Warm and Wonderful, the small business that brought you the iconic Princess Diana sweater, recently shared a sweet story about our beloved princess on Instagram.
Warm and Wonderful was founded in 1979 by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne. The two set up a small shop featuring knitted sweaters at a market in Covent Garde. Almost instantly their black sheep sweater became a favorite. Soon enough, the sweater went from quirky conversation piece to fashion must-have thanks to a special blonde named Lady Diana Spencer.
“By coincidence, our style appeals to the sort of girl that Diana is. She has a wonderful sense of fashion, our sweater is perfect for her casual style,” they once told a newspaper. The two believe that the sweater ended up in Diana’s possession as a gift. However, after a classic mishap involving a rather large engagement ring getting stuck in her sweater, Princess Diana was determined to track down a new black sheep sweater. She was not ready to let go of her favorite jumper!
Warm and Wonderful recently shared a post by Caroline Calloway about the incident. “A palace anecdote that I really love: Diana tore a hole in the sleeve of her sheep sweater with the massive engagement ring that Charles gave her and was so distraught she had lost her favorite sweater, she had a Buckingham Palace secretary write to the brand on royal stationery asking Warm and Wonderful if they could replace it,” she shares. “At the time, delivering a letter to the ladies who ran the brand was no easy feat. Their address was not publicly known and they had no storefront. The only way you could buy a sweater from them was if you stopped by their famous ‘table’ in Covent Garden.”
She goes on to explain, “Andy Warhol came to the table to buy a sweater. David Bowie bought a sweater from the table, too. How the palace found a way to reach them by post–we’ll never know. But starting… RIGHT NOW… you can reach @warmandwonderful at warmandwonderful.com.”
Princess Diana got her hands on a new black sheep sweater and the rest is history!
Warm and Wonderful launched their very first online shop this week and for the first time in decades, you are able to purchase pastel pink or blue sheep sweaters. They are also offerings clothing for kids and accessories! Caroline credits her best friend, Jack Carlson of Rowing Blazers, on the international resurgence of the sheep sweater and some of the new opportunities that founders Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne have seen over the last several years. Their collaboration sure seems like kismet!
Visit WarmAndWonderful.com or RowingBlazers.com to check out their latest collection inspired by the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Kinsey Schofield is the Founder of To Di For Daily and you can follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.