Kristen Stewart's Wig to Transform Into Princess Diana in ‘Spencer' Costed a Whooping $6,000

Kristen Stewart's transformation into Princess Diana for the 2021 film Spencer was a meticulous process, with hair and makeup designer Wakana Yoshihara taking inspiration from the iconic royal's look from 1991. As Princess Diana was once the most photographed woman in the world, Yoshihara had an abundance of reference material to work with in recreating her style, per Instyle. The wig that made Stewart look uncannily similar to Diana was worth $6000 and took six weeks to be completely created. 

The film Spencer centers around three days at Sandringham during Christmas 1991, focusing on Diana's decision to end her marriage to Prince Charles and her life as a royal. Director Pablo Larraín chose to depict Diana's earlier hairstyle, a coiffed, feathered bob, instead of the famous fluffy pixie cut she sported during a 1990 photoshoot with hairstylist Sam McKnight. Yoshihara collaborated with wig maker Samuel James to create two wigs for Stewart's portrayal of Princess Diana, each costing around $6,000.

"In 1991 Diana's hair was quite short, so I first presented photos of that look," Yoshihara said. "But Pablo gave me photos of a much earlier hairstyle from 1986. It was a time when Diana was happier and she had longer hair." She added, "So I found more images from the same locations of the photos he showed me to match the different angles of the hairstyle." Due to COVID-19 restrictions and Brexit, the wigs were sent back and forth between the two artists, with Yoshihara adding knots of hair and dyeing it until the color, length, and layers matched the royal's look. 

"This process took about six weeks, and I probably colored the wig three times before I met Kristen. When we did the first fitting I knew the color wasn't right, so I colored it again," she shared. To achieve the right color and texture for the wig, Yoshihara used Bumble and bumble's Surf Foam Blow Dry Spray, Paul Mitchell Firm Style Freeze, and Shine Super Spray. Oribe's Gold Lust Hair Oil was used to keep the wig hydrated and shiny throughout the filming process. "I used the oil often to maintain the shininess in the wig because it has to be very stable, but at the same time it can't look like a scarecrow; we needed something to moisturize it," she said.

According to Yoshihara, the director, "Pablo said quite often that we are not making Kristen Stewart into Diana, we are making Diana into Kristen Stewart." The film Spencer left the audiences spellbound as Stewart's portrayal of Princess Diana and the meticulous attention to detail in capturing the iconic royal's look and spirit was loved by viewers. 

References:

https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/princess-diana/sam-mcknight-princess-diana-short-hair

https://www.instyle.com/beauty/kristen-stewart-princess-diana-hair-makeup-spencer