Marie Antoinette Style at the V&A – misunderstood bad girl of history

I have been a big Sofia Coppola fan since Lost in Translation. I love her style of films and eye and way of shooting. I also love the subjects she chooses for films. Perhaps the only film I didn’t connect with so much of hers was The Bling Ring, which is funny because that really should be the one that hits the hardest – I lived through that time of Paris and Nicole, Kitson LA, The Hills, Juicy Couture velour tracksuits, bedazzled flip phones, paparazzi and Perez. I even watched Pretty Wild, Alexis Neiers’ (of Bling Ring Fame) reality show. I blame Emma Watson. Anyway, needless to say, I LOOOVVVEEE Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. It’s definitely up there in my 10 favourite films.

I love its candy pastel hues, the fashion, the way it humanises Marie Antoinette as a young girl and woman thrust into an unfamiliar environment. I love the way that the film is genuinely shot at Versailles, removing the velvet ropes and the tourists and replacing it with life. I’ve been to Versailles twice now, once in 2010 in February when there was snow on the ground and large-scale Takashi Murakami art pieces in a number of the rooms, and more recently last year when I went with my sister and mum as a (very belated due to Covid) 60th birthday trip for my mum. Having seen the film, it feels much more alive as somewhere people lived, worked and played.

As a V&A member, I was so excited when it was announced that one of their exhibitions was to be Marie Antoinette Style – an exhibition that would explore the lasting influence of Marie Antoinette and her fashion. Now, admittedly, it’s taken me a while to visit – it opened in late September and closes in late March, but life just got in the way. I’m kicking myself now.

It’s a good thing that we are members at the V&A as when I went there were signs up saying that tickets for the day were all sold out and so membership was the only option for getting in without having pre-booked.

Stepping into the exhibition is like stepping into a chocolate box. A rich lacquered reflective space with shifting twinkling chandelier lights. Nestled in display cabinets are the most gorgeous dresses, each one reflective of different styles that came into fashion, all either made out of beautiful fabrics or richly embroidered or embellished. My favourite was a blue and white striped dress with a blurry loose ikat design of flowers and ribbons on it (a pattern picked up in a lot of the merchandise in the gift shop).

This section also featured a Domino (a robe like cloak) worn as a disguise at a masquerade that if you’d have told me it was Mcqueen, I’d have believed you, but this section was dedicated to genuine pieces from the time, whereas the contemporary pieces that took inspiration from that period, came later.

Here you can also see a shoe that was worn by Marie Antoinette, which had parallels later in the exhibition with the shoes produced by Manolo Blahnik for Sofia Coppola’s film (and most notably, the shopping scene):

As you move through the exhibition it focussed on different aspect of Marie Antoinette’s style, including her many elaborate hairstyles, her fabulous diamond jewellery and elegant fans. It’s an absolute visual treat.

The Pierrot jacket below on the right was another favourite of mine. Another piece that I could have seen being done in a more modern fabric and trim but being able to easily be worn now with skinny jeans and biker boots.

Of course, my favourite bit of any exhibition is spotting the weirdest thing in there. In the Cartier exhibition it was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-esque piece, in this exhibition it was a breast bowl. Apparently this was one of four that were commissioned for Marie Antoinette’s ornamental (but functional) dairy.

After moving through a few other sections of the exhibition dealing with things like Marie Antoinette’s portrayal in the media at the time, the final section of the exhibition was centred around a stunning Galliano for Dior piece (below right) and focused on modern fashion and costumes for TV and films.

For all of the stunning dresses in here, my absolute favourite thing in this room was the art piece in the background of the photo below on the left. Produced by Beth Katleman, Marie Antoinette’s Folly is a porcelain take on the toile de Jouy prints that feature heavily in the exhibition. It places Marie Antoinette on Fragonard’s swings, admired by a hunky and semi-naked Count Ferson in a speedo. Elsewhere cast Kewpie dolls and figures with guns sit on clouds of porcelain. It deserved its own feature in the exhibition in my view, rather than being set behind a wall of dresses (gorgeous as they are).

This section featured dresses from Galliano for Dior, Lagerfeld for Chanel, costumes from Coppola’s film, pieces from Erdem, Moschino, Fenty for Puma and a piece from Drag Race UK’s Marmalade.

My favourite thing here was probably seeing different takes on toile de Jouy, particularly on the piece below on the right which was a costume from TV’s The Great, worn by Elle Fanning. You’d never notice it on screen but it features a crocodile snapping at a woman on Fragonard’s Swing and a bear menacing a couple canoodling. There was another piece by Jeremy Scott for Moschino that featured an anime take on toile de Jouy. So many fun and irreverent takes.

After the recent disappointing Cartier exhibition, which for me felt pretty but superficial, I loved this one – it’s visually stunning, historically interesting, has a real mix of pieces and has a clear narrative. I cannot recommend seeing it enough, especially if you are a fan of Coppola’s film, it’s like falling inside that world. Get there before it closes in March!