Art News

Marie Antoinette to McQueen in French fashion exhibit at the Grand Trianon at Versailles

VERSAILLES (REUTERS).- “Let them eat cake,” Marie Antoinette is famously quoted as saying, but the 18th century fashionista, had she lived today, may well have said, “Let them wear Lacroix.” Frills, foppery and all the delicious excess of 18th century fashion — juxtaposed with contemporary interpretations of France’s Golden Age — are on display at the Grand Trianon at Versailles in the exhibit “The 18th Century Back in Fashion.” As Paris Fashion Week begins, the dozens of ornate dresses on show, both antique and modern, stitched from endless yards of silk and adorned with sumptuous embroidery and lace, are the antithesis to the politics of austerity on the world’s lips today. Restraint, sobriety, discipline — these are not the words that spring to mind when viewing the show, and it’s part of its appeal, as global economic stagnation and a potential euro zone collapse are the