply to the princess and she curtsied .

Perception in the media

Although Diana (24) had several dance partners that evening, including President Reagan (74), Clint Eastwood (55), Neil Diamond (44), who sang during the dance, and Tom Selleck (40), her dance was almost exclusively with John Travolta (31) perceived as a particularly glamorous highlight. The photos of Princess Diana and John Travolta dancing to pieces of music from the film Saturday Night Fever were captured by photojournalist Pete Souza , chief photographer of the White House, passed on to the media and appeared in newspapers worldwide.

The Time Magazine , which also reported that state channels, called this event later one of the 10 most memorable state-dinner moments and it sparked a "media sensation" from. As a result of these newspaper reports received the dress Diana wore that night, the name Travolta Dress ( Travolta Dress ).

In retrospect, Diana's appearance with this dress is seen by fashion critics and biographers as the turning point in the media appearance of the Princess of Wales. While in the first years of marriage Diana's fashion style can be characterized more classically-conservative ("Shy Di"), in the mid-1980s, with the inclusion of the media, Diana's clothing style changed ("Dynasty Di"). She set fashion trends and paid increasing attention to the media impact of her elegant, sporty clothing.

Cult object and valuable asset

The princess wore the dress again in April 1988 for the premiere of the film Wall Street . She also reportedly wore it for the last official portrait photo taken in 1997 of her ex-husband's uncle, Lord Snowdon .

By the way Princess Diana dressed in public appearances and in certain phases of her life, what hairstyles she wore and what make-up she used - which was extensively depicted and documented through photos - they raised the media to the public Fashion and style icon. The clothes that she wore on very specific occasions became “ iconic dresses ”.

“There are some dresses that transcend fashion and come to symbolize a moment. Such was the case with the midnight blue velvet off-the-shoulder evening gown worn by Princess Diana to dance with John Travolta at a White House ball in 1985. ... I realized all it represented: not just the late princess, but the 1980s themselves; the innocence of the decade's materialism and the belief that everything was possible if you were armed with charm, drive and power shoulders. "

“There are some clothes that are much more than just fashion and that are symbolic for a moment. Such was the case with the midnight blue strapless gown that Princess Diana wore when she danced with John Travolta at a White House ball in 1985. ... I realized what it all represented: Not just the late princess, but the 1980s itself; the innocence of materialism of this decade and the belief that anything is possible if you only had charm, drive and broad, padded shoulders. "

- Charlotte Eagar in an article about the Travolta dress in the Financial Times

Auctions

  • In 1997 Diana decided to put 79 of her dresses, including the Travolta dress, up for auction for charity. The dresses were handed over to the London auction house Kerry Taylor Auctions, which they auctioned off at Christie's in Manhattan , New York on June 25, 1997. American businesswoman Maureen Rorech Dunkel from Florida bought ten dresses; the Travolta dress was the most expensive at £ 100,000. The auction was later merged into a documentary by the US television program provider Home Box Office , which was shown on English television in July 2013.
After Diana's death on August 31, 1997, the proceeds from the dresses were transferred to the People's Princess Charitable Foundation (PPCF) .
Maureen Rorech Dunkel had bought Princess Diana's dresses with the aim of holding exhibitions in the USA, including the title Dresses For Humanity . After Diana's death, interest in everything related to the former Princess of Wales increased again.
  • However, Dunkel went bankrupt and on June 23, 2011, a foreclosure auction was scheduled at Waddington's in Toronto. After the auction, the amount received for each dress was published, and according to the information, the Travolta dress had paid a record $ 800,000 Canadian dollars . But newspapers later reported that the alleged sale was a fake , and an auction house spokesman regretted the incident but did not explain how it came about. The Travolta dress was not bought at this auction.
  • In a third auction by Kerry Taylor Auctions in London on March 19, 2013, the Travolta dress was finally auctioned off, fetching £ 240,000 (about € 281,000) and again the most expensive dress auctioned. According to the auction house, it was bought by an anonymous Briton "as a surprise for his wife to cheer her up".

Exhibitions

  • From October 1999 to March 2000, the Travolta dress was item no. 4 in the Diana, Princess of Wales exhibition in the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace.
  • As of July 1, 2010, the Travolta dress was exhibited along with other dresses by Diana at the Branson Exhibition Center in Branson, Missouri .
  • From May to June 2011, the dress was shown in The Life of a Royal Icon exhibition at the DX Museum in Toronto.

Marketing and Rights Holders

After Diana's death, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund received the rights to market items relating to any type of illustration of Diana. When, in 1998, The Franklin Mint , an American manufacturer of coins, jewelry, model cars, dolls and other collectibles, after the Memorial Fund refused to grant a license, made and sold Diana items - including a Diana doll and Diana - Dresses, including the Travolta gown, the Memorial Fund sued the company. Due to an inadequate legal strategy, the Memorial Fund lost the trial and The Franklin Mint counterclaimed defamation in 2003. In November 2004 the case was resolved out of court and the Diana Memorial Fund paid £ 14 million to charitable projects to which both litigants were eligible.

