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Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
In this dazzling new vision of the ever-fascinating queen, a dynamic young historian reveals how Marie Antoinette's bold attempts to reshape royal fashion changed the future of France
Marie Antoinette has always stood as an icon of supreme style, but surprisingly none of her biographers have paid sustained attention to her clothes. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber shows how Marie Antoinette developed her reputation for fashionable excess, and explains through lively, illuminating new research the political controversies that her clothing provoked. Weber surveys Marie Antoinette's "Revolution in Dress," covering each phase of the queen's tumultuous life, beginning with the young girl, struggling to survive Versailles's rigid traditions of royal glamour (twelve-foot-wide hoopskirts, whalebone corsets that crushed her organs). As queen, Marie Antoinette used stunning, often extreme costumes to project an image of power and wage war against her enemies. Gradually, however, she began to lose her hold on the French when she started to adopt "unqueenly" outfits (the provocative chemise) that, surprisingly, would be adopted by the revolutionaries who executed her.
Weber's queen is sublime, human, and surprising: a sometimes courageous monarch unwilling to allow others to determine her destiny. The paradox of her tragic story, according to Weber, is that fashion--the vehicle she used to secure her triumphs--was also the means of her undoing. Weber's book is not only a stylish and original addition to Marie Antoinette scholarship, but also a moving, revelatory reinterpretation of one of history's most controversial figures.
Marie Antoinette has always stood as an icon of supreme style, but surprisingly none of her biographers have paid sustained attention to her clothes. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber shows how Marie Antoinette developed her reputation for fashionable excess, and explains through lively, illuminating new research the political controversies that her clothing provoked. Weber surveys Marie Antoinette's "Revolution in Dress," covering each phase of the queen's tumultuous life, beginning with the young girl, struggling to survive Versailles's rigid traditions of royal glamour (twelve-foot-wide hoopskirts, whalebone corsets that crushed her organs). As queen, Marie Antoinette used stunning, often extreme costumes to project an image of power and wage war against her enemies. Gradually, however, she began to lose her hold on the French when she started to adopt "unqueenly" outfits (the provocative chemise) that, surprisingly, would be adopted by the revolutionaries who executed her.
Weber's queen is sublime, human, and surprising: a sometimes courageous monarch unwilling to allow others to determine her destiny. The paradox of her tragic story, according to Weber, is that fashion--the vehicle she used to secure her triumphs--was also the means of her undoing. Weber's book is not only a stylish and original addition to Marie Antoinette scholarship, but also a moving, revelatory reinterpretation of one of history's most controversial figures.
412 pages, Hardcover
First published September 19, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 283 reviews
December 23, 2012
This book should definitely be read after one reads Antonia Fraser's "Marie Antoniette: A Journey." This is not a definitive biography, nor does it claim to be. However, it looks at the ill-fated queen in a unique and textual way- through the clothing choices she made at every juncture in her tenure as Dauphine, and later Queen of France.
Weber analyzes everything from color to fabric, hair to corsets in this impeccably researched work. She makes the reader conscious of the UNCONSCIOUS messages we send in our clothing, making one rethink the social consequences of an "I'm with Stupid" T-shirt. Making the satorial social and back again, Weber looks at the way in which Marie Antoniette affected her public and the rebellion she was able to mount without saying a word.
Obviously interest in this book will be high due to the Kirsten Dunst movie. However, this book gave me more of a sympathy for the queen who was thrust into the public eye in France and the decisions made by her and for her. It gave me a different picture of a rebellious queen that I couldn't find in the film. A great read for anyone interested in fashion, Marie Antoniette, and the French Revolution.
Weber analyzes everything from color to fabric, hair to corsets in this impeccably researched work. She makes the reader conscious of the UNCONSCIOUS messages we send in our clothing, making one rethink the social consequences of an "I'm with Stupid" T-shirt. Making the satorial social and back again, Weber looks at the way in which Marie Antoniette affected her public and the rebellion she was able to mount without saying a word.
Obviously interest in this book will be high due to the Kirsten Dunst movie. However, this book gave me more of a sympathy for the queen who was thrust into the public eye in France and the decisions made by her and for her. It gave me a different picture of a rebellious queen that I couldn't find in the film. A great read for anyone interested in fashion, Marie Antoniette, and the French Revolution.
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November 17, 2025#Vive la Reine...
2/3
O vestuário é algo de intrinsecamente ligado à história das mulheres. Daquilo que se veste a quem o faz, as roupas e a moda são um mesmo discurso que acompanha milhares de anos de registos históricos associados às mulheres, de ocidente a oriente. E este discurso está perfeitamente sincronizado com a vida e a morte de uma das figuras femininas mais fascinantes da história, Maria Antonieta.
Jogando com essa ideia, o estudo aturado de Caroline Weber alarga o âmbito das biografias tradicionais para se focar na forma como a moda moldou e foi moldada pela última rainha de França.
Desde cedo manietada pela indumentária que lhe é imposta - e que deverá apagar todos os traços de estrangeiriso à chegada da princesa à nova pátria - Maria Antonieta é rapidamente elucidada sobre o poder que o traje, e a moda, detêm sobre os homens, a política e a nação. E a lição aprendida parece surtir bom efeito. Os primeiros anos do seu reinado, embora estrategicamente difíceis de gerir no plano político, oferecem uma possibilidade inesperada para uma mulher educada no silêncio e na submissão. A moda que a afrancesou oferece-lhe o caminho para uma afirmação pessoal sem precedentes. Seguindo as pisadas do Rei-Sol, Maria Antonieta é francamente rápida a intuir o poder inerente às declarações de moda e durante a juventude não só se começa a impor pelas escolhas estilísticas como, sobretudo, pelos valores monetários gritantes que estas assumem:
Numa altura em que o guarda-roupa de toda uma família da classe trabalhadora francesa tinha um valor médio de 30 libras francesas, enquanto o guarda-roupa conjunto de um casal de aristocratas ricos estava entre as duas mil e as cinco mil libras, Maria Teresa gastou a extraordinária soma de 400 mil libras francesas no enxoval da filha mais nova.
