Queen of Fashion

What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Nonfiction, History, France, Biography & Memoir, Artists, Architects & Photographers, Royalty
Cover of the book Queen of Fashion by Caroline Weber, Henry Holt and Co.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Caroline Weber ISBN: 9781429936477
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Publication: October 2, 2007
Imprint: Henry Holt and Co. Language: English
Author: Caroline Weber
ISBN: 9781429936477
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication: October 2, 2007
Imprint: Henry Holt and Co.
Language: English

In this dazzling new vision of the ever-fascinating queen, a dynamic young historian reveals how Marie Antoinette's bold attempts to reshape royal fashion changed the future of France

Marie Antoinette has always stood as an icon of supreme style, but surprisingly none of her biographers have paid sustained attention to her clothes. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber shows how Marie Antoinette developed her reputation for fashionable excess, and explains through lively, illuminating new research the political controversies that her clothing provoked. Weber surveys Marie Antoinette's "Revolution in Dress," covering each phase of the queen's tumultuous life, beginning with the young girl, struggling to survive Versailles's rigid traditions of royal glamour (twelve-foot-wide hoopskirts, whalebone corsets that crushed her organs). As queen, Marie Antoinette used stunning, often extreme costumes to project an image of power and wage war against her enemies. Gradually, however, she began to lose her hold on the French when she started to adopt "unqueenly" outfits (the provocative chemise) that, surprisingly, would be adopted by the revolutionaries who executed her.

Weber's queen is sublime, human, and surprising: a sometimes courageous monarch unwilling to allow others to determine her destiny. The paradox of her tragic story, according to Weber, is that fashion—the vehicle she used to secure her triumphs—was also the means of her undoing. Weber's book is not only a stylish and original addition to Marie Antoinette scholarship, but also a moving, revelatory reinterpretation of one of history's most controversial figures.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this dazzling new vision of the ever-fascinating queen, a dynamic young historian reveals how Marie Antoinette's bold attempts to reshape royal fashion changed the future of France

Marie Antoinette has always stood as an icon of supreme style, but surprisingly none of her biographers have paid sustained attention to her clothes. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber shows how Marie Antoinette developed her reputation for fashionable excess, and explains through lively, illuminating new research the political controversies that her clothing provoked. Weber surveys Marie Antoinette's "Revolution in Dress," covering each phase of the queen's tumultuous life, beginning with the young girl, struggling to survive Versailles's rigid traditions of royal glamour (twelve-foot-wide hoopskirts, whalebone corsets that crushed her organs). As queen, Marie Antoinette used stunning, often extreme costumes to project an image of power and wage war against her enemies. Gradually, however, she began to lose her hold on the French when she started to adopt "unqueenly" outfits (the provocative chemise) that, surprisingly, would be adopted by the revolutionaries who executed her.

Weber's queen is sublime, human, and surprising: a sometimes courageous monarch unwilling to allow others to determine her destiny. The paradox of her tragic story, according to Weber, is that fashion—the vehicle she used to secure her triumphs—was also the means of her undoing. Weber's book is not only a stylish and original addition to Marie Antoinette scholarship, but also a moving, revelatory reinterpretation of one of history's most controversial figures.

More books from Henry Holt and Co.

Cover of the book Pity the Billionaire by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book My Life as a Joke by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book Head Case by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book The Jolly Roger Social Club by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book Aaron Copland by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book The Boy and the Blue Moon by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book Killing Kennedy by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book A Nation on Trial by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book An Idea Whose Time Has Come by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book Horses: A Guide to Selection, Care, and Enjoyment by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book The Song Poet by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book The Graves Are Walking by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book The Race by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book First Light, First Life by Caroline Weber
Cover of the book Homicide Special by Caroline Weber
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy