(A) Queen of Fashion: Marie Antoinette

If you know me, or perhaps (and hopefully) take the chance to get to know me, you will be aware that I adore all things Marie Antoinette, and so naturally my first post would be about her. I would like to present to our readers (if you exist yet) some of my personal icons of fashion, and some readings and additional resources for you to peruse if you are interested interested. These are women that set trends and standards in fashion, arts and culture alike, and to this day remain iconic figures.

Now I won't, as much as I would really love to, go into great depth about the life and times of the last queen of France. There are tons of written biographies (Antonia Fraser is fantastic, and was the basis for the 2006 movie) as well as blogs I frequent (check out http://madameguillotine.org.uk/ , http://whatwouldmarieantoinettedo.wordpress.com/ , http://marie-antoinettequeenoffrance.blogspot.com/ just to name a few) that are fabulous!

 I however would like to shed light on the study of Marie Antoinette as a fashion icon, having been a trend setter in the 18th century and still a popular figure today, hundreds of years after her public execution (Take for example these lovely Louboutins designed in her honor).

I could babble on forever about her fashions (and probably will in another post one day) the champagne, poufs, powder, diamonds, feathers, and all things frilly and lavish, but to get to the point of this post, I would like to suggest that for a great read on Marie Antoinette's trend setting ways back in the Ancien Regime, take a gander at Caroline Weber's Queen Of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore To The Revolution, a wonderful read available for purchase online and in stores. It is definitely worth a read if you are at all interested in this topic. She is a fantastic author who I even had to pleasure of meeting and listening in on a lecture of at The Royal Ontario Museum a few years back.

A lot to take in for a first post, right? This won't be the last you see of my favorite queen, I'm sure, but for now it'll do :) In any case happy reading and stay tuned for another historical fashion icon post to come!

*p.s. Vive La Reine!*

bisous

fefe xx