She reigned as the ultimate style icon of the 1990s, and the Met Gala stood — then as now — as fashion’s grandest stage. So, while it might surprise some that Princess Diana graced the event only once, in 1996, it’s no shock that all eyes were on her that night.
Still the Princess of Wales at the time, she touched down in New York City just hours before, flying in on the Concorde. The spotlight had followed her every step since her high-profile split from Britain’s heir, Prince Charles, just months earlier. As she climbed the Met’s famous steps alongside her friend and the evening’s chair, Harper’s Bazaar editor Liz Tilberis, it was clear: Diana was ready to own the moment.
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Princess Diana’s Bold Met Gala Look: A Secretly Altered Galliano Gown
This was evident not only in her choice of gown — a daring, negligee-inspired navy slip dress with a black lace trim — but also in her decision to secretly alter the garment into something far more risqué than its designer had intended.
The outfit was the work of John Galliano, who had recently left Givenchy to take the helm at Dior. That year’s Met Gala theme (and accompanying exhibition) centered on the French label’s founder, Christian Dior. And Galliano’s first couture assignment was to dress the event’s best-known attendee. He visited London’s Kensington Palace ahead of the gala to share drawings and discuss ideas with the princess.
Recounting the experience in last year’s Hulu documentary series “In Vogue: The 90s,” the British designer said he lobbied Diana to wear pink but “she was not having it.” The princess had it her own way — and then some: After receiving the finished gown, she drastically modified it without Galliano’s knowledge.
“Fast-forward to the event, and I just remember her getting out of the car. I couldn’t believe it. She’d ripped the corset out,” the designer revealed in the documentary. “She didn’t want to wear the corset.”
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Stepping beyond royal dress traditions
Royal biographer Katie Nicholl has claimed that Diana worried the racy outfit might embarrass her then-14-year-old son, Prince William. But the look appeared to be well received by the press and other attendees.
“She just makes it a little more glamorous, a little more beautiful, because she is both,” broadcaster Barbara Walters told tabloid TV show “Hard Copy,” whose segment gushed that Diana was “a work of art.” Later that week, a New York Times opinion piece said the princess had “demonstrated the restorative powers of celebrity.”
The look signaled Diana’s break from royal dress codes. She was no longer bound by expectations. A ballgown, or a more modest floor-length gown, would have been the usual choice for the Met Gala. Galliano: Diana felt ‘liberated’ in her more sensuous altered gown.
