Please join us for shopping with a twist on Pink Friday, April 3, 2009 as we present Marie Antoinette.
Marie Antoinette was young, tall, blonde and beautiful and she set fashion trends through France and Europe. She was nicknamed "Madame Deficit" or "Queen of Debt” because the Queen spent lavishly on her dress and adornments, exceeding annually her clothing allowance (her overruns always covered by her devoted husband Louis). Her flip remark “Let them eat cake” (attributed to her, but never confirmed) was the spark that ignited the French Revolution. Today, we simply cannot get enough of “Marie”
Only 15 when she married the crown prince of France, the dauphin. France was then the most powerful nation of continental Europe, and the royal palace at Versailles the most opulent. She became Queen of France while still a teen. Her excessive fashions for high headdresses, plumes and voluminous dresses were subject to public comment, admiration and ridicule. At Versailles, the Queen also spent lavishly on her friends and on her entertainment. She held frequent gambling parties, masquerade balls and danced all night long.
To escape the formalities, boredom, and royal obligations of court, Marie-Antoinette created a private realm of pleasure for herself and her friends at the Petit Trianon, a small retreat palace on the grounds of Versailles, and Hameau, where she planted the first Anglo-Chinese garden; collected all species of antique roses; and revolutionized architecture and gardening trends. It was so much her escape that the King was reported only to have visited her there a few times.
So why do we love Marie Antoinette today? All her extravagance, her life of excess, her hairstyles that were larger than life, her reported love of pastries and champagne (some truth and some fiction as Marie was a teetotaler) all create for us a time and place where a young girl can be Queen. Marie Antoinette has become a real inspiration.
Sharon Wollman,
Director of Community Relations
Image by: The Polka Dot Rose - www.thepolkadotrose.com
A great post about Marie Antoinette!! Your website is all pink and lovely! Thanks for sharing! Pink Friday sounds very fun too ;-)
Posted by: Cute Easy Hairstyles | April 08, 2009 at 09:05 PM