Tea at Trianon: The Origin of Heels

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Origin of Heels

High heels have been around for a very long time. More HERE. Share

2 comments:

Hans Georg Lundahl said...: Oh, and I thought it was about the origin of the anatomic feature unique to mankind ... well, high heeled shoes or boots do serve a purpose in stirrups, true enough.

Reminds me there is a book I borrowed from a day shelter in Versailles.; January 2, 2011 at 7:18:00 AM EST
tubbs said...: According to recently discovered notes from that 'Ur-Gossip Girl' herself, Madame De Sevigne, this is not really Louis, but Lou's weird brother Phil who pinched the outfit from Cher (yeah, she's THAT old) after she did a gig at the Versailles.
And as if stealing other peoples' wigs, pumps, and hose weren't bad enough, he then forced his new BFF Hy (Rigaud) to forge his name on the canvas, had it mounted in the main hall, and told EVERYONE it was Louie.
Louis was naturally furious; he went straight to the Almanack - looked up the nastiest looking German sweat-hog he could find, and forced Phil to marry her. Needless to say, there's been a bad family feud going on ever since.
(Oh, and Louis was going to have a big bonfire for the painting, but being a bit vain, he kept the portrait - after thousands from far and wide, of all ranks, complimented him on his lovely gams.); January 2, 2011 at 5:52:00 PM EST