Tea at Trianon: Barbie at Versailles

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

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Barbie at Versailles

Madame du Barbie

How fun! From Anna Gibson:

Barbie has had many careers, costumes and gimmicks over the years. She has even traveled back in time! One of Barbie's many stops is the 18th century, where she has donned the guise of an English aristocrat, a pastoral shepherdess--and even Queen Marie Antoinette herself. Let's stick a feather in Barbie's inch-high pouf and take a look at some of Barbie's forays into the Age of Enlightenment.

Madame du Barbie, designed by Bob Mackie, was a limited edition release which found its way into the gilded shelves of Barbie collectors on New Year's Day, 1997. "There are a lot of people at Versailles today," indeed! Madame du Barbie wears an ice-blue gown made from brocade, studded with beads and jewels and rococo-style embroidery. It reminds me of the large, stiffer 18th century costumes which were particularly popular in 1930s-40s Hollywood films. Elegant and sparkling! (Read more.)