Tea at Trianon: Court Dress, 1818

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 1, 2013

Court Dress, 1818

This odd gown, from a March 1818 British fashion plate, shows the attempt to revive the paniers of the last century, at least for the ladies of the Court. It combines the high waistline of the Empire/Regency style with the wide skirts of the 1700's. In France, the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette tried to introduce the same sort of gown at the Tuileries. (Via The Pragmatic Costumer.)

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1 comment:

The North Coast said...: I can sympathize with the attempt to revive full skirts and see why the they returned to vogue by 1825. I love the empire style, but it is not flattering to "full-figured" or middle-aged women. The large, full skirts lent a woman's figure majesty while concealing figure flaws like spreading waistlines, hips, and stomachs, while the clingy empire dresses thrust such features into relief.; February 1, 2013 at 10:43:00 PM EST