In 2010, a manufacturer of porcelain collectibles in the USA brought a Diana statuette in a Travolta dress onto the market.

Elvis dress

Another dress of the princess received the name of a size from the show business from Diana herself: The Elvis dress ( Elvis dress ) is a strapless dress made of silk, which is sewn with around 20,000 pearls and which includes a matching bolero top . It was designed in 1989 by Catherine Walker, who was inspired by a show costume by the singer and actor Elvis Presley . Diana wore it on a tour to Hong Kong in 1989 and soon afterwards to the British Fashion Awards in London in October 1989. The dress was bought by The Franklin Mint at Christie's 1997 auction .

Web links

Commons : Travolta Dress  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence and explanations

  1. ↑ The very dark blue color of the dress is described as midnight-blue (midnight blue ) , navy-blue (navy blue) or ink-blue (ink blue ) .
  2. ↑ a b c Diana, Princess of Wales, Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection at Kensington Palace (15 dresses) (English)
  3. ↑ a b c Jackie Modlinger: Diana: woman of style . Bramley, 1998, ISBN 1858339650 , p. 82.
  4. ↑ a b c November 9th on BBC, On This Day
  5. ↑ Fit for a princess: Bulletproof Rolls-Royce used by Diana on her first trip to America expected to fetch more than £ 1.2m at auction , Daily Mail Online, October 31, 2012.
  6. ^ A b Their Royal Highnesses Arrive Charles, Diana Begin 3-day Whirl Of Glitz, Galas , Orlando Sentinel, November 10, 1985.
  7. ↑ Image of the necklace that complemented the Travolta dress on November 9, 1985.
  8. ↑ Princess Di Dress Auction Sells for Over 1 Million , Yahoo Shine
  9. ↑ Video of the reception in front of the White House ( Memento from January 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ^ Reporters Fire Away, But Prince Won`t Dance , Chicago Tribune, Nov. 11, 1985.
  11. ↑ Sherry Beck Paprocki: Diana, Princess of Wales: Humanitarian , Infobase Publishing (2009), p. 14
  12. ↑ 'She Waved To Me!' Tue, Charles Captivate Washington , Sun Sentinel, Nov. 10, 1985.
  13. ^ Jason Killian Meath: Hollywood on the Potomac , Arcadia Publishing (2009), p. 14
  14. ↑ Jay Mulvaney: Diana and Jackie: Maidens, Mothers, Myths , Macmillan (2003), p. 52
  15. ↑ Diana Wanted Baryshnikov - Not Travolta - for Dream Dance , ABC News, September 12, 2006.
  16. ^ Nigel Andrews : Travolta: The Life , Bloomsbury Publishing (1999), p. 167
  17. ↑ Tina Brown: The Diana Chronicles , Random House (2011), p. 216
  18. ^ A b Giles Sheldrick: Sold for £ 240,000 ... the dress that Princess Diana dazzled in with John Travolta . In: Daily Express , March 19, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2013. 
  19. ↑ Princess Diana's Dresses: The Truth Behind Her Most Famous Fashion Moments , Marie Claire, July 16, 2013.
  20. ↑ a b Rosalind Coward: Diana: The Portrait: Anniversary Edition , Andrews McMeel Publishing (2007), p. 90: Saturday Night Fever broke out (...) Diana was more glamorous than the stars of Dynasty or Dallas , better dressed than the most fashion obsessed, as beautiful as the supermodels, and with the added glamor of an incomparable status: She was a princess. No other face on the front page sold papers as Diana's. Ger .: Saturday Night Fever broke out (...) Diana was more glamorous than the stars of Dynasty or Dallas , better dressed than most fashion-obsessed, as beautiful as the supermodels and with the added shine of an incomparable status: she was one Princess. There was no other face on the front page that sold newspapers like Diana's.
  21. ↑ a b c d Dancing with Dirty Harry: Unseen pictures of 24-year-old Diana at White House gala show princess looking nervous in front of stars , Daily Mail Online, July 15, 2013.
  22. ↑ Unveiled, Princess Diana's waltz with Tom Selleck , Express, July 15, 2013.
  23. ↑ a b Princess Diana's Dresses were never as striking as the stunning woman I met, says Jim Shelley , Daily Mail Online, July 17, 2013.
  24. ↑ K. Elan Jung: Sexual Trauma: A Challenge Not Insanity , The Hudson Press (2010), p. 96 : Think of some of the scenes of her [Dianas] life, how she awed the world when she danced so gracefully with John Travolta at a White House gala in 1985. She was glamor and beauty personified. ; Eng. Think of some scenes in her [Diana's] life, how she struck the world as she danced so gracefully with John Travolta at the 1985 White House gala. She was the embodiment of glamor and beauty.
  25. ↑ a b c Bryony Jones: Dress Princess Diana wore to dance with Travolta auctioned off , CNN. March 13, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2013. 
