One day (when I was a kid) I was talking about cake with my mother. She told me French queen Marie Antoinette’s famous quote. She seemed to me interesting figure immediately.
Years later, I read a book about her and when I was high school I watch Kirsten Dunst’s famous movie Marie Antoinette and made a project about her. I admired her fashion sense and life and I continued to make a research about her.
Who Was Marie Antoinette ?
Marie Antoinette was born in Vienna, Austria. She was daughter of Francis I and Empress Marie Theresa who ruled over the Hapsburg Empire.
After her birth, the Seven Years War began and Empress Maria Theresa decided to make a deal with longtime enemy King Louis XV of France. Their desire was obtain peace between their country.
Marie Antoinette and the grandson of the French ruler, King Louis XV were married in 1770.
Marie Antoinette moved to France with 117 footmen, 57 carriages and 376 horsemen.
After Louis XV death in 1774, Marie Antoinette became a Queen and her husband Louis Auguste became King XVI. The young couple lived in Palace of Versailles. The palace was center of finest decorations and latest trends.
Marie Antoinette: Fashion Revolution
In the early 1700s Baroque style was dominated in fashion, art and architecture. Expensive fabrics including dark fabrics and rich fabrics were dominated in French couture.
When Antoinette traveled from Austria to France, her entourage stopped at the border of France and she changed her Austrian clothes and wore dress made in France in French style. It was a sign of her transformation from Austrian to French.
For almost 250 years, Marie Antoinette has been inspiring the fashion. At versailles, she was spending time with planning her hairstyles and dresses. According to reports, she had 300 dresses a year and she never wore any dress twice.
Her dedication to luxury brought tragediy of the French Monarchy. The country was in debt and people were starving but Royals continued to excesses. After famous French Revolution happened and King and Queen executed.
Marie Antoinette was the first consumer of ‘Haute Couture’ – custom fitted clothing. Rosa Bertin ‘Minister of Fashion’ thanks to her skill and Royal clients including Marie Antoinette became the first famous designer.
Marie Antoinette’s was a icon with her extreme extravagance, voluminous and heavily decorated clothes. Also she had famous intensely and tall adorned hairstyle which name was ‘poufs’
Even today, including Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano take inspiration from her elegant, baroque style.
