戴妃首件正式禮服六月拍賣

The black dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, for her first official appearance with the Prince of Wales shortly before their engagement in 1981 surfaces at auction this summer.

It was rumoured that the Princess had destroyed the black taffeta gown - but it turned up recently in a wardrobe at the studio of dress makers David and Elizabeth Emanuel.

Now the iconic dress is set to fetch up to £50,000 when it appears at Kerry Taylor Auctions in London on June 8.

The dress caused a sensation when Lady Diana Spencer, as she then was, bent down to climb out of the car. She was met with a frenzy of flash bulbs and next day's newspapers included the headline: "Daring Di sets fashion as she takes the plunge".

But while 19 year old Lady Diana thought that black was elegant and grown-up, it was deemed an unusual choice as the Royal family wear the color almost exclusively for mourning.

The public, however, went wild over the dress. In the run-up to her wedding, the nervous fiancée lost so much weight that she returned the gown to the Emanuels to have it taken in. The alterations required were so drastic that they decided it would be easier to re-make a smaller version for her. They kept the original and forgot about it, only re-discovering it quite recently.

This gown forms part of the Emanuel Archive of Princess Diana-related material comprising 30 lots ranging from actual clothes worn by the Princess to fashion sketches, invoices, letters and related ephemera and expected to fetch a total of up to £175, 000. It charts the transformation of the Princess from a young, inexperienced teenager into a world-renowned style icon.

A large part of the Emanuel Archive focuses on the Royal wedding gown and includes original designs and toiles for the bridal gown and bridesmaid dresses, the layered tulle petticoat worn by the Princess for fittings and rehearsals at St Pauls Cathedral, a duplicate sequined veil, invoices, letters from the Princess' mother, correspondence with Buckingham Palace and a photographic record of the making of the bridal gown. The collection also features fashion designs for the Princess' official tours to Venice 1984 and the Middle East in 1986.

（英國已故）威爾士王妃戴安娜1981年與威爾士親王（查爾斯王儲）訂婚前不久首次出席正式活動時所穿的黑色禮服將於今年夏天拍賣。

相傳這件黑色塔夫綢禮服已被戴安娜銷燬，但最近它卻在製衣人大衛和伊麗莎白•伊曼紐爾工作室的衣櫥裏被發現。

這件禮服將於6月8日在倫敦凱利•泰勒拍賣行拍賣，目前的預估價爲5萬英鎊。

當時，那時還是斯賓塞小姐的戴安娜身穿這件禮服俯身從車中出來，豔驚四座，現場的閃光燈此起彼伏，並在第二天搶佔了報紙頭條，標題爲《戴安娜風格大膽 引領時尚先鋒》。

當時，年僅19歲的戴安娜打破王室常規，選擇了這件高雅成熟的黑色禮服。而王室成員一般只在悼念場合穿黑色服裝。

但公衆卻十分喜歡戴安娜的這件禮服。當時，準新娘戴安娜因爲籌備婚禮緊張忙碌而消瘦了許多，因此她又把定製好的禮服送請伊曼紐爾改小。由於所需的改動太大，所以設計師最後決定重做一件尺寸小點的同款禮服，原先那件則保留，之後這件禮服被遺忘多年，直到最近才被找到。

參加此次拍賣的共有伊曼紐爾收藏的30件與戴妃有關的物品，除這件禮服外，還包括戴妃生前穿過的衣服、時裝設計草圖、發票、信件等物品，所有這些物品預計將拍得17.5萬英鎊。這些物品記錄了戴安娜從青澀少女轉變爲全球時尚偶像的過程。

伊曼紐爾收藏的戴妃物件中以她的婚禮禮服爲主，還包括新娘禮服和伴娘禮服的原稿設計和樣衣、王妃在聖保羅大教堂試衣和彩排時穿的多層薄紗襯裙、一條亮片面紗複製品、發票、來自王妃母親的信件、與白金漢宮的往來信件，以及新娘禮服制作全過程的照片記錄。藏品中還包括王妃1984年出訪威尼斯和1986年出訪中東時所穿的服裝。

Vocabulary:

taffeta: a stiff shiny fabric made from silk or a similar material, used especially for making dresses 塔夫綢

turn up: to be found, especially by chance, after being lost （尤指失去後偶然）被發現，被找到

take the plunge: to decide to do something important or difficult, especially after thinking about it for a long time （尤指深思熟慮後）果斷行事，作出決定

run-up: a period of time leading up to an important event; the preparation for this （重要事情的）前期；準備階段；準備

take in: 改小

ephemera: things that are important or used for only a short period of time 只在短期內有用的事物

toile: （用平紋細布等廉價織物做的）試穿用服裝；樣服

tulle: a soft fine fabric made of silk,nylon, etc. and full of very small holes, used especially for making veils and dresses 絹網，絲網眼紗，薄紗（尤用以製作面紗或連衣裙）

petticoat: a piece of women's underwear like a thin dress or skirt, worn under a dress or skirt 襯裙