Recuperando o fausto de Luís XIV e a dignidade de Catarina de Medicis, Maria Antonieta reinventa a moda francesa como um jogo político - fatos de amazona, cortes masculinos, detalhes simbólicos, tudo vale:
o pouf era composto por uma estrutura de arame, tecido, tule, crina, cabelo postiço e as próprias tranças da utilizadora, penteadas bem acima da testa. Depois de polvilhar abundantemente a obra-prima, a sua arquitecta instalava, entre as madeixas e caracóis, uma miniatura inanimada, com a intenção de expressar um sentimento (pouf au sentiment) ou para comemorar um acontecimento (pouf à la circonstance) importante para a cliente.
Com as suas extravagâncias, a França começa a alimentar uma série de novos profissionais da moda - cabeleireiros, costureiras, designers - e toda uma indústria de produtos de luxo que vive das encomendas astronómicas de Versalhes. Os resultados são tão perigosos para o cofre como cómicos para os anais da história:
Com as suas armações de tule, flores e plumas, os penteados atingiam alturas tão estonteantes que as mulheres já não conseguiam encontrar carruagens com os tejadilhos suficientemente altos para acomodá-las e, muito frequentemente, via-se uma dama a tentar manter a cabeça baixa ou a pô-la fora da janela, durante a viagem. Outras damas, por seu lado, optavam por se ajoelhar, sendo esta a forma mais segura de protegerem aquele ridículo edifício que carregavam.
Mas as opções de moda da rainha não contam apenas uma história de luxo e despesa. Nas suas escolhas estão implícitos vários atos de corajosa rebeldia de uma princesa estrangeira que, desde o primeiro dia, vinha a colher desagravos por parte dos novos (e dos velhos) conterrâneos. A realidade é que as suas extraordinárias escolhas de indumentária, pontuadas sempre pelo simbolismo político, são afirmações de contestação da autoridade masculina, de inversão de papéis de género, de desafio do protocolo real, e ferramentas que nos permitem aceder à figura da mulher por detrás da rainha, uma mulher desejosa de recato, privacidade e simplicidade, desenraizada na corte e igualmente perdida entre os comuns que, começando a suspeitar do poderio da consorte (como já haviam suspeitado do poder das amantes reais) procuram evitar a todo o custo um governo de influência feminina. Não ajudará o seu caso o abandono dos costumes tradicionais pela informalidade no trajar - que se lhe vê durante a maturidade do reinado de Luís XVI - a qual, segundo os críticos (...) imbuiu as suas adeptas, não só de um desrespeito geral pelos homens, como também do mesmo sentimento de emancipação sexual desfrutado ostensivamente pela própria rainha rebelde.
E é na emancipação que reside a fórmula que descodifica a vida e a morte de Maria Antonieta. Ao diluir as fronteiras entre binómios (masculino, feminino; aristocracia, plebe; rei, rainha), a Austríaca coloca-se à mercê de um jugo imerecido. Dissolvendo os elementos que identificam classe e género, a rainha expõe-se a, ao mesmo tempo que alimenta, um novo ideal que não se acomoda à rigidez protocolar monárquica.
Depois disto, pouco importa como Maria Antonieta se vista. Não há forma de ganhar. A rainha é vítima de uma Revolução que se tinha instalado firmemente à sua porta e contra a qual nenhuma roupa do mundo poderia protegê-la. Quer se vestisse como uma princesa ou como uma camponesa, Madame Défice tinha sido identificada como a maior inimiga do Povo. Nessa condição, estava de facto destinada a trazer consigo a má sorte - má sorte para o Antigo Regime, para a sua família e, sobretudo, para si própria.
Vítima de uma Revolução que rapidamente esquece as suas primeiras defensoras, e que passa a predar as liberdades das mulheres, Maria Antonieta apostou tudo na sua voz e tudo perdeu. A sua afirmação política, levada às últimas consequências, até ao cadafalso, teve um preço demasiado alto:
tal como o seu antepassado, o Rei-Sol, Maria Antonieta ajudou a inventar a moda como um jogo político arriscado, um jogo em que arriscou a própria vida, e perdeu. Numa antude de «tudo ou nada», a sua singular postura de desafio no vestuário envolvia não apenas a sua autonomia e prestígio, mas também a sua coroa e, em última análise, a sua vida. A roupa de Maria Antonieta exprimiu as batalhas que travou numa época de extrema agitação social e nos mais altos escalões, tanto do regime monárquico como do regime revolucionário. Foi sem dúvida um espelho da História, que engoliu totalmente Maria Antonieta.
2/3
O vestuário é algo de intrinsecamente ligado à história das mulheres. Daquilo que se veste a quem o faz, as roupas e a moda são um mesmo discurso que acompanha milhares de anos de registos históricos associados às mulheres, de ocidente a oriente. E este discurso está perfeitamente sincronizado com a vida e a morte de uma das figuras femininas mais fascinantes da história, Maria Antonieta.
Jogando com essa ideia, o estudo aturado de Caroline Weber alarga o âmbito das biografias tradicionais para se focar na forma como a moda moldou e foi moldada pela última rainha de França.
