Tea at Trianon: A Silk Dress

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

Friday, February 11, 2011

A Silk Dress

Fit for a queen, worn by a merchant's daughter, it is much more elaborate than most of the clothes worn by Marie-Antoinette. Share

3 comments:

Jacobitess said...: I've always been told as a child by Catholic historians that Marie actually 'reformed' fashion in a way by imitating simpler styles, prefered peasant patterns though with finer materials. Did this greatly reduce cost?; February 11, 2011 at 5:27:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, the Queen did reform fashion by making it simpler. I don't know how much she actually saved by doing it, since Rose Bertin's prices for peasant clothes were not cheap. I know that she did save by having older gowns refurbished and made over so she could keep wearing them. She also had her shoes resoled.; February 11, 2011 at 9:05:00 AM EST
Julygirl said...: The clothing merchants were the ones who could afford lavish dresses.; February 14, 2011 at 1:59:00 PM EST