SOBBING ON FIFTH: Style Icon in History: Marie Antoinette

I’m a ~~closeted~~ out-and-proud history geek. And one thing I can appreciate history for, from a fashion perspective, is that it offers the opportunity for a fresh perspective. When you get a sort of overload of the recent trends, it dawns on you that there are centuries of fashion to lose yourself in. There are so many different looks and so many evolutions in style that you can follow to today. I love me some Marie Antoinette, and feel like we’re kindred spirits in our over-shopping. Many assume Marie Antoinette was a born fashion diva, but she actually arrived at court as a total tomboy, and had to be guided into caring about her appearance via letters from her mother. She went from needing her mom to convince her to “look like a queen” to dipping into the country’s funds for her own personal coiffure and couch-dimensioned dresses. I feel ya, girl, it’s easy to get carried away. Being queen, Marie Antoinette was obviously quite the trendsetter – everyone at court wanted and needed to look like her. While she had fanciful confections dreamed up for her, ladies followed suit with their own, perhaps played down, versions. So Marie was kind of like an Anna Dello Russo of eighteenth century France. She would have been a total street style star today.