Desde cedo manietada pela indumentária que lhe é imposta - e que deverá apagar todos os traços de estrangeiriso à chegada da princesa à nova pátria - Maria Antonieta é rapidamente elucidada sobre o poder que o traje, e a moda, detêm sobre os homens, a política e a nação. E a lição aprendida parece surtir bom efeito. Os primeiros anos do seu reinado, embora estrategicamente difíceis de gerir no plano político, oferecem uma possibilidade inesperada para uma mulher educada no silêncio e na submissão. A moda que a afrancesou oferece-lhe o caminho para uma afirmação pessoal sem precedentes. Seguindo as pisadas do Rei-Sol, Maria Antonieta é francamente rápida a intuir o poder inerente às declarações de moda e durante a juventude não só se começa a impor pelas escolhas estilísticas como, sobretudo, pelos valores monetários gritantes que estas assumem:
Numa altura em que o guarda-roupa de toda uma família da classe trabalhadora francesa tinha um valor médio de 30 libras francesas, enquanto o guarda-roupa conjunto de um casal de aristocratas ricos estava entre as duas mil e as cinco mil libras, Maria Teresa gastou a extraordinária soma de 400 mil libras francesas no enxoval da filha mais nova.
Recuperando o fausto de Luís XIV e a dignidade de Catarina de Medicis, Maria Antonieta reinventa a moda francesa como um jogo político - fatos de amazona, cortes masculinos, detalhes simbólicos, tudo vale:
o pouf era composto por uma estrutura de arame, tecido, tule, crina, cabelo postiço e as próprias tranças da utilizadora, penteadas bem acima da testa. Depois de polvilhar abundantemente a obra-prima, a sua arquitecta instalava, entre as madeixas e caracóis, uma miniatura inanimada, com a intenção de expressar um sentimento (pouf au sentiment) ou para comemorar um acontecimento (pouf à la circonstance) importante para a cliente.
Com as suas extravagâncias, a França começa a alimentar uma série de novos profissionais da moda - cabeleireiros, costureiras, designers - e toda uma indústria de produtos de luxo que vive das encomendas astronómicas de Versalhes. Os resultados são tão perigosos para o cofre como cómicos para os anais da história:
Com as suas armações de tule, flores e plumas, os penteados atingiam alturas tão estonteantes que as mulheres já não conseguiam encontrar carruagens com os tejadilhos suficientemente altos para acomodá-las e, muito frequentemente, via-se uma dama a tentar manter a cabeça baixa ou a pô-la fora da janela, durante a viagem. Outras damas, por seu lado, optavam por se ajoelhar, sendo esta a forma mais segura de protegerem aquele ridículo edifício que carregavam.
Mas as opções de moda da rainha não contam apenas uma história de luxo e despesa. Nas suas escolhas estão implícitos vários atos de corajosa rebeldia de uma princesa estrangeira que, desde o primeiro dia, vinha a colher desagravos por parte dos novos (e dos velhos) conterrâneos. A realidade é que as suas extraordinárias escolhas de indumentária, pontuadas sempre pelo simbolismo político, são afirmações de contestação da autoridade masculina, de inversão de papéis de género, de desafio do protocolo real, e ferramentas que nos permitem aceder à figura da mulher por detrás da rainha, uma mulher desejosa de recato, privacidade e simplicidade, desenraizada na corte e igualmente perdida entre os comuns que, começando a suspeitar do poderio da consorte (como já haviam suspeitado do poder das amantes reais) procuram evitar a todo o custo um governo de influência feminina. Não ajudará o seu caso o abandono dos costumes tradicionais pela informalidade no trajar - que se lhe vê durante a maturidade do reinado de Luís XVI - a qual, segundo os críticos (...) imbuiu as suas adeptas, não só de um desrespeito geral pelos homens, como também do mesmo sentimento de emancipação sexual desfrutado ostensivamente pela própria rainha rebelde.
E é na emancipação que reside a fórmula que descodifica a vida e a morte de Maria Antonieta. Ao diluir as fronteiras entre binómios (masculino, feminino; aristocracia, plebe; rei, rainha), a Austríaca coloca-se à mercê de um jugo imerecido. Dissolvendo os elementos que identificam classe e género, a rainha expõe-se a, ao mesmo tempo que alimenta, um novo ideal que não se acomoda à rigidez protocolar monárquica.
Depois disto, pouco importa como Maria Antonieta se vista. Não há forma de ganhar. A rainha é vítima de uma Revolução que se tinha instalado firmemente à sua porta e contra a qual nenhuma roupa do mundo poderia protegê-la. Quer se vestisse como uma princesa ou como uma camponesa, Madame Défice tinha sido identificada como a maior inimiga do Povo. Nessa condição, estava de facto destinada a trazer consigo a má sorte - má sorte para o Antigo Regime, para a sua família e, sobretudo, para si própria.
Vítima de uma Revolução que rapidamente esquece as suas primeiras defensoras, e que passa a predar as liberdades das mulheres, Maria Antonieta apostou tudo na sua voz e tudo perdeu. A sua afirmação política, levada às últimas consequências, até ao cadafalso, teve um preço demasiado alto:
tal como o seu antepassado, o Rei-Sol, Maria Antonieta ajudou a inventar a moda como um jogo político arriscado, um jogo em que arriscou a própria vida, e perdeu. Numa antude de «tudo ou nada», a sua singular postura de desafio no vestuário envolvia não apenas a sua autonomia e prestígio, mas também a sua coroa e, em última análise, a sua vida. A roupa de Maria Antonieta exprimiu as batalhas que travou numa época de extrema agitação social e nos mais altos escalões, tanto do regime monárquico como do regime revolucionário. Foi sem dúvida um espelho da História, que engoliu totalmente Maria Antonieta.
November 9, 2009
The title of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution is somewhat misleading, because this book isn't about fashion in the narrow sense of clothing. There are descriptions of Marie Antoinette's luxurious outfits and of the styles she promoted (like the Rousseauesque country muslin dress, the gaulle). But the author discusses a whole range of courtly styles and habits and shows how Marie Antoinette attempted to assert her individuality in this constrained sphere that was allowed her.
Marie Antoinette arrived as a teenager at a Versailles molded by Louis XIV's intention to keep his nobility at court, under his watchful eye. He and his successor, Louis XV, distracted the nobles from politics with convoluted and recondite ceremonies that left them competing for favors like being allowed to hand the queen her chemise. In this atmosphere, the color of a ribbon or who was invited to go hunting on a particular day took on fatal importance. It was within this ritualized and confining world that Marie Antoinette attempted to achieve some measure of personality, privacy, and happiness by taking up riding astride rather than side-saddle and wearing the outlandish pouf hairstyle, to name a few of her small rebellions.
But this strategy of self-expression backfired when "Madame Deficit" became famous for her extravagant expenditures, for powdering her hair with flour during a famine, and for clothing herself in the colors of her family of origin, the German Habsburgs. She had mastered the style and etiquette of Versailles but never learned to manage her public persona in the face of Revolution and imperiled her family through her missteps.
The book is a sympathetic biography of Marie Antoinette, approaching her as a victim of dynastic politics who achieves a certain maturity only to get lost in a situation that is unfathomable to her. The author, a professor at Barnard, writes in a lively style for what is essentially an academic book and doesn't get bogged down in microdefining the parameters of her subject. More than fashion, the ultimate subjects of the book are image and public personae; the history of a bizarre kind of court etiquette; and the horrifying disorientation of the Revolution as experienced by "la ci-devant reine."
Marie Antoinette arrived as a teenager at a Versailles molded by Louis XIV's intention to keep his nobility at court, under his watchful eye. He and his successor, Louis XV, distracted the nobles from politics with convoluted and recondite ceremonies that left them competing for favors like being allowed to hand the queen her chemise. In this atmosphere, the color of a ribbon or who was invited to go hunting on a particular day took on fatal importance. It was within this ritualized and confining world that Marie Antoinette attempted to achieve some measure of personality, privacy, and happiness by taking up riding astride rather than side-saddle and wearing the outlandish pouf hairstyle, to name a few of her small rebellions.
But this strategy of self-expression backfired when "Madame Deficit" became famous for her extravagant expenditures, for powdering her hair with flour during a famine, and for clothing herself in the colors of her family of origin, the German Habsburgs. She had mastered the style and etiquette of Versailles but never learned to manage her public persona in the face of Revolution and imperiled her family through her missteps.
The book is a sympathetic biography of Marie Antoinette, approaching her as a victim of dynastic politics who achieves a certain maturity only to get lost in a situation that is unfathomable to her. The author, a professor at Barnard, writes in a lively style for what is essentially an academic book and doesn't get bogged down in microdefining the parameters of her subject. More than fashion, the ultimate subjects of the book are image and public personae; the history of a bizarre kind of court etiquette; and the horrifying disorientation of the Revolution as experienced by "la ci-devant reine."
March 16, 2013
Don't be put off by the seemingly frivolous title: this is a superb, academic (almost 100 pages of endnotes and a long bibliography) yet highly readable account of Marie Antoinette and her life at Versailles, full of insight and fascinating detail. I loved it and am now reading it for the second time.
October 13, 2011
From the masculine equestrian outfits that made her Louis XV's favorite, to the regal counterrevolutionary gowns in green and violet that exposed her as an enemy of the state, Marie Antoinette's fashion statements were always unfailingly both fabulous and controversial. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber paints a comprehensive portrait of the fashion icon, from Dauphine until death. Weber is not only a brainy Barnard scholar, but also a fashion connoisseur herself, and her fastidiously researched political fashion memoir satisfied both my inner Vogue subscriber and my inner history nerd.
Anyone who's watched Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette as many times as I have can easily rattle off the basics of her biography: born an Austrian, Marie Antoinette disavowed her native country in a political alliance with France to become its eventual Queen. A newcomer to the highly ritualized and chic court at Versailles, she navigated her tepid political reception as a suspect foreigner in the best way she knew how -- in impeccable style. And although it all started out as fun and games, eventually it cost the Autrichienne her head on the guillotine. From her powdered, sky-high hairdos to her divine selection of costly satin footwear, Marie Antoinette won over her adoring public at first, but quickly became a lightning rod for criticism of the French monarchy’s decadence during a national economic recession (... sound familiar?).
Weber takes her time cataloging the earlier, more playful era of Marie Antoinette’s youthful fashion exploits: her androgynous redingotes ("riding coats") and her architectural "poufs" that popularized towering ladies' hairstyles in commemorative shapes such as naval ships and gigantic birds in flight. Did you know that legislation was introduced to raise the standard height of a Parisian doorway to accommodate the hairstyles' extra footage? But these playful themes take a somber--albeit fascinating-- tone in the latter half of Weber’s book, as she traces the onslaught of political tumult through the headwear of the ladies of Paris. From the hat "au collier de la Reine" that signaled disapproval of Marie Antoinette’s role in the scandalous Diamond Necklace Affair, to the bonnet "a la Bastille" that celebrated the pivotal revolutionary prison-siege, to the royalist "coiffure a la Reine" that belied fatal counterrevolutionary monarchist sympathies, Parisian women expressed the changing political tides via what they wore on their heads.
