Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
- Princess Diana and Ariana Madix’s revenge looks inspired the theme at Netflix’s recent screening.
- The streaming service invited guests to wear their best revenge fashion ahead of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty.
- Actor and designer Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa turned heads in a gown designed by her brand, Essie Apparel.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, but the revenge dress is meant to be sizzling hot.
Princess Diana accidentally invented the revenge dress on 29 June 1994.
It is more than a piece of clothing. In an era where everything is content, the revenge dress has become a symbol for women, marking the end of a relationship and the beginning of a new era.
After news of then Prince Charles’ long-time affair with Camilla making headlines, Princess Diana stepped out in a black silk cocktail dress designed by Christina Stambolian. And so, “revenge dress” was born as Diana, Princess of Wales, appeared at a dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens wearing an iconic outfit “in revenge” for the televised admission of adultery by her husband.
Before the dinner, leaked reports from the palace said she would wear Valentino to the event, so, per a Town & Country Magazine report, she chose a dress that had been sitting in her closet for three years.
Stambolian had made the dress for the Princess in 1991.
The dress marked the first time she had worn something above the knee to an evening event, and the colour choice was also unusual for royals to wear to such events at the time.
Black was reserved for mourning, and people who saw the moment unfold declared the colour choice symbolic of the death of her marriage.
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Years later, Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix would tow the same line after wearing the red dress seen worldwide for the season 10 reunion of their long-running show. The reunion took place months after news broke that Tom Sandoval, her boyfriend of nearly a decade, cheated on her with their friend and fellow cast member Rachel Leviss. The scandal came to be known as #Scandoval.
Although she wore the mid-riff-bearing look with confidence, she was not the one who called it a “revenge dress”. That was the genius of her British boss, Lisa Vanderpump, who said:” That’s a revenge dress if I ever saw one.”
“I know,” agreed reunion host Andy Cohen, marking the moment by saying, “She’s like Princess Diana.”
Both women’s looks inspired the theme at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty.
The streaming service invited guests to wear their best revenge fashion, with the note, “From Princess Diana to Ariana Madix, we’re talking about your best revenge dress.”
Actor and designer Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa turned heads in a sheer, billowing tulle number over a sculpted, layered bodysuit designed by her brand, Essie Apparel.
A guest at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
A guest at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Founded during her headline-making marriage to Grammy-Award-winning musician Black Coffee, Essie Apparel initially focused on maternity wear. Following the end of their marriage, the brand shifted focus and created women’s wear ranges that hit the runway at South African Fashion Week in 2023 and 2024.
In both years, her marriage and love life made headlines, but Mlotshwa kept her head down, working on her two crafts—acting and designing.
Though a handful of people did not enjoy her outfit for the Savage Beauty screening event, those who understand the idea behind a revenge dress will value the look for what it was—a showstopper.
SEE WHAT THE OTHER GUESTS WORE:
Kuhle Adams at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Khosi Ngema at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Rosette Ncwana at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Sive Mabuya at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
A guest at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
A guest at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Happy Simelane at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
A guest at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Stunning Maze at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Angela Sithole at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Sne Mbatha at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Busiswa at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Dumisani Mbebe and Nambitha Ben-Mazwi at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Oros Mampofu at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
Jess Suntele at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Photo: Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
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Omuhle Gela at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
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Bonnie Meslane at Netflix’s recent screening of the second season of the South African drama Savage Beauty. (Supplied/Netflix South Africa)
