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Marie Antoinette

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The phrase "in style" means to do something in a way that is admired, often because it is unusual or involves spending a lot of money. It can also refer to being in the current fashion or doing something impressively. For example, one might say, "She celebrated her birthday in style," indicating a lavish or impressive celebration.

in style | meaning of in style in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary ...

in style
[in style]
definition
in an impressive, grand, or luxurious way:
"the opera company's soloists will help launch the appeal in style"
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Fashion Queen Marie Antoinette’s Iconic Style Lives on a Major New Show
The V&A Museum is hosting the U.K.'s first-ever exhibition on the French monarch.

Kirsten Dunst, playing Marie Antoinette, reclines in opulent room surrounded by lavish pink cakes, maid fitting pink shoe.
Film still from Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006). Photo courtesy of I Want Candy LLC. and Zoetrope Corp.
by
Min Chen
June 20, 2025
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During her two-decade reign, Marie Antoinette didn’t just preside over France, she reshaped the worlds of 18th-century fashion and design in her image. From her sumptuous pastel gowns and towering wigs to her dazzling jewels and gilded furnishings, the queen embraced a personal style of lavish elegance that bled into her quarters at the Ch;teau de Versailles, where striking color, lush tapestries, and rococo touches newly defined royal grandeur.


So revolutionary was Marie Antoinette’s style that centuries on, we’re still talking about it. Artists, designers, and filmmakers—from Alexander McQueen to Sofia Coppola—have been captivated. London’s V&A Museum is not sitting this out either; in September, it’s rolling out a major show dedicated to the regal fashion icon.

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Elegant Marie Antoinette poses in blue silk gown, holding pink rose against lush, dark garden background.
;lisabeth-Louise Vig;e Le Brun, Portrait de Marie-Antoinette ; la rose (1783). Photo: © Ch;teau de Versailles, Dist. Grand Palais RMN / Christophe Fouin.

“Marie Antoinette Style,” the first exhibition in the U.K. centered on the French queen, will unpack her dress and interiors, exploring how her unparalleled style has echoed through the ages. Among the 250 objects going on view are historical artifacts, some traveling from Versailles, as well as contemporary pieces that speak to the monarch’s timeless appeal. The exhibition is sponsored by shoemaker Manolo Blahnik.

“The most fashionable, scrutinized and controversial queen in history, Marie Antoinette’s name summons both visions of excess and objects and interiors of great beauty,” noted the show’s curator, Sarah Grant, in a statement. “This exhibition explores that style and the figure at its center, using a range of exquisite objects belonging to Marie Antoinette, alongside the most beautiful fine and decorative objects that her legacy has inspired.”


Pair of 18th-century cream silk slippers with beaded embroidery, curled heels, and worn interior lining.
Beaded pink silk slipper belonging to Marie Antoinette. Photo: CC0 Paris Mus;es / Mus;e Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris.

When she ascended the throne in 1774, the royal’s style choices swiftly caused a stir. Against the dreary palette of the French court, Marie Antoinette’s light, cascading gowns stood out for their silhouettes as much as for their bright color and intricate detailing—lace, ribbons, ruffles. She would popularize comfort-first styles including the Robe ; la Polonaise, recognizable for its fitted bodice and a skirt gathered into three distinct puffs, and Robe ; L’anglaise, where the fitted bodice flows into a wide skirt with an opening that reveals an underskirt.

That look was immortalized by ;lisabeth-Louise Vig;e Le Brun in her 1783 portrait of the ornately dressed queen lightly clutching a rose, which is making an appearance at “Marie Antoinette Style.” Also going on view are fragments of court dresses, silk slippers, jewels, and a bottle of eau de cologne from her personal collection. The museum is even recreating the aromas of the court and the queen’s favorite perfume for an immersive scent experience.

Vintage glass perfume bottle with gold cap and aged “Eau de Cologne” label on front.
Crystal flask with label “Eau de Cologne” from the “N;cessaire de voyage,” belonging to Marie Antoinette. Photo: © Grand Palais RMN (mus;e du Louvre) / Michel Urtado.

Visitors will also get a sense of how Marie Antoinette decorated her private chamber at Versailles, known as the Petit Trianon. Here, in her private sanctuary, the royal indulged her love for rococo, fitting the space with painted wallpaper, objects and furniture with floral forms, and her famous mirrored shutters. Her exquisite dinner service is making a rare outing at the V&A, as are her chair sets and other decorative objects.


