Bellville Sassoon Ballgown

fits Franklin Mint Diana Portrait Doll



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Despite a grueling first pregnancy, in which she suffered terrible morning sickness exacerbated by the many stresses of adapting to a completely new life where she herself said 'nothing happened normally' (Diana, An Extraordinary Life, pg 59), Diana soldiered on. She was determined to do the best job she could for the royal family and for the public and kept as full a schedule as possible, but eventually was limited to those engagements which lasted only an hour or so. One such event(left), in March of 1982 when she was six months pregnant, was the gala opening of the new Barbican Arts Centre, in aid of her husband's charity, the Prince's Trust. Emerging from the car smiling and shimmering with diamonds, she was said to look 'blooming' in a red silk taffeta gown by Bellville Sassoon. It was in the 'fairy princess' look she favored at the time, and which looked so charming on the young princess (when David Sassoon sent her the sketch for this gown, she sent it back with 'Yes, please' written on it). It was also a style that leant itself well to maternity wear - the big crinoline skirt minimized her 'bump', while the lace, bows, and ruffle trims (not to mention the huge diamond necklace leant her by the Queen - a gift to the monarch from King Khalid of Saudi Arabia) focused attention upward.

It still worked well as a typical evening gown, too - Diana wore it again(right), after William's birth, in November of 1982 to a dinner in Portsmouth aboard HMS Victory









This recreation is of light weight red polyester satin, and features lace trim at the neckline and sleeves, as well as a ruffle around the neck and sleeve bottoms and fabric bows at the bodice front and sleeves. It fastens at the back with snaps. The bodice and sleeve are lined with pink polyester to prevent staining. The skirt, which is slightly fuller in front to approximate her 'bump', is unlined, but included is a white polyester petticoat. Also included is a silver lame clutch bag. This is shown with the 'Swan Lake' suite of jewelry by Facets by Marcia, but there is available a replica of the original necklace and earrings by Sharon, who you can reach through her e-Bay ID of sghack

If interested, please e-mail. Thanks for looking!


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