8 thoughts on “18th-Century Quest: Shadow of the Guillotine

  1. ” Although the portrait dress is probably a robe à la française”

    Can I ask why you think that? I don’t see a hint of a sack back when I look at the portrait, and from my understanding they were out of style for day wear by that time anyway.

    1. It’s that bit of back fullness just behind her elbow that makes me think francaise (which were still worn for formal court wear, and would make sense if MA is responding to accusations of being too informal). I used to think polonaise, but you can’t usually see any back fullness from this angle.

      1. Oh, yep, I see it now. That’s def the edge of a pleat. I always thought it was foliage in the background but I’d never zoomed into that area before. I think it might be a française-polonaise hybrid – the way the fabric is highlighted just below the bust, and the way the shadowed part seems to curve out beneath her right arm.

        Have you done much research of when full court dress was worn vs. less formal françaises and robes parée? It seems like such a grey area to me.

  2. I’ve got I see it. I’m with you about Marie Antoinette, for me it was the Antonia Fraser book and the Kirsten Dunst movie. I re-watch Mrs Irving Thalberg’s , oops, Norma Shearer’s version and I thought it was a bit too lamé. Although there were a few swoonable dresses.

  3. If she had succeeded in her intended flight to Edgecomb, Maine…. I wonder how her influence would have affected the contents of the L.L. Bean catalogue.

  4. I got the DVD of this in Paris in May – I’m not an Antoinette fan by a long shot (I was visiting Paris and Arras for Maxie’s birthday!), but Richard Todd (playing Fersen) he made this was married to a cousin of my grandmother at the time, so it amused me to see him in this role!

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