Thanks to social media, Princess Diana's fashion is more popular than ever. Just take a look at TikTok to see a parade of Diana-inspired styles (who doesn't love a good bike short and sweatshirt combo?). But in the '80s, everyone wasn't quite as keen on recreating her royal style—in fact, one boutique co-owner lamented that his career would be "ruined" because the then-Lady Diana Spencer started wearing their clothing.
In the new book Dianaworld: An Obsession, author Edward White wrote that "despite her twenty-first-century reputation as a style icon, during Diana's lifetime it was far from universally acknowledged that she had a flair for dressing." She even appeared "on the worst-dressed lists compiled by the fashion critic Richard Blackwell," the author noted.
Diana's "ultimate Sloane Ranger look" was filled with ribbons, cutesy printed jumpers, high-necked floral dresses, silk scarves and piecrust collars. As White wrote, "it was a backward-looking aesthetic" worn by upper-middle or upper-class Londoners of a certain set, and Diana became its patron saint.
One designer, however, wasn't a fan of Lady Di's style, and that was Vivienne Westwood. She co-owned a London boutique called World's End with Malcom McLaren, former manager of the Sex Pistols—and when Westwood's 1981 "Pirate" collection went on sale, Lady Diana Spencer came calling.
"A terrible thing happened," McLaren said, per White. "We opened the store and Diana Spencer came in; she was the first customer...I thought, 'Oh my God, we're ruined!...I've lost all credibility.'"
In today's world, a royal endorsement is the ultimate coup—look at brands that have been touched by the Kate Effect and Meghan Effect. But McLaren claimed that Diana caused the new collection to get "into the wrong hands" and not the customer base they were targeting.
Instead, "every would-be, wannabe Diana Spencer on the Fulham Road" purchased Westwood's new line. Per White, "Neither McLaren nor Westwood thought Diana in the least bit stylish, just a dreary fashion victim."
The fashion designer, who died in 2022, once told Woman and Home that Diana "was 'someone ruled by the trends,'" and according to the Dianaworld author, especially hated "those horrible little pumps" the princess wore "that are neither one thing nor the other."
"It's as though her clothes are supposed to tell you that she's both a feminist and sexy at the same time," Westwood added. But, as White pointed out, "this was precisely what [Diana] was dressing to say."
