A formal cream-coloured silk crepe dinner dress worn by Diana and created by designer Catherine Walker sold for $250,000. (Canadian Press)

Designer gowns once worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, attracted big bids at an auction in Toronto on Thursday night.

The dark blue dress Diana wore while dancing with actor John Travolta at a 1985 White House state dinner was the top-selling item at $800,000.

Waddington's had estimated the Victor Edelstein-designed gown could sell for as much as $1 million.

"I think that that dress still represented $800,000 and an exponential return on its original purchase price, and I think 10 years from now, people will be looking on that price as a bargain," said Stephen Ranger, vice-president of business development for Waddington's.

He said it will take a few days to compile a final tally of all 14 dresses sold. An unofficial tally based on the sale bids appeared to be around $3.17 million.

Other dress sale prices:

• $340,000 for a lilac silk dress with embroidered flowers and bolero jacket designed by Catherine Walker, one of Diana's favourite designers.
• $250,000 for a cream silk crepe dinner dress by Walker.
• $210,000 for a black halter-neck dress by Walker.

Ranger said the dresses were purchased by different buyers.

'A truly global style icon'

The collection, owned by American private investor Maureen Rorech Dunkel of Tampa Bay, Fla., has toured the world in the exhibit titled The Life of a Royal Icon.

Several of the 14 evening gowns in the collection were worn for state visits and dinners. There are luxury creations by British designers such as Bruce Oldfield and Zandra Rhodes.

Dunkel said she chose gowns that she believed showed the evolution of Diana's fashion sense.

"They tell us the story of a very young ingenue, you know, who became a princess at the age of 19 and grew to be truly a global style icon who very much directed her own look," she told CBC News in May, when the gowns went on public exhibit in Toronto.

She paid $870,000 US for 12 of the gowns at a Christie's auction in New York in 1997. Diana died just eight weeks later in a car crash in Paris.

Waddington's is donating a portion of its commission from the Toronto auction to Canada's National Ballet School in recognition of Diana's passion for both children and ballet.

With files from The Canadian Press