Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
by Caroline Weber
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Book Summary Information
Author: Caroline WeberEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-02
ISBN: 0312427344
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
Book Review: Intelligent and Intriguing - Despite the Title!
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite its completely lame title, this book is actually incredibly thoughtful, well-written, and exhaustively researched. The title implies that it might be a puff piece, riding on the coat tails of Antonia Frasier's "Marie Antoinette" and Sophia Coppola's movie of the same name, however quite the opposite is true. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that "Queen of Fashion" goes much deeper than its frivolous title suggests. It is obvious that the publishers had a final say in the book's title; perhaps they hoped to reach the "Sex and the City" crowd (who probably wouldn't be able to get through it) by using an "accessible" title. Author Caroline Weber, who has taught at Yale, UPenn, Barnard and Columbia, has produced a fine, scholarly portrait of Marie Antoinette that takes an in-depth look at the queen's extensive use of fashion to manipulate her public image and politics in general. Weber examines the monarch's resourceful employment of "la mode" to craft her state persona from the moment she set foot in France as a bewildered 14-year-old to her last steps on the scaffold. Marie Antoinette, while limited intellectually and lacking a sound education, was able to make some very bold statements about current events, politics and power through her innovative clothing and accessory choices, as well as by who she enlisted to help her create her looks. While such an approach to history may appear on the surface to be, well, superficial, Weber thoughtfully presents her well-researched material in such a manner that the reader quickly becomes aware that fashion is a very effective and evocative lens through which to view the world of Marie Antoinette. In addition, the authors copious notes are not to be missed, as they round out the story beautifully to create a very complete and multi-faceted view of one of history's most tragic female figures. I have read many accounts of Marie Antoinette's life and of French history in general, and this is the first time I have encountered such a fresh approach to the subject. Weber has offered a refreshing and thoroughly engaging perspective on a figure that has been examined and re-examined over time. Wonderful!
Summary of Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
A Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year
When her carriage first crossed over from her native Austria into France, fourteen-year-old Marie Antoinette was taken out, stripped naked before an entourage, and dressed in French attire to please the court of her new king. For a short while, the young girl played the part.
But by the time she took the throne, everything had changed. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber tells of the radical restyling that transformed the young queen into an icon and shaped the future of the nation. With her riding gear, her white furs, her pouf hairstyles, and her intricate ballroom disguises, Marie Antoinette came to embody--gloriously and tragically--all the extravagance of the monarchy.
When her carriage first crossed over from her native Austria into France, fourteen-year-old Marie Antoinette was taken out, stripped naked before an entourage, and dressed in French attire to please the court of her new king. For a short while, the young girl played the part.
But by the time she took the throne, everything had changed. In Queen of Fashion, Caroline Weber tells of the radical restyling that transformed the young queen into an icon and shaped the future of the nation. With her riding gear, her white furs, her pouf hairstyles, and her intricate ballroom disguises, Marie Antoinette came to embody--gloriously and tragically--all the extravagance of the monarchy.
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