Who wore it best? Kim Kardashian publicly carries Diana's cross for the first time

For a woman with the name and means to commission any designer she likes, Kim Kardashian has a strange and enduring penchant for wearing niche pieces worn by deceased famous people. She has outbid collectors at auctions on clothing and jewelry from Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson and Elvis, and once wore Marilyn Monroe's “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to the Met Gala.

Your latest piece of jewelry? A large amethyst cross once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, which Kardashian purchased in 2022 but has only just worn in public when she appeared at the LACMA Art+Film Gala on Saturday night in Los Angeles brought to light.

If you have seen the Attallah Cross on Kim, it is hard to imagine it on the late princess. It would be fair to say that they designed it a little differently.

When Princess Diana wore it to a charity gala in London in 1987, she paired it with a black and burgundy Catherine Walker dress with a high Elizabethan-style ruff. The gold, silver, amethyst and diamond pendant hung from a long pearl necklace. The whole effect was very: Catherine of Aragon meets Madonna.

Kim's look implies whatever the opposite of a high-necked Elizabethan ruff. The neckline reaches down to her navel and the pearl necklace is wrapped around her neck in a choker style, so that the cross hugs her cleavage perfectly. Who can say who wore it better?

The necklace, with a total diamond weight of 5.25 carats, was purchased from Garrard, the former crown jeweler, in the 1980s by publisher Naim Attallah. He lent the necklace several times to Princess Diana, who was his friend.

“Few people could carry this piece away, but Diana really could,” said his son Ramsay ahead of the necklace’s auction at Sotheby’s in 2022. “When I was growing up, we always had it on the table for Christmas dinner, but it never was worn by someone other than Diana and it has not been seen in public since her death.”

It is believed to have been created by crown jeweler Garrard in the 1920s and is one of the few pieces of jewelry worn by the princess to ever be sold at auction. When the princess first wore it, it was considered a perfect example of her occasionally mischievous approach to fashion.

In retrospect, it's also proof that she was a step ahead of the oversized cross look that pop stars loved in the '90s. Her enduring connection to Garrard is also worth mentioning. Her iconic sapphire engagement ring – now worn by the current Princess of Wales – is a Garrard creation.

She wore a Garrard tiara on her wedding day (the Spencer tiara was adapted by Garrard for her family in the 1920s) and wore a pearl and diamond necklace made by the jeweler at one of her final public appearances, a performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House in 1997.

Before the cross's sale, Kristian Spofforth, head of jewelry at Sotheby's, said jewelry that belonged to or was worn by the late princess “very rarely comes to market.”

“Especially a piece like the Attallah Cross, which is so colorful, bold and distinctive.

“In a way, this unusual pendant is a symbol of the Princess’s growing confidence in her choice of clothing and jewelry at this special moment in her life.”

Bidding at the 2022 auction began with a guide price of £80,000; Kardashian bought it for £163,800.

The reality star has taken shape in this area. She once bought a pair of Elizabeth Taylor bangles at auction for $64,900 (£50,230). Jeweler Lorraine Schwartz had offered to simply make Kardashian her own couple – she only had eyes for Taylor's.

“She loved these bracelets for a long time,” Schwartz said. “She bought them because they belong to Elizabeth.”

Then there was Marilyn Monroe's $4.8 million “Happy Birthday, Mr President” dress, which Kardashian wore in 2022 on loan from Ripley's Believe It Or Not! wore at the Met Gala. She lost 16 pounds to wear the dress (which has not been worn since Monroe wore it and is typically kept in a temperature-controlled environment) and was subsequently criticized by a collector who claimed she had caused “permanent damage” to the dress, among others Citing cracked fabric and missing crystals.

Family members have benefited from Kardashian's penchant for second-hand finds. She bought her brother Rob a set of Elvis rings at auction, while her daughter North once received the fedora worn by Michael Jackson in the “Smooth Criminal” music video for Christmas.

She was six years old and probably just wanted a Barbie dream house, but maybe she'll appreciate the white hat stained with Jackson's makeup when she's older.

And if she ever wants to dress up as one of Henry VIII's wives for Halloween, she can always raid her mother's jewelry box and try out the Attallah Cross.

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