Illustration of elaborately dressed 18th-century figures gathering around a pink marble monument beneath pastel clouds.
‘Lettre’, 1921 from F;tes Galantes. Photo: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The exhibition will also delve into how the sovereign’s fashion footprint has outlived her, fueling the cultural imagination from the 19th century to today. Where Art Deco illustrators Ert; and George Barbier sought to capture the fantasy of Marie Antoinette’s style, modern-day couture designs from the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Moschino, Dior, Chanel, and Valentino have attempted to match her extravagance.

Model in pink rococo dress with high powdered wig, denim pants, and Moschino handbag struts runway.
Moschino show, Runway, Fall Winter 2020, Milan Fashion Week, Italy. Photo: PIXELFORMULA / SIPA / Shutterstock, courtesy of the V&A Museum.

Of course, due space will be given to Sofia Coppola’s beloved 2006 film Marie Antoinette, which won an Academy Award for costume design. Looks and Manolo Blahnik shoes designed for the movie will be featured, alongside other costumes, film stills, and music videos that highlight the doomed queen’s broader legacy on screen and stage.

“This is the design legacy of an early modern celebrity and the story of a woman whose power to fascinate has never ebbed,” Grant added. “Marie Antoinette’s story has been re-told and re-purposed by each successive generation to suit its own ends. The rare combination of glamour, spectacle and tragedy she presents remains as intoxicating today as it was in the 18th century.”


“Marie Antoinette Style” is on view at the V&A Museum, Cromwell Road, London, September 20, 2025 – March 22, 2026.


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Trial and execution (14–16 October 1793)

Marie Antoinette on her way to the guillotine. Pen and ink by Jacques-Louis David, 16 October 1793

Marie Antoinette's execution by guillotine on 16 October 1793: at left, Sanson, the executioner, showing Marie Antoinette's head to the people. Anonymous, 1793
Marie Antoinette was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal on 14 October 1793. Some historians believe the outcome of the trial had been decided in advance by the Committee of Public Safety around the time the Carnation Plot was uncovered.[198] She and her lawyers were given less than one day to prepare her defense. Among the accusations, many previously published in the libelles, were: orchestrating orgies in Versailles, sending millions of livres of treasury money to Austria, planning the massacre of the National Guards in 1792,[199] declaring her son to be the new king of France, and incest—a charge made by her son Louis-Charles, pressured into doing so by the radical Jacques H;bert who controlled him.

This last accusation drew an emotional response from Marie Antoinette, who refused to respond to this charge, instead appealing to all mothers present in the room. Their reaction comforted her since these women were not otherwise sympathetic to her.[200] Upon being pressed further by a juror to address the accusations of incest, the queen replied, "If I did not respond, it was because it would be against nature for a mother to reply to such an accusation. On this I appeal to all mothers who may be here." When a juror, Joachim Vilate, told Robespierre of this over dinner, Robespierre broke his plate in anger, declaring "That imbecile H;bert!"[201]

Early on 16 October, Marie Antoinette was declared guilty of the three main charges against her: depletion of the national treasury, conspiracy against the internal and external security of the state, and high treason because of her intelligence activities in the interest of the enemy; the latter charge alone was enough to condemn her to death.[202] At worst, she and her lawyers had expected life imprisonment.[203] In the hours left to her, she composed a letter to her sister-in-law Madame ;lisabeth, affirming her clear conscience, her Catholic faith, and her love and concern for her children. The letter did not reach ;lisabeth.[204] Her will was part of the collection of papers of Robespierre found under his bed and was published by Edme-Bonaventure Courtois.[205][206]

Preparing for her execution, she had to change clothes in front of her guards. She wanted to wear a black dress but was forced to wear a plain white dress, white being the colour worn by widowed queens of France. Her hair was shorn, her hands bound painfully behind her back and she was put on a rope leash. Unlike her husband, who had been taken to his execution in a carriage (carrosse), she had to sit in an open cart (charrette) for the hour it took to convey her from the Conciergerie via the rue Saint-Honor; thoroughfare to reach the guillotine erected in the Place de la R;volution, the present-day Place de la Concorde.[207] She maintained her composure, despite the insults of the jeering crowd. A constitutional priest was assigned to hear her final confession. He sat by her in the cart, but she ignored him all the way to the scaffold as he had pledged his allegiance to the republic.[208]

Marie Antoinette was executed by beheading by guillotine at 12:15 pm on 16 October.[209][210] Her last words are recorded as, "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l'ai pas fait expr;s" or "Pardon me, sir, I did not do it on purpose", after accidentally stepping on her executioner's shoe.[211] Marie Tussaud was employed to make a death mask of her head.[212] Her body was thrown into an unmarked grave in the Madeleine cemetery, located close by in rue d'Anjou. Because its capacity was exhausted, the cemetery was closed the following year, on 25 March 1794.[213]