The 'Marie Antoinette Style' Exhibition at London's V & A

Hello there,

As you know, I do love a good costume exhibition and last weekend I was lucky enough to go to the ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ exhibition in London. Held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington (always a favourite haunt for me), it was spectacularly staged. I am full of admiration for the curators who put these wonderful things together and it was just a feast for the eyes. Loaded with story telling in the best kind of way, a visual look at this tragic Queen of France’s life and her legacy.

Born in 1755 to the Austrian royal family, she grew up in palatial splendour in Vienna. At the age of 14 she was married to the Dauphin of France, the future Louis XV1 and this alone would seem enough to traumatise any young girl in modern day society, but Marie Antoinette found herself at the vast palace in Versailles, isolated and far away from home, in a foreign land where trouble was already brewing in the background.

Living a formal court life, loaded with petty and absurd rituals and practices that must have been stifling - the costumes certainly were - it must have been terrifying to navigate for a young teenager. The costumes on show illustrate the opulence and formality of her life. One of the dresses on show seemed to have the most extraordinary construction that looked excruciating to wear.

To imagine that this was constructed entirely by hand is mind boggling and the idea of actually wearing such an enormous but restrictive gown seems hard to comprehend. But in this period in history, there is always embroidery and I have to say I am mesmerised by it. The delicate metallic threads (which I know are hard to stitch with) are just dazