Tea at Trianon: Jackie on Fashion

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, June 16, 2019

Jackie on Fashion

Jackie could be such a snob. I find it rather hilarious. From InStyle:

Thanks to a new auction, we're all getting a peek into the private world of Jackie Kennedy and her relationship with fashion and designer Oleg Cassini. WWD reports that Cassini's estate, Oyster Bay, is headed to the auction block, which is how private letters between the former first lady and the designer have entered the public eye. In those notes, which are reported to be the biggest draw for the auction, Kennedy doesn't hold anything back, saying that the fashion press was vulgar and that she wanted one-of-a-kind pieces designed just for her.

The Kennedy letters are part of a larger collection that includes a note written by Grace Kelly (pre-princess) and Cassini dresses. The estate also includes "photographs, tear sheets, notes, and instructions," and even drawings by Kennedy, all of which show that she was aware of her influence in the world of fashion and how people, the press included, saw her.

"One reason I am so happy to be working with you is that I have some control over my fashion press, which has gotten so vulgarly out-of-hand. You realize that I know that I am so much more of fashion interest than other First Ladies," Kennedy wrote in one letter. (Read more.)

Meanwhile, there are plans to redecorate Air Force One. Share