Page after page, Caroline Weber captivated me with arcane facts and insights into the symbolic weight of ladies’ fashions during a period of political upheaval. As a scholar first and fashionista second, she drew me into the political saga of the French Revolution, but always faithfully brought it right back around to fashion and the ways women--especially Marie Antionette--leveraged their power by what they chose to wear on their bodies. Ultimately, Marie Antionette was the consummate 'Fashion Victim,' and ended her life with "the most brilliant fashion statement of her political career." What was it? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
Anyone who's watched Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette as many times as I have can easily rattle off the basics of her biography: born an Austrian, Marie Antoinette disavowed her native country in a political alliance with France to become its eventual Queen. A newcomer to the highly ritualized and chic court at Versailles, she navigated her tepid political reception as a suspect foreigner in the best way she knew how -- in impeccable style. And although it all started out as fun and games, eventually it cost the Autrichienne her head on the guillotine. From her powdered, sky-high hairdos to her divine selection of costly satin footwear, Marie Antoinette won over her adoring public at first, but quickly became a lightning rod for criticism of the French monarchy’s decadence during a national economic recession (... sound familiar?).
Weber takes her time cataloging the earlier, more playful era of Marie Antoinette’s youthful fashion exploits: her androgynous redingotes ("riding coats") and her architectural "poufs" that popularized towering ladies' hairstyles in commemorative shapes such as naval ships and gigantic birds in flight. Did you know that legislation was introduced to raise the standard height of a Parisian doorway to accommodate the hairstyles' extra footage? But these playful themes take a somber--albeit fascinating-- tone in the latter half of Weber’s book, as she traces the onslaught of political tumult through the headwear of the ladies of Paris. From the hat "au collier de la Reine" that signaled disapproval of Marie Antoinette’s role in the scandalous Diamond Necklace Affair, to the bonnet "a la Bastille" that celebrated the pivotal revolutionary prison-siege, to the royalist "coiffure a la Reine" that belied fatal counterrevolutionary monarchist sympathies, Parisian women expressed the changing political tides via what they wore on their heads.
Page after page, Caroline Weber captivated me with arcane facts and insights into the symbolic weight of ladies’ fashions during a period of political upheaval. As a scholar first and fashionista second, she drew me into the political saga of the French Revolution, but always faithfully brought it right back around to fashion and the ways women--especially Marie Antionette--leveraged their power by what they chose to wear on their bodies. Ultimately, Marie Antionette was the consummate 'Fashion Victim,' and ended her life with "the most brilliant fashion statement of her political career." What was it? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
August 6, 2012
While this book is not perfect, it points out that clothing is a method of communication which greatly affects human interaction. Even today, in a less charged atmosphere than the French court, what we choose to wear (or not wear) says a lot about our social, economic, political and religious affiliations.
I feel that a lot of the book was a stretch--the brand-new Dauphine notices a tapestry of Jason and Medea, calls it a "bad omen" for a wedding, and we assume that it plants in her mind the idea to manipulate fashion for power? Yeah, probably not.
A lot of it plays on themes that are more familiar to historical costumers than historians--the heavy, traditional formal court dress against which Antoinette rebelled; allowing Rose Bertin (a commoner dressmaker) into the Queen's private chambers for fashion advice; the public's shock at the famous 1783 chemise portrait, etc. But this is good, because serious academic historians need to sit up and take note of fashion's influence on history (and not just in the context of the French Revolution, though fashion probably has a greater impact in unstable times). Fashion is another language, and academics would do well to search it out and take it as seriously as they take their written documents.
Anyway, that's my two cents. It was an engaging narrative, even if I believe that some of it was a little forced. A tip of my chapeau to Ms. Weber.
I feel that a lot of the book was a stretch--the brand-new Dauphine notices a tapestry of Jason and Medea, calls it a "bad omen" for a wedding, and we assume that it plants in her mind the idea to manipulate fashion for power? Yeah, probably not.
A lot of it plays on themes that are more familiar to historical costumers than historians--the heavy, traditional formal court dress against which Antoinette rebelled; allowing Rose Bertin (a commoner dressmaker) into the Queen's private chambers for fashion advice; the public's shock at the famous 1783 chemise portrait, etc. But this is good, because serious academic historians need to sit up and take note of fashion's influence on history (and not just in the context of the French Revolution, though fashion probably has a greater impact in unstable times). Fashion is another language, and academics would do well to search it out and take it as seriously as they take their written documents.
Anyway, that's my two cents. It was an engaging narrative, even if I believe that some of it was a little forced. A tip of my chapeau to Ms. Weber.
December 8, 2007
I don't think anything could get better than this. An analysis of Marie Antoinette's life through her spectacular clothing. Weber explains how what Marie wore could function as a social and political statement, and the dresses and descriptions of the gorgeous gowns are clothes porn at its very finest.
January 31, 2022
a very compelling biography. i really enjoyed seeing fashion history being used in a truly academic way.
January 14, 2020
Super engrossing and detailed view of how fashion influenced and impacted Marie Antoinette's entire political life in France. It's a narrow view of the French Revolution, but that narrow view helps to make a incredibly vast and complicated topic more tangible, I think. 1 star taken off for clunky/offensive references to individuals who didn't conform to then-standard gender presentation, though.
