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Close Encounters: Dresses help tell Diana's story
Thursday, October 22, 1998 By LaMont Jones, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
During a two-hour period yesterday, hundreds of women stopped in the ladies' formal wear section of the new Kaufmann's store in Robinson Town Centre.
None of them seemed to even notice the Scott McClintock and Molly Malloy gowns draped elegantly on mannequins and hanging from polished racks.
No, their attention was arrested by The Dresses -- three gowns that once belonged to Princess Diana and were part of her official, royal "working wardrobe." Purchased at a charity auction last year by Romance Classics cable network, the gowns were at Kaufmann's as part of the store's grand opening.
Each garment, accompanied by a large color picture of Diana wearing it, has a story.
The black silk crepe evening gown with a diamante-embroidered bodice by British designer Catherine Walker was worn by Diana on an official visit to India in 1992.
The pale blue silk chiffon dress, also by Walker, was inspired by an evening gown worn by actress Grace Kelly in the movie "To Catch a Thief." Diana wore it to the Cannes Film Festival in 1987 and on only one other occasion -- the London opening of "Miss Saigon" in 1989.
The third, a strapless, formal dinner dress in oyster duchesse satin with a bolero jacket, was Diana's favorite. She liked the Victor Edelstein gown so much that she pulled it from the auction but later was persuaded to put it back on the block.
Shoppers who tarried at the display, almost all women, murmured as they stood outside the black-and-gray cordoned off area surrounding the dresses.
"Beautiful!"
"These cost a lot of money!"
"They're gorgeous, aren't they?"
"She's dead, isn't she?"
Some shoppers photographed the dresses, engaged celebrity journalist Diane Clehane in lengthy conversations and had Clehane sign her new hard-cover book, "Diana: The Secrets of Her Style." Some shed a tear for Diana, a woman they had never met but whose life touched them in some way.
Even shoppers who weren't aware that the dresses would be exhibited paused as Clehane answered questions.
Clehane, 37, of New York, researched and wrote the book in nine months. All royalties from the attractive coffee table tome benefit the Royal Marsden Cancer Fund in England. The 120 photos in the book, many never published, were culled from more than 20,000 pictures that Clehane inspected from an array of sources, including libraries and private photographers.
Clehane also collaborated with the designers, who created sketches of some of the dresses for the book, which chronicles Diana's fashion journey from frumpy to super-stylish. There's even a sketch of a full-length black bugle bead dress with a long train that Diana died before wearing.
"She became a role model for me because she was a person of great substance and style," said Clehane.
Yesterday, Clehane was a fountain of Diana trivia from which strangers drank liberally.
At the time of Diana's death, the princess wore a size 10 in American sizes, Clehane said. Her measurements were 36-26-36. Even when she wasn't in pumps, she was a statuesque 5 feet, 10 inches tall. And she knew how to effectively match inexpensive costume jewelry with designer outfits that cost thousands.
"As a Diana fan, I had in mind the kind of book I wanted to buy but had never seen," said Clehane, who wore a copy of Diana's engagement ring. "I really believe she spoke to us through the clothes she wore. What I'm struck by is there's a tremendous connection with women of every age and every race and every size."
As Clehane spoke, the curious and the adoring lined up four deep in the aisle.
"Are these copies or the real thing?"
"That one's nice."
"It's a weird feeling to look at them."
"They look a lot better when they're on her."
Paula Roman was recuperating from back surgery, but she didn't let that prevent her from going to view the dresses and chat with Clehane.
"I wouldn't miss this for the whole world," said Roman, 36, of Robinson. She bought Clehane's book, snapped several photos and talked about her extensive Princess Diana collection: five dolls, two commemorative plates, volumes of books and videotapes, the limited edition Beanie Baby and some unscratched scratch-off lottery tickets from England.
"A day doesn't go by that I don't watch a video or read one of the books," said Roman.
Suzanne Brandau of Mt. Lebanon, who said she was born in Paris and speaks six languages, was underwhelmed by the display. She thought there would be more dresses and hated the three she saw.
"I'm very disappointed, terribly disappointed," she sniffed. "There were so many that were just breathtaking."
Then she offered a few kind words about The People's Princess.
"She was the most fabulous gal. She didn't deserve what happened to her. She was the most elegant, poised, sophisticated, chic lady."
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