A teen queen-inspired artifact was the major point of intrigue at Saturday’s talk by Caroline Weber, professor of 18th Century French literature at Barnard College and Columbia University, and author of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution.
The talk, co-hosted by the ROM and the Costume Society of Ontario, was held in celebration of the French Queen’s two-piece court dress on display at the museum.
Clad in a Diane von Ferstenberg wrap dress and pearls, Weber delivered an engaging lecture on the famed monarch’s sartorial ventures to a lively and stylish audience. She began her lecture with a brief refresher course on Marie Antoinette’s familial origins (Austrian Habsburgs) and the reason for her engagement to the future King Louis XVI of France (a move to strengthen Franco-Austrian political ties).
As a mere pawn in the bloody game of 18th Century European rapprochement, Marie Antoinette had to endure at age twelve a year-long grooming process, as the French considered her to be a “savage child,” uncouth and unfit for royalty. The extreme makeover was intensive, and included a full oral surgery sans anesthesia to fix her “lamentably crooked” teeth (and you thought Stacey London from What Not to Wear was cruel).
Even upon arriving at Versailles, Marie Antoinette was constantly reminded of her precarious state in the French Courts as a childless foreigner. The “French Party,” as the anti-Marie Antoinette circle was called, referred to the Queen as “l’Autrichienne,” (the Austrian woman), and often made liberal use of a more sinister phrase, “l’Autruchienne” (the Austrian bitch). Her terribly shy husband didn’t help in the endeavour, and Marie Antoinette was often criticized for not “inspiring passion” in her husband.
Upon failing to exert her power in the traditional queenly way (the baby department), she chose to express her autonomy and prestige in an unconventional manner—through grandiose fashion statements.
Hence began the weaving of a revolution. With her army of stylists, seamstresses, and hairdressers, Marie Antoinette began a lifelong obsession with her own public image, in hopes of taking control of her fate. The “Cabinet of Fashion,” as the marchandes de modes were rightfully dubbed, included Rose Bertin, who stylized Marie Antoinette’s sartorially shocking wardrobe that included ribbon appliqués and wild flower embroidery—a motif now synonymous with the French Queen. Bertin’s counterpart was Monsieur Léonard, the hairdresser who is credited with some of the world’s most cutting edge headdresses. Some featured miniature still-life, like the replica of La Belle Poule (a French frigate that won critical battle with the British during the American Revolution), signaling the Queen’s support for the French troops. Others ranged from garden scenes to ostrich feather fixtures that doubled the height of the wearer.
As a commander-in-chic, Marie Antoinette created her own cult of fashion. But her elegance was misconstrued as decadence, twisting her public persona into that of a frivolous and indulgent member of the monarchy. She was blamed by the royals for democratizing fashion and tarnishing the name of the nobility, and criticized for her “shop ‘til you drop” mantra, deemed insensitive to the harsh economic conditions of the day.
Famously, Marie Antoinette’s head did indeed drop—and it rolled too. In 1793, she was led to the guillotine to be executed. She wore a white chemise—white being the colour of not only her famed powdered and coiffed headdresses, but also of the fleur-de-lys, the symbol of the French royal family. It was to be her last and arguably most memorable fashion statement.
In fashion, the most interesting pieces reflect the times. Marie Antoinette’s clothes served as political weapons in a tortuously restrictive society (almost as binding as whalebone corsets) that denied her the authority and freedom she craved. To this end, Caroline Weber skillfully tells the tale of the fallen French Queen—perhaps the first celebrity tragedy of the fashion industry.
Marie Antoinette’s dress is on display as part of an ongoing Out of the Vault series in which rarely seen objects are released from the ROM’s vast storerooms for limited viewing. The display runs from October 11-26 and can be seen at the Patricia Harris Gallery of Textile & Costume on the fourth level of the ROM.
