At nursing or residential homes, the Queen wears strong colours to help those who are visually impaired, and on walkabouts, the crown and brim of her hat will be taken into account. Later the things she was divested of were taken home as trophies by the ladies that attended her stripping and redressing as a Frenchwoman, and she would see them at court brazingly wearing those things they stripped her of. Soon though she is sparkling with the other young girls in court, nobody over thirty should be at court are among her brightest opinions.

That this was a a spoiled and terrible court is obvious but she was a little Maid, representing Vienna, and the hope of a peaceful alliance between the two countries. This book should definitely be read after one reads Antonia Fraser's "Marie Antoniette: A Journey." This is not a definitive biography, nor does it claim to be. However, it looks at the ill-fated queen in a unique and textual way- through the clothing choices she made at every juncture in her tenure as Dauphine, and later Queen of France. There were masked balls, she donned a domino, into her company came notorious court seducers and in the company she kept in her small world was not of the court, spies were routed. The gold dress she wore for the 2012 Diamond Jubilee palace pop concert was influenced by the golden figure on the Queen Victoria Memorial, around which the stage was constructed.The title of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution is somewhat misleading, because this book isn't about fashion in the narrow sense of clothing. There are descriptions of Marie Antoinette's luxurious outfits and of the styles she promoted (like the Rousseauesque country muslin dress, the gaulle). But the author discusses a whole range of courtly styles and habits and shows how Marie Antoinette attempted to assert her individuality in this constrained sphere that was allowed her. Rose whose millinery bills will be eye watering figures and whose shop is patronised by all the frivolous women who want to look and dress like the Dauphine. Silly women make their way to her in droves but like to secure their goods with a proper semblance of humility from the little milliner, when she is sometimes impetuous and spirited, just because she is a drab with gifted fingers and an eye for elaborate frippery does not mean she should not know her place! Amidst all the books on Marie Antoinette that I've acquired over the years (for reasons which are both curious and somewhat unknown to me!), Caroline Weber's "Queen of Fashion" has figured high on my list. It's very interesting. If you have any interest in Marie Antoinette or the time period, you should read this. Yes, there are some pictures in there, but they're there to aid you in a visual. I adore the pictures! I think she should have included more. Oh well.

This captivating, heavily annotated scholarly work offers deep insight into the role of fashion in the queen's life, and which, combined with all the politics, propaganda and lies, contributed to her increased unpopularity and demise. While fashion as a mode of expression will always be part of our lives, to say that its stakes have since greatly changed would be an understatement. As Weber states: "The politics of costume held her—far more than any of history's subsequent fashion queens—quite firmly by the throat." Her spending was enormous and nobody could dissuade her from it. The poufs were also home to little creatures, vermin took up nests in them, and there were special long combs for scratching your pouf if the vermin were too lively. She was not to be subjected to any ugly people and so only beautiful faces were sent out to greet her.

The start of her reign saw classic couture creations of silk and tulle evening gowns by Sir Norman Hartnell and cinch-waisted dresses by Sir Hardy Amies. But despite them all, she is launched a great soft big bird in paint and curls and refreshing too, after the the stiff ladies in the Dauphine boudoir. The monarch has see-through “Birdcage” brollies made by the Fulton group to match each outfit in case of wet weather, with the edging and handle corresponding to the exact shade she is wearing.

Rose Bertin a milliner, makes her way to to the court of the new Dauphine. She is a pretty woman who knows how ‘ a well shaped ankle turned out nicely at the fireplace, where she sits will be to her advantage, but she is also a doughty heart who fights for the widows thrown into into the Bastille by pleading her case with the Dauphine. Rosey is in demand with the old boys too, who seek to abduct her away to to their little cottage, to have their way with her but she stands up to them defiantly and lets the whole world know, she is being put upon by this married old beard, who hisses’ little viper’ at her, attempts upon her to the world. When Her Majesty visits a school or a children’s centre, she is always dressed in a bright, jolly colour, and her hat has the kind of details that will appeal to youngsters – feathers, twirls, twists, flowers and ribbons,” Ms Kelly revealed in her book about her working relationship with the Queen – The Other Side Of The Coin. In her final decade, Elizabeth II remained closer to home. US photographer Annie Leibovitz photographed the Queen on two occasions. The spectacular portraits of the first sitting presented a monarch of Hollywood dreams. The second, by contrast, revealed the Queen off-duty in her favourite tartan kilts and tailored tweeds, surrounded by family and dogs at Windsor Castle. It was a pertinent reminder that behind the carefully stage-managed façade was a woman, wife and mother most at home in the countryside. Trips to Canada featured red and white ensembles in tribute to the Canadian flag, along with her diamond maple leaf brooch, while her first high-profile and diplomatically sensitive visit to Ireland saw the monarch choose green – the Republic’s national colour. All I ever knew of Marie. Antoinette before I read this book was that she had been spoiled and that the French courts insane spending while people starved brought the monarchy down, before this book I never thought of her as a human being but her story is moving.Of course they could have left her her little dog. Her attachments would be ruthlessly pruned and chosen right down to her little dog , the consolation of her journey from her family, forever as it happened.

It is best if one has a strong grounding in French history, particularly during the reign of Louis XV as well as revolutionary France to fully appreciate this book. Marie Antoinette emerges as a somewhat willing victim of her fate. As traditional Austrian imperial royalty within the rigid world of Versailles she was characterologically incapable of comprehending the social crisis erupting in France. Her purview was rebellion against the strictures of the court and she used extravagant fashion and expenditure to stage her battles. In this way she guaranteed the enmity among courtiers and the public alike. She takes her place in this wonderland of pouf creation and extravagance that will bring down the Austrian daughter of the Caesar's. There was a change for Rousseau like simplicity in fashion, and the Sillies all became rustics. Shepherdesses with jaunty hats and simple muslins, not a stay or deeply torturing corset upon any of them. The thrifty Queen re-wears and adapts her clothes, with the average lifespan of an outfit running to 25 years.How far the barb had entered peoples hearts showed in the ruthless dispatch of this effete class , it became know as the Terror, days of terrible bloodshed. It is the Dauphine doing but Rose supplied the colour, the boundless eyes on poufs and fashions and the palette of why not have one in every colour. Anything the plum and cake filled girl pointed a demanding finger at. This and that she’d have.