November 25, 2019
Queen of Fashion accomplishes what it sets out to do: showcase all the ways both obvious and subtle that Marie Antoinette used fashion as a statement of her individuality, a display of her power, a reflection of her femininity, a callback to her royal ancestry, a submission to revolutionary pressure, a push against revolutionary pressure, and lastly as a way to mourn her dead husband with the meagre tools at her disposal. Although Weber can frequently stretch the symbolic meaning behind some of Marie Antoinette's sartorial choices to their limit, it is endlessly fascinating to see just how influential her fashion was to society at large, with the ironic twist being that many of her more free-flowing and liberating outfits became common wear among the very revolutionaries that demonized her. As her life undergoes convulsive changes, so too do the garments she wears, the fashions she inspires, and her standing among her people, which fluctuates between ecstatic admiration and unshakeable hatred for their Queen.
Beyond the stretches of imagination the author dots this book with and the too-often callbacks to Marie Antoinette's past in the later chapters, Weber does a great job presenting history from a perspective often neglected, although I do wish I knew more of the fashion terms used in the book to better visualize exactly what the Queen of Fashion wore (but that's on me).
Beyond the stretches of imagination the author dots this book with and the too-often callbacks to Marie Antoinette's past in the later chapters, Weber does a great job presenting history from a perspective often neglected, although I do wish I knew more of the fashion terms used in the book to better visualize exactly what the Queen of Fashion wore (but that's on me).
May 25, 2011
The life and history of Marie Antoinette, but with a focus on how clothing/fashion shaped her life and the perception of her life. I have read other biographies of MA, as well as books about the French revolutionary period, but never one that explicitly focused her fashion/appearance. Given the extensive critiques of her manner of dress (positive and negative)available in contemporary sources, the author did not have to reach to make connections between the way the Queen chose to present herself and the way she was and came to be perceived by her subjects. And in spite of what you might assume, this is not at all a shallow portrait of a shallow woman. Rather, it actually made me more sympathetic in many ways, of someone who was forced into roles (and corsets) not to her inclination from her early teens, and who did the best she could to maintain her own personality rather than being forced into the extremely restrictive world of the French royal court.
Read
July 27, 2011Born in the right place at the wrong time the poor girl couldn't win either way. It's not difficult to comprehend why a teenager would want to rebel against the rigid etiquette and court ritual of Versailles and, like many a rebellious teenager, use fashion to do so. This is a balanced and fascinating account of how Marie Antoinette's fashion statements allowed her to create her own identity and compensated for 7 years of unconsummated marriage and the futile existence of a queen of France. Although the epithet Madame Deficit was unjustified, the book shows how these expensive fashions and fripperies- and their perception as such by all classes of society from the nobility to the Parisian fishwife - played their part in tarnishing the reputation of the monarchy and bringing about its overthrow. Yet at the very end it was a simple fashion statement that enabled the ultimate fashion victim to maintain her own dignity.
September 14, 2007
This is the book that spurred me on to reading biographies again. The premise for this book is that Maria Antoinette did not have a lot of power--certainly not the kind-of power she might have expected to have given her mother. She was also limited in the ways she could express herself. So, Marie Antoinette turned to fashion as a way to express her views and to influence her husband.
I loved that this biography had a strong character arc and how real the characters and the setting felt.
I loved that this biography had a strong character arc and how real the characters and the setting felt.
April 30, 2012
I made the mistake of thinking this would be a "fun" read - Marie Antoinette, seen through a fashion lens. It's a serious, scholarly, extremely well researched and documented look at her life (it includes 120 pages of footnotes and citations). The author's credentials are serious and I admire her effort; the actual work is really dry. And the biggest problem? She describes clothing very poorly. I finished the book and still don't have a clear idea of what the clothes actually looked like.
February 20, 2018
I really did appreciate this biography and the creative way Weber went about telling Marie Antoinette's life story through her clothing choices. Yet, I really became almost depressed the more I learned about how alone Marie Antoinette was, as well as how naive, young, and poorly educated she was for her fateful role in history. I felt such anger towards those surrounding her that should have given her better counsel.
September 30, 2008
Killer read! The story of the Queen's life and the revolution told through fashion. The concept may sound like a stretch, but given that clothing at the time was massivley important in showcasing one's status in society, it proves to be a wonderful new language with which this familiar story can be told.
July 20, 2021
A well researched and genuinely gripping narrative account of the events surrounding the Monarchy, Fashion, and Marie Antoinette in the decades leading up to the French Revolution.
Super recommend if you’re into fashion, culture, or simply learning much more about the French Revolution or that period of European history.
Super recommend if you’re into fashion, culture, or simply learning much more about the French Revolution or that period of European history.
March 17, 2019
Weber explains how fashion made political and social statements. I found it interesting how the history and personality of a person can be reflected in fashion so much. The author also takes up the problems that the young Marie Antoinette faced when she came to France. Fashion helped her to be regarded by the royal family and the people as the rightful queen of France. Weber shows very well how her rise predicted her demise.
May 17, 2014
This was an exceptional biography of Marie Antoinette with fashion as a decoding device akin to an anthropological device used in ethnography. More than any other treatment of Marie Antoinette this thoroughly researched work really set her in an historic cultural framework. Moreover, there was no glossing over the less attractive behaviors and attitudes of our heroine. Instead they are presented as all too human foibles exacerbated by the stultifying and constricted world of the French court amid socio-political crisis and change.
If anyone ever thought it would be glorious to be a high profile royal in 17th or 18th century France this book will quickly dispel that fantasy. King or queen experience life more like a monkey in a zoo always open and always crowded by avaricious and grasping zoo keepers.
