Auction gem: Lady Di dress brings record sum

Most likely someone will appear at Christmas dinner this year in a very special outfit. An iconic black velvet evening dress, worn by Princess Diana in 1985, recently went under the auction hammer in Hollywood. It is the most expensive princess dress ever sold.

The dress, which was originally estimated at $100.000, eventually sold for more than $1 million at Julien's Auctions. This means that the dress raised ten times more than initially expected. This sets a new fashion record as Princess Diana's most expensive dress ever sold at auction.

The evening gown, complete with shoulder pads, a blue organza skirt, a large bow and a sash, was first worn by Lady Di during a royal tour in Florence, Italy, in 1985. She wore it again with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1986 , where it caught the attention of admirers around the world.

Jacques Azagury

The special piece is made from fabric selected by textile merchant Jakob Schlaepfer and features embroidered metal stars that have been carefully processed by Jacques Azagury's design team. The organza skirt is a subtle nod to Princess Diana's patronage of the English National Ballet and her love of dance.

In addition to the iconic dress, other valuable pieces of Princess Diana were also auctioned, including a pink crepe blouse that she wore for her engagement portrait in 1981. Several other items of clothing worn by Hollywood stars were also sold. Including a Givenchy dress worn by Audrey Hepburn, a sleeveless dress worn by Gloria Swanson and Barbra Streisand's sailor dress from the 60s special My Name Is Barbra.