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Robe à la française

1750s; Altered 1780s & Late 19th Century

France & England

The ensemble was probably made as a sack and petticoat in the 1750s. In the 1780s, the sack was updated in style. A waist seam was probably added, the skirts reconfigured, and sleeve ruffles removed. The half-stomachers were added at this time and the bodice fronts relined. The back lacing was reconfigured and more eyelets worked.

The ensemble was altered for fancy dress in the late 19th century. Hooks and eyes were added to the bodice stomacher fronts and machine-lace ruffles to the sleeves. The petticoat may have been unpicked at this point.

The petticoat was gathered onto a cotton band after acquisition for Museum display. (V&A)

Victoria & Albert Museum (Accession Number: CIRC.157-1920)

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Coat and trousers worn by Louis XVII, Louis Charles de France, circa 1792

- Musee de la Mode

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Detail from ‘Marie Antoinette at the Petit Trianon’ by Joseph Caraud. [source: Bonhams, ‘European Fine Living,’ April 27 201]

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I beg my son, if he has the misfortune to become king, to reflect that he owes himself wholly to the welfare of his co-citizens; that he ought to forget all hatred and all resentment, especially that which relates to the misfortunes and griefs that I have borne; that he cannot make the happiness of the people except by reigning according to the laws; but, at the same time, that a king cannot make the laws respected and do the good which is in his heart to do unless he has the necessary authority; otherwise, being fettered in his operations and inspiring no respect, he is more harmful than useful.

–Louis XVI, Last Will and Testament

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Guillotine earrings, ca. 1793 

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♡ Marie Antoinette had a special affection for music and the arts in general, in which she offered patronage to. According to the Première femme de Chambre, Madame Campan, “music was the accomplishment in which the Queen most delighted. She did not play well on any instrument, but she had become able to read at sight like a first-rate professor.” Marie’s personal library contained plenty of music books, from sonatas, operas and harpsichord music, in which case was one of her favourite instruments to play alongside the harp. ♡

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A (very) non-exhaustive list of English-language books about Marie Antoinette. In no particular order.

General Biographies

Marie Antoinette: The Tragic Queen by Dorothy Moulton Mayer

Marie Antoinette by Desmond Seward

Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser

Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France by Évelyne Lever

Marie Antoinette by Joan Haslip

Marie Antoinette by John Hearsey

Marie Antoinette by Philippe Huisman

The Indomitable Marie Antoinette by Simone Bertière

Marie Antoinette: Portrait of an Average Woman by Stefan Zweig

Louis and Antoinette by Vincent Cronin

Marie Antoinette by Andre Castelot 

Youth Biographies

Marie Antoinette and the Decline of French Monarchy by Nancy Lotz

Spilling the Beans on Marie Antoinette by Mick Gowar

Marie Antoinette by Katie Daynes

Who Was Marie Antoinette? by Dana Meachen Rau

Marie Antoinette, Queen of France by Mary Englar

Marie Antoinette, Fashionable Queen or Greedy Royal? by Sarah Powers Webb

Marie Antoinette, Madame Deficit by Liz Hockinson

Marie Antoinette: Controversial Queen of France by Heather E. Schwartz

Marie Antoinette’s Versailles & Petit Trianon Non-Fiction

Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles by Christain Duvernois

Marie-Antoinette and the Petit Trianon at Versailles by Martin Chapman

The Private Realm of Marie Antoinette by Marie-France Boyer

From Marie Antoinette’s Garden: An Eighteenth-Century Horticultural Album by Elisabeth de Feydeau

Marie Antoinette’s Versailles by Cécile Berly

Dairy Queens: The Politics of Pastoral Architecture by Meredith Martin

Other Non-Fiction

Marie Antoinette: Writings on the Body of a Queen edited by Dena Goodman

The Wicked Queen: The Origins of the Myth of Marie Antoinette by Chantal Thomas

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Carolyn Weber

The Queen’s Necklace: Marie Antoinette and the Scandal that Shocked and Mystified France by Frances Mossiker

Last Days of Marie Antoinette: An Historical Sketch by Ronald Sutherland Gower

Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette by Carolyn Harris

Marie-Antoinette Style by Adrien Goetz

The Fatal Friendship: Marie Antoinette, Count Fersen and the Flight to Varennes by Stanley Loomis

A Day with Marie Antoinette by Hélène Delalex

Secrets of Marie Antoinette: A Collection of Letters by Olivier Bernier

Fiction

Farewell, My Queen by Chantal Thomas

Flaunting, Extravagant Queen by Jean Plaidy

Marie Antoinette Trilogy by Juliet Grey

The Queen’s Confession by Victoria Holt

Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund

Versailles: A Novel by Kathryn Davis

Marie Antoinette by F.W. Kenyon 

Youth Fiction

Marie Antoinette, Princess of Versailles by Kathryn Lasky

The Secret Diary of a Princess by Melanie Clegg

The Bad Queen: Rules and Instructions for Marie Antoinette by Carolyn Meyer

Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen by Annie Goetzinger

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

The Time-Traveling Fashionista at the Court of Marie Antoinette by Bianca Turetsky

Moi & Marie Antoinette by Lynn Cullen

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Centuries later, this active-wear fashion plate is still doing its work on me. Where can I commission such an exquisite frock?

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• Robe à la Française: Robe and petticoat. Date: 1765-1770 Place of origin: Textile: China or Amsterdam; Holland; Garment: France or Amsterdam Medium:Textile: blue and white brocade weave silk (paduasoy?); bleached plain weave linen lining; silk knotted fringe.

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According to her biographer Carrolly Erickson, shortly after the guillotine sliced its own bloody version of a necklace into the Queen's throat, well-born women in Paris began tying 'thin red ribbons around their necks as reminders of what they might soon suffer.'

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution, Caroline Weber (Picador, 2006)