Occasionally (more than occasionally perhaps) the effort to tie all of Marie Antoinette's behaviors and the reactive responses of her many enemies to fashion cultural codes was a bit strained. That is a minor quibble however.
It is best if one has a strong grounding in French history, particularly during the reign of Louis XV as well as revolutionary France to fully appreciate this book. Marie Antoinette emerges as a somewhat willing victim of her fate. As traditional Austrian imperial royalty within the rigid world of Versailles she was characterologically incapable of comprehending the social crisis erupting in France. Her purview was rebellion against the strictures of the court and she used extravagant fashion and expenditure to stage her battles. In this way she guaranteed the enmity among courtiers and the public alike.
Nonetheless, her final years and months were horrific though she waxed rebellious right to the scaffold. And did indeed make a fashion statement as she did so.
If anyone ever thought it would be glorious to be a high profile royal in 17th or 18th century France this book will quickly dispel that fantasy. King or queen experience life more like a monkey in a zoo always open and always crowded by avaricious and grasping zoo keepers.
Occasionally (more than occasionally perhaps) the effort to tie all of Marie Antoinette's behaviors and the reactive responses of her many enemies to fashion cultural codes was a bit strained. That is a minor quibble however.
It is best if one has a strong grounding in French history, particularly during the reign of Louis XV as well as revolutionary France to fully appreciate this book. Marie Antoinette emerges as a somewhat willing victim of her fate. As traditional Austrian imperial royalty within the rigid world of Versailles she was characterologically incapable of comprehending the social crisis erupting in France. Her purview was rebellion against the strictures of the court and she used extravagant fashion and expenditure to stage her battles. In this way she guaranteed the enmity among courtiers and the public alike.
Nonetheless, her final years and months were horrific though she waxed rebellious right to the scaffold. And did indeed make a fashion statement as she did so.
April 9, 2011
This is probably the 5th times I've read this novel. I received this book as a gift for my sweet 16th birthday (the theme was masquerade/costumes, which I went as Marie Antoinette). One of my good friends got this book for me. When I got it, I wanted to go home and read it right then and there. However, I restrained myself.
I decided to re-read it once more, because I can't get enough of Caroline Weber's amazing writing style and depth into the world of fashion of that time period. She does a wonderful job explaining how Marie Antoinette used fashion to gain acceptance and approval in the French Court. Also, she does a dazzling job bringing all the clothes to life. This is a dazzling book about fashion and how it was used in every day life.
It's very interesting. If you have any interest in Marie Antoinette or the time period, you should read this. Yes, there are some pictures in there, but they're there to aid you in a visual. I adore the pictures! I think she should have included more. Oh well.
I will warn you now...it does have it moments of dry spots. I think most books have at least one or more of those. Other than that, I adore this book and I have no choice but to give 5 stars.
I decided to re-read it once more, because I can't get enough of Caroline Weber's amazing writing style and depth into the world of fashion of that time period. She does a wonderful job explaining how Marie Antoinette used fashion to gain acceptance and approval in the French Court. Also, she does a dazzling job bringing all the clothes to life. This is a dazzling book about fashion and how it was used in every day life.
It's very interesting. If you have any interest in Marie Antoinette or the time period, you should read this. Yes, there are some pictures in there, but they're there to aid you in a visual. I adore the pictures! I think she should have included more. Oh well.
I will warn you now...it does have it moments of dry spots. I think most books have at least one or more of those. Other than that, I adore this book and I have no choice but to give 5 stars.
July 27, 2021
Amidst all the books on Marie Antoinette that I've acquired over the years (for reasons which are both curious and somewhat unknown to me!), Caroline Weber's "Queen of Fashion" has figured high on my list.
This captivating, heavily annotated scholarly work offers deep insight into the role of fashion in the queen's life, and which, combined with all the politics, propaganda and lies, contributed to her increased unpopularity and demise. While fashion as a mode of expression will always be part of our lives, to say that its stakes have since greatly changed would be an understatement. As Weber states: "The politics of costume held her—far more than any of history's subsequent fashion queens—quite firmly by the throat."
I was struck by the potential "influence" of the mythological Medea in her life, as well as by the population's increased denigration of her excesses... while still actively choosing to partake in it themselves (for obviously, no one was forcing women, regardless of background, to dress like their queen after all).
Flaws and all (at all levels of that society), this read offers an unprecedented way of considering the famous controversial queen and its bygone era.
This captivating, heavily annotated scholarly work offers deep insight into the role of fashion in the queen's life, and which, combined with all the politics, propaganda and lies, contributed to her increased unpopularity and demise. While fashion as a mode of expression will always be part of our lives, to say that its stakes have since greatly changed would be an understatement. As Weber states: "The politics of costume held her—far more than any of history's subsequent fashion queens—quite firmly by the throat."
I was struck by the potential "influence" of the mythological Medea in her life, as well as by the population's increased denigration of her excesses... while still actively choosing to partake in it themselves (for obviously, no one was forcing women, regardless of background, to dress like their queen after all).
Flaws and all (at all levels of that society), this read offers an unprecedented way of considering the famous controversial queen and its bygone era.
July 23, 2010
I enjoyed this book, even though it was my second bio on Marie Antoinette. The only thing I disliked about this book is that it was more of a bio, it would have been nice if she focused on MA's clothing, and then compared/contrast that with the fashion of the day. Basically what I'm trying to say is, a little less bio and more fashion! And it's hard to read bio's where the main character is beheaded. Even though Marie Antoinette wasn't a saint she did not deserve the horrid punishment nor the disdain that she got. She did what all royals did (do). In the words of Snoop Dogg, "don't hate the playa, hate the game!" (ha, i can't believe i just quoted Snoop Dogg!) And even though I know the outcome, I kept wishing that somehow Marie Antoinette would escape the guillotine. Someone needs to write a sci-fi fantasy novel where she escapes or comes back as zombie looking for her head or ... And even though I'm not really a royalist, or love the rich, this one is for you MA, "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"
ps. I knew that fashion played a big part in distinguishing who you are but never thought of it as expressing power and I realized this while reading this book.
ps. I knew that fashion played a big part in distinguishing who you are but never thought of it as expressing power and I realized this while reading this book.
August 19, 2008
Though it doesn't stand on it's own as a comprehensive biography (many important revolutionary events - including the queen's own execution - are given short shrift) it succeeds as a supplemental text to traditional literature on the revolution. A fresh and thoroughly researched take on the impact of Marie Antoinette's wardrobe. In typical American fashion, Weber portrays the queen as a sympathetic figure; an unassuming victim of the revolution who could do no right. Yet Weber's research seems to suggest otherwise at times. Her tendency to stretch the fashion metaphor to sometimes unbelivable extremes has caused me to withold a fifth star, but these glitches are minor in a well done, thought provoking work.
August 6, 2016
An engaging look at the way clothes can convey a political message. I don't know if the doomed queen actually thought about what she was doing with her sartorial choices, or if it was highly unconscious, but her clothes did convey a message and did spark endless interest and ultimately savage disapproval. One cannot help but be moved by Marie Antoinette's story. She became the scapegoat for all that was wrong at the time and she bore her terrible ending with a dignity that, hate her or love her, you cannot help but admire.
February 11, 2008
Argues that Marie Antionette's wardrobe determined the course of French history -- an argument that's not only interesting, but just cool. Oddly, as the story moved closer and closer to her beheading, I got less interested, I think because the thesis got a bit repetitive (yes, we get it, her mauve frock AND her white hat both changed history). But it's definitely worth a look.
January 26, 2008
It would have been an interesting paper for an academic journal but I don't think the premise justified an entire book and certainly not one that was over 400 pages long. It became redundant and tiresome to read.
September 23, 2017
I loved this book (and even read most of the footnotes.) It sounds like the foofiest of history books -- I couldn't help imagining an illustrated paper doll book or something -- but it's actually just a great biography with lots of great details about how the court functioned.
December 9, 2020
Off with her head - and mine! 5 stars!
March 16, 2021
(L'ebook finisce al 57%, il resto sono note e bibliografia)
Quando misi questo saggio-biografia nei Want to read lo immaginavo un semplice libro in cui si spiegasse l'evoluzione della moda ai tempi di Maria Antonietta, descrivendo i suoi abiti più famosi o particolari. Invece si è rivelato un testo dettagliatissimo, che alla narrazione dei fatti biografici (anche qui con tanti aneddoti e dettagli magari poco noti) affianca e intreccia l'evoluzione del costume e, soprattutto, dei significati e simboli negli outfit di Maria Antonietta; di come la moda fosse per lei molto più che un semplice cambio d'abito. E soprattutto di come tutto questo si riflettesse nella percezione che gli altri - la corte e i francesi in generale - avevano di lei, di come tutto questo abbia contribuito alla sua rovina e influenzato la società del tempo.
L'autrice cita moltissime fonti e autori, sia contemporanei che dell'epoca. Lo stile è scorrevole e la lettura non è per niente noiosa. C'è anche qualche illustrazione, ma non so se nella versione cartacea ce ne siano di più (ad esempio diversi ritratti che vengono nominati nel testo).
Consigliatissimo a tutti gli appassionati di Maria Antonietta, ovviamente, ma anche, perchè no, a chi legge di moda e costume.
Quando misi questo saggio-biografia nei Want to read lo immaginavo un semplice libro in cui si spiegasse l'evoluzione della moda ai tempi di Maria Antonietta, descrivendo i suoi abiti più famosi o particolari. Invece si è rivelato un testo dettagliatissimo, che alla narrazione dei fatti biografici (anche qui con tanti aneddoti e dettagli magari poco noti) affianca e intreccia l'evoluzione del costume e, soprattutto, dei significati e simboli negli outfit di Maria Antonietta; di come la moda fosse per lei molto più che un semplice cambio d'abito. E soprattutto di come tutto questo si riflettesse nella percezione che gli altri - la corte e i francesi in generale - avevano di lei, di come tutto questo abbia contribuito alla sua rovina e influenzato la società del tempo.
L'autrice cita moltissime fonti e autori, sia contemporanei che dell'epoca. Lo stile è scorrevole e la lettura non è per niente noiosa. C'è anche qualche illustrazione, ma non so se nella versione cartacea ce ne siano di più (ad esempio diversi ritratti che vengono nominati nel testo).
Consigliatissimo a tutti gli appassionati di Maria Antonietta, ovviamente, ma anche, perchè no, a chi legge di moda e costume.
May 2, 2025
This book is amazing. It is the story of Marie Antoinette told in a totally new way.....through her clothes and fashion choices. Sounds weird I know but I didn't realize how the color of fabric or a shape of a dress, a hair style or an accessory could reverberate out to the masses and politically to make changes, rumors and attitudes. It was fascinating. I highly recommend it. Don't be afraid when you see it is marked at 700 pages because over 300 pages is references, index, etc. So in reality, it is around 400 pages, a totally readable book. This analysis of Marie Antoinette's life through her spectacular clothing shows how what she wore could function as a social and political statement. The descriptions of the clothes and Versailles and everything involved are so good. I ate this up!!
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