Fashion Expert Reveals Princess Diana’s Fashion Evolution—From Royal Protocol to Modern Woman—is “A Powerful Piece of Mythology”

While many regard Princess Diana as a fashion icon, she was not necessarily considered a modern trendsetter at the time—especially early on in her marriage—according to a fashion historian. Speaking exclusively to Marie Claire, Mark Coombes, Creative Director and editor behind Forgotten 80’s on Instagram, feels that Princess Diana’s status as a trendsetter is “a powerful piece of mythology.” The fashion historian says, “Diana often avoided major trends rather than driving them, and that restraint became part of her later appeal.”

“Diana was an aristocrat, but she wasn’t part of the fashionable aristocratic set of the time,” Coombes says. “She was very young, deeply shy, and came into public life suddenly and unprepared.” Coombes compares then-Lady Diana Spencer to the “true Tatler girls” like Princess Caroline or Plum Sykes, who were part of the “London and European aristocratic fashion crowd” and “were already fluent in fashion, wore the newest designers, and moved confidently through that world.” Lady Diana Spencer, who was working as a nanny before her wedding, “simply wasn’t part of that circle.”

“Fashion then was still largely the domain of the affluent,” Coombes explains of the trends of the 1980s. European royals and posh magazine writers were all part of “the inner-city creative classes and the professional elite” who set the fashion bar. “It wasn’t until the 1990s, with the rise of high-street retail and mass fashion, that trends truly filtered down at speed.” Coombes notes that “in the 80s, fashion moved top-down, slowly, and within closed worlds,” saying “film, TV, and mass-printed magazines were the only way the masses were exposed to ‘dressing’.”

In the early years of her marriage, and during her time within the royal family, Princess Diana acted as more of a relatable connection to the people, rather than a fashion icon. “She wasn’t admired because she was at the cutting edge of fashion,” says Coombes, but rather “she was admired because she humanised royalty.” Much like her future daughter-in-law, Princess Kate, Coombes feels that Princess Diana’s fashion “felt accessible, safe, and emotionally resonant.”

“In that sense, she wasn’t a trendsetter so much as a translator and a trend-cementer that the masses could relate too, but not the fashionable.”

“Her look was actually very dated in the 1980s,” Coombes explains. “Her haircut is a perfect example,” says Coombes, who explains “it was actually quite conservative and dated compared to what fashionable women were wearing, particularly in Europe, where long, glossy hair or cool bobs dominated.” Coombes feels that the biggest shift happened “in the 1990s, when she was finally free of the royal family, and employed a team to help her put her looks together.” The most marked change in her fashion came in 1997, when “the Mario Testino shoot for Vanity Fair completely showed a new and revitalised princess—fresh, chic and on point.”

“Fashion in the 1980s was not democratic like it is now,” Coombes explains. “Diana wore ‘everyday’ clothes and that made her accessible and appealing.” While she may not have been a trendsetter or a fashion trailblazer, she did leave her mark on history. “It’s a compelling story, but it’s not the same as fashion leadership in the strict historical sense.”