How ‘Spencer’ Fashion Tells Princess Diana’s Story

How do you nail the style of one of the world’s most beloved fashion figures?

That’s the challenge facing Jacqueline Durran (Oscar-winning costume designer, best known for her work in 2005) Golden age and destruction, but also Atonement, Little Woman) with the highly anticipated film Spencer, a drama directed by Pablo Larraín that follows Princess Diana over three fateful days at Sandringham, as she contemplates ending her marriage to Prince Charles.

Durran wanted to pay homage to the “essence” of Diana’s fashion, rather than recreate the late Princess of Wales’ most recognizable ensemble (though versions of the iconic David and Elizabeth Emanuel wedding gown did appear, albeit in a different scenario than atop the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. ). Doing so means embracing bright tartan prints and brightly colored two-piece suits, chunky pearl necklaces, and eye-catching outerwear.

“[Diana’s style was] actually quite a bold style,” said Durran BAZAAR.com. “I’ve always thought of him as pretty conservative, maybe because he’s royalty and because of the kind of person he’s from and the style he’s started with. But it develops into something really quite bold—and it’s surprising when you really start to see it. .”

Below, we talk more with Durran about how the Spencer costume came to be—and why fashion lovers can’t stop obsessing over Diana’s timeless style.

Neon / Topic

Princess Diana’s style is iconic and is definitely constantly being imitated. When you were given the task of recreating her fashion for this film, where did you start?

That’s scary actually. A producer called me and said, “Would you like to make a film about Princess Diana starring Kristen Stewart with director Pablo Larraín?” So it’s like, “Yeah.” I didn’t even think twice. Then after I thought back on it, it was really scary, because there so lots of pictures of him. There are so many references, and so many choices. All I have to do is limit myself. I have to give myself a date, which is 1988 to 1992, because Pablo said he didn’t want it to be a specific point in time, so that was roughly our period. I’m trying to figure out what things, what styles she wears over and over again, so I can then hone those things and our kind of work through them, because it really overwhelms her number of photos and the number of references and how many options there are.

I started by just looking and trying to isolate the different styles. He wore geometric in that period. She will block color, she will wear plaid, she will have an asymmetrical collar. So I’m just trying to isolate them. But it was hard—it was a rough start.

Neon / Topic

What was the process like collaborating with Chanel to remake versions of some of her most famous looks?

They are an amazing company to work with, because they really care. They have couture rooms, and they have so much at their fingertips they can use to help you make whatever you need. So that’s first, and second, they’re very interested in supporting art—they’re very interested in helping you make film. They are not that interested in just giving you any product. They want to find Well product. I spoke specifically to the Chanel archivist, because I wanted to see things from our time period. So I’m talking about them shipping stuff that Princess Diana was actually wearing—not her own clothes, but similar styles.

In the film, Pablo wanted an extra evening gown for the montage scene, so they shipped a bunch of evening gowns from the 80s. And that’s how we found the dress we ended up using, which is a beautiful beige dress with gold embroidery. I’m not sure the date, maybe 1988, but it was a Karl Lagerfeld design from the ’80s, and they sent it and everyone fell in love with it. Then we had a nightmare situation that we all wanted to wear the dress because it was so beautiful, but in reality, it was too precious to use. So, we had a terrible moment where we thought we found the dress we really wanted as the main evening gown and it was taken. But Chanel has amazingly said that they will remake it for us in the old couture den. So they copied their own original dress in their study specifically for the film for inquiries. They don’t want to dominate the film; they just want to support us in creating the vision we want. So it’s a really good collaboration.

Neon / Topic

What are the essential details needed to really nail the Diana look?

Once I started looking at the whole thing and seeing how she created her style, I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful she was and how her style evolved throughout the 80s. You had a very naive start in the early ’80s when he first became royalty, and he was a little overwhelmed. I think the clothes she was wearing at the time, on the one hand, didn’t quite suit her. Then he really stepped in and it developed over time. Later in her life, she had a different style again, one that was much more relaxed and more of herself, than the kind of royal presentation costume we are used to.

So much about her outfit seems to give a glimpse into what she’s been going through emotionally in her life—especially in the movies. What story would you like to tell about Diana during her three days at Sandringham with the performances you put together?

There are so many layers of different costumes in this film. There was a formal structure of dress laid out that marked the passage of time and marked each day’s events—a rather oppressive thing. Then there’s her own clothes that she wears when she doesn’t have to wear formal clothes. Then there was the flashback outfit, or the outfit Pablo wanted to include in the montage, which was just another time—and it wasn’t necessarily a flashback, but it was just an alternative view of him.

I really wanted to make sure that the formal structure really looked like Diana. While we don’t want to emulate anything in particular, I really wanted to make sure I could recreate her aura so it all felt like this was really an outfit she could wear. That is my biggest ambition in film. It goes back to trying to find the things that will resonate most strongly to everyone and to creating the clearest picture of him/herself.

Neon / Topic

Why do you think Diana’s style has stood the test of time? There is probably more interest in his style now than when he was alive.

I agree with you. And I think it’s quite strange, because I think she is becoming more and more fashionable [over time]. Having lived in the 80’s, I wasn’t interested in his style at the time. It was a sort of separate royal style that didn’t become mainstream fashion. It may have been copied and may have influenced people, but it is not really fashionable in the true sense. But now, it’s becoming more and more [on trend]. Now I feel like it’s really a part of high-end fashion, and that’s a really interesting thing. I don’t know exactly why that happened despite the fact that she was very beautiful and her life ended tragically. But I think it’s interesting that she has become a real fashion icon. And, of course, a princess. I mean, that’s how it is. It’s a fairy tale, isn’t it? This is a fairy tale.

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