LONDON (Reuters) -From her dazzling jewels and silk footwear to modern interpretations of her extravagant gowns, a new exhibition exploring the style of France’s doomed 18th century queen Marie Antoinette opens in London this week.
Running at the V&A Museum, “Marie Antoinette Style” is the UK’s first exhibition dedicated to the queen, a member of the Austrian royal family who wed French King Louis XVI.
She became a fashionable and contentious figure, known for her opulent taste, before she and her husband were overthrown during the French Revolution and executed in 1793. Marie Antoinette was 37 years old.
“(The exhibition is) about the style shaped by the most fashionable queen in history, Marie Antoinette,” exhibition curator Sarah Grant said in an interview.
“We look at the style that she shaped from 1770 until her death and then the legacy of that style.”
Some 250 objects are on display in the exhibition, including Marie Antoinette’s footwear, jewels and other personal belongings, including an eau de cologne bottle and porcelain dinner service.
Fashions from that period as well as portraits of the queen and her furniture are also on display, including items on loan from the Palace of Versailles. Her chemise, or underwear, from when she was in prison, and a final note written before her execution, are featured.
The contemporary section features an array of designer frocks and shoes looking at the influence Marie Antoinette has had in fashion and film. These include costumes made for Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film “Marie Antoinette”, starring Kirsten Dunst in the titular role.
“What’s incredible is that her influence has been so continuous,” Grant said. “It’s continued … really ever since her death and continues now.”
“Marie Antoinette Style” opens on Saturday and runs until March.
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Richard Chang)
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