18th century blog

Spännande, låter som en trevlig utställning man måste se. Har dock läst någonstans att inga av Marie Antoinettes plagg överlevde revolutionen så det är kul att se att det faktiskt finns sådana plagg. Kanske något hon bar innan Frankrike? Blir nyfiken :-)

Thanks for posting this, dear! That dress is gorgeous and wonderfully preserved.

Thanks so much Johanna!
Now I know how I want my future wedding gown to look like! ;)
Do you know of any less expensive ways to get to Paris? I can nver find cheap flights nor ho(s)tels. I am going to Berlin in May, which is going to cost me too… but I really want to revisit Paris and Versailles to see this dress… If even only for 3-4 days. I can use all the advice I can get :)

I am in Denmark btw. :)

That is stunning! it looks like it could of been her wedding dress. I love your blog so much…

This is just lovely!

i was wondering how much would a dress like this cost Marie Antoinette??

A vast majority of the cost of court clothing in the 18th century would have been for materials. For example; for a court gown costing a total of 6,500 livres only about 15 livres would have been charged for making up the dress. The rest would have been for the fabric, lace and embroidery.

The Marie Antoinette dress at the ROM had been altered in the 19th century, probably for a fancy dress ball so it dones not survive in prestine 18th century form. Even in Marie Antoinette’s time most of her dresses would have been recycled as was the custom. Normally her dame d’autour (mistress of the wardrobe) would have managed dressing the queen and also would have received the items once the queen was finished with them which was a huge perk of the job. One can see a modern survival of the post in the picutures of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II; as she enters and leaves the abbey one can see directly behind the six maids of honor carrying her train the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire who was her Mistress of the Robes and behind her, her page, the Groom of the Robes and the six ladies of the bedchamber. One can see from the construction of the clothes that much of the embelishment was removable, particularly in lace and trimings, and in the case of the robe a la francaise there was actually minimal cutting of the fabric so that the dress could be altered easily.

For those who are interested Madeleine Delpierre’s book ‘Dress in France in the Eighteenth Century’ deals comprehensively with the subject including relative cost of making up everything from simple cloths to full court dress for both sexes.

Beautiful blog! Do you know who dressed Marie Antoinette? Merci!

I have a friend who has been given a dress, passed down through the centuries, that was apparently worn by Maria Theresa of Austria at Marie Antoinette’s wedding. Does anyone know who I can get in touch with to verify whether or not the dress is of this vintage and if so, who might be interested in it?

http://louis-and-antoinette.blogspot.com/

Lorraine,

Although I am hardly an expert, I did run a History Channel award winning website titled Let Them Eat Cake, about Marie Antoinette. I can tell you that Maria Theresa did not attend Marie Antoinette’s wedding ceremony in France. However, there was a proxy ceremony in Austria.

If you truly have a gown worn by Marie Theresa, it would be worth a fortune. I would recommend contact Christie’s Auction House or the curator at the Hofburg in Vienna, Austria.

Is this really Marie Antoinette’s wedding dress? Well, it is stunning! I am an Italian girl [I have the personality of a boy] who is very interested in the French Revolution. Still, I suppose Marie Antoinette appreciated this dress with her flair for fashion.
Oscar [Giuliano]