A piece of political and pop culture history is up for grabs.
The Victor Edelstein blue velvet evening gown that Princess Diana famously wore to a state dinner at the White House in 1985 is hitting the auction block on December 9.
Listed for £350,000, the dress was part of an iconic and viral moment when Diana danced with John Travolta to music from “Saturday Night Fever.” For the occasion, Diana completed the look with a pearl necklace with an oval and sapphire centerpiece, adapted from a brooch gifted to her by the Queen Mother.
The dress seemed to be among the late royal’s favorites; she wore it on four other major occasions, including for a state visit to Austria in 1986 and a night at the Royal Opera House in 1991. She also memorialized it in her portrait by Lord Snowden in 1997.
However, this isn’t the first time that the draped gown has been put up for sale; just two months before her death in 1997, Diana sold it for £100,000 to raise funds for the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Fund and the AIDS Crisis Trust. It remained with Florida-based businesswoman Maureen Dunkel until she went bankrupt in 2011 and finally sold it to a British man, who purchased it for his wife in 2013.
“This is considered one of the most important and iconic gowns ever worn by the princess,” Lucy Bishop of Kerry Taylor Auctions told The Independent. “The photos of her being twirled around on the dance floor by a handsome John Travolta at the White House caused a sensation at the time, and remain so memorable today.”