  26. ↑ To Instagram moment: You with Princess Diana's 'Travolta dress' , Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2012.
  27. ↑ Loosely translated: One of the 10 most unforgettable moments at state receptions in the White House
  28. ↑ Paul Burrell: The Way We Were , HarperCollins (2010)
  29. ^ Marnie Fogg: Fashion - The whole story. Thames & Hudson 2013, ISBN 978-0-500-291108 , p. 450: For Diana's visit to the White House in 1985, however, it was a full-length midnight-blue velvet dress by Victor Edelstein (b. 1945) that cemented her new status as a global fashion icon when she took to the dance floor in the arms of movie star John Travolta, earning her soubriquet "Dynasty Di".
  30. ↑ Tina Brown: Diana - The Biography . Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-426-27431-6 , pp. 335f .: The decisive moment in their global metamorphosis occurred at a state banquet in the White House to which Ronald and Nancy Reagan had invited on November 9, 1985. ... She always knew how to use an opportunity for self-expression.
  31. ↑ Pictures from the premiere of Wall Street
  32. ^ Diana Princes of Wales , Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd (2006), p. 53
  33. ^ Frank Diebel: Diana exhibition - wife, princess, style icon ( Memento from October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), stern.de, August 10, 2007.
  34. ↑ Princess Diana's dresses go under the hammer. In: Express , March 19, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013. 
  35. ↑ Diana's Dresses: A Royal Fashion Retrospective ( Memento from October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) FASHOT IN FOCUS, October 1, 2013.
  36. ^ A b Charlotte Eagar I made Diana's White House ballgown , The Financial Times, March 22, 2013.
  37. ↑ a b Diana Cleans Out Her Closet and Charities Clean Up, New York Times, June 26, 1997th
  38. ↑ Princess Diana's dresses (HBO Studio Productions) 1999 at www.Worldcat.org
  39. ↑ Princess Diana's Dresses: The Auction , Daily Mail Online, July 4, 2013.
  40. ↑ End of a dream: Princess Diana's dresses up for auction after Florida woman who bought them for charity goes bankrupt , Daily Mail Online, June 24, 2011.
  41. ↑ Buyers pay millions for Diana's dresses , The Star, June 23, 2011.
  42. ^ Princess Diana dress sold at Toronto auction , The Telegraph, June 25, 2001.
  43. ↑ Princess Diana's evening gowns fetch millions in Toronto , Vancouver Observer, June 24, 2011.
  44. ↑ Revealed: the 'fake' sale of Princess Diana's ball gowns , The Telegraph, September 10, 2011.
  45. ↑ Princess Diana's dresses set to raise over £ 600,000 at auction . In: The Daily Telegraph , March 19, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2013. 
  46. ↑ Diana's clothes: 281,000 euros for the "Dance with Travolta" model . ( Memento of March 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) desired.de of March 20, 2013. Retrieved on October 6, 2013.
  47. ↑ Stefanie Bolzen: Gentleman buys Diana's dream made of velvet. welt.de, March 19, 2013, accessed October 8, 2013 .
  48. ^ Gentleman buys Diana's velvet dream , Die Welt, March 19, 2013.
  49. ↑ Diana's memory fountain: Happy times, stormy times , Spiegel Online, July 6, 2004.
  50. ↑ Princess Diana's Dresses Arrive In Branson Missouri ( October 22, 2013 memento in the Internet Archive ), princessdianaremembered.wordpress.com, July 2, 2010.
  51. ↑ Last chance to see Di's dresses before TO auction , CTV News Toronto, May 16, 2011.
  52. ↑ Diana died on August 31, 1997. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was established with effect from September 1, 1997 and dissolved at the end of 2012.
  53. ^ Rajan Datar: Diana's lost millions . In: BBC News . May 13, 2005. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  54. ↑ Illustration of the doll in the Travolta dress (The Franklin Mint)
  55. ↑ Franklin Mint Is Sued Over Princess Diana Memorabilia The Firm Did Not Have Permission To Use Her Name Or Image And Contributed No Proceeds To Her Memorial Fund, The Suit Alleges. , phylli.com, May 19, 1998.
  56. ^ Diana Memorial Fund faces £ 15m legal bill as sister of Princess is sued by US company , The Independent, November 5, 2004.
  57. ^ Diana's fund in legal settlement , BBC News, Nov. 10, 2004.
  58. ↑ Exclusive: Doll developer Joan Greene on designing Ashton Drake Princess Diana tribute doll , examiner.com, August 30, 2010.
  59. ↑ The Elvis dress at Collections
  60. ↑ Diana's Elvis dress to go on show in glittering ballgown exhibition charting 60 years of British style , Daily Mail, May 8, 2012.
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on December 17, 2013 in this version .