With all that’s going on in the world, it’s nice to have something to look forward to. And here at Refinery29 Australia, something we’re eagerly awaiting is the release of Spencer, the Princess Diana biopic being unveiled at the Venice Film Festival on September 3.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, who brought us Jackie, Spencer will explore how Diana grappled with the mammoth decision to veer from her royal path and end her marriage to Prince Charles. Set across a particularly life-changing long weekend over the Christmas holidays at Sandringham estate back in the early '90s, the film will focus on three critical days that have come to be known as the weekend that changed the royal family forever.
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When news first broke that Kristen Stewart was chosen to depict the late royal, whose maiden name is Spencer, some Di-hard fans were sceptical about the resemblance, but now that the first official trailer has been released, not only is the resemblance uncanny, but the slew of outfits doesn't disappoint either.
First, we had some image teasers that put to rest any doubts that Kristen Stewart could pull of Princess Diana's likeness — the actress even nailed the infamous Diana head tilt.
The image featured Stewart wearing a black blouse and red tweed coat, actually pulled from the archives of Chanel's autumn/winter 1988/89 ready-to-wear collection. Topped off with a veiled hat, it looked to be inspired by the outfit the princess wore on Christmas Day at Sandringham Estate in 1993, the year she separated from Prince Charles.
The next glimpse we got earlier this year was another still, this time, an intimate portrait of Stewart in her full Diana garb, complete with the historical sapphire engagement ring.
The costuming consisted of a red and green checked blazer layered over a cream turtleneck and pearl earrings, which seems to be inspired by a similar suit that the real Diana wore during a visit to Portsmouth in 1989.
Up next was the poster, teasing a November release date. In it, we see Stewart in a voluminous ballgown, slumped to the floor.
Despite the similarities, the dress — designed by Chanel with Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran, most famous for creating that green dress from Atonement and the costumes for Greta Gerwig’s Little Women — is not an exact recreation. According to a spokesperson for NEON, Durran decided against mimicking outfits, deciding instead to take inspiration from various looks to fashion a wardrobe for Stewart that would be original, but still feel true to her style.
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Now, we have the official trailer. And with it, a promise of plenty of breathtaking sartorial moments to ogle. And through a montage of clips, we've managed to spot just some of the iconic fashion moments inspired by the princess' own looks.
In exciting news, we've spotted a nod to a familiar jacket during a scene where Diana confides in a friend while on the beach.
While we've always fawned over the glamorous gowns, Diana had the royal-off-duty style down pat. One of her favourite items of casual wear was a controversial Philadelphia Eagles varsity jacket — an item many royal fans believed was far too American for a British royal to be wearing.
We also see a distressed Diana running through the gardens of the large estate, wearing a yellow skirt suit and matching hat.
This is another costume where some creative license has been taken. It bears a similarity to a purple outfit worn by the People's Princess at a church ceremony in 1989, but this one is a butter yellow — a hue favourited by Diana.
The last discernable outfit that paid homage to a real-life fashion moment was a glimpse at the dress Princess Diana wore in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1983 during her tour of Australia with Prince Charles. What does this mean? Well, it suggests that even though the film is set across a single weekend, flashbacks will be fair game.
There are still plenty of outfits to be revealed in Spencer, but they're likely not all going to be exact recreations. As Larraín noted in his Venice Film Festival statement: “Building the character of Diana, we didn’t just want to create a replicated image of her, but use cinema and its tools to create an internal world that [struck] the right balance between the mystery and fragility of her character.”
Sharing her excitement about the role, Stewart explained in a statement what the film is to her, "Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life. It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name; Spencer. It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her."