UNTIL THE GAVEL WENT DOWN at Christie's in New York City on June 25, opening the bidding for 79 dresses belonging to Diana, Princess of Wales, questions loomed: How much would bidders shell out? And, as designer Bob Mackie wondered to CNN's Larry King, "What are they going to do with these old clothes?" The answer to both questions: plenty.
Cheering, chortling and even booing, the crowd of 1,100 enjoyed itself to boot. By the time the sale ended at 9 p.m., buyers had forked over $3.26 million, destined for AIDS and breast-cancer charities. Added to the $2.5 million raised by catalog sales and tickets to previews in New York and London, the final tally was a tidy $5.76 million.
That "exceeded everyone's expectations," said Patricia Hambrecht, managing director of Christie's for North and South America. The most expensive dress, worn at a 1985 White House dinner during which Di danced with John Travolta, fetched $222,500 from a garment industry exec. Even the dress that drew groans—a blue chiffon by Emanuel—drew a respectable $27,600.
Just who plunked down such sums? Tomasso Buti, owner of the Fashion Cafes in New York and London, snapped up a gray silk Catherine Walker for $77,800 and a deep-pink Victor Edelstein for $36,400 to display in his restaurants. "More than owning a Princess Diana," he says, "you cannot do." Kate McEnroe, president of American Movie Classics, a cable-TV channel, paid more than $150,000 for three frocks that she plans to lend to museums. "We're happy we can bring a little bit of Princess Di to American women," says McEnroe.
Wedding-dress designer Pat Kerr, who has a collection of royal memorabilia, picked up four frocks for a total of about $150,000. But it was the amateurs who seemed to have the most fun: Roberta Hurtig, VP of a Boston-based consulting firm, and her sister Linda Sarna, an associate professor at UCLA, bid $20,000 for a red beaded number. "Di fans since the beginning," according to Hurtig, the two plan to share their size-8 booty. Says a jubilant Sarna: "It's going to be bicoastal."
MARIA EFTIMIADES, MARY GREEN, ELIZABETH McNEIL and MARIA SPEIDEL in Manhattan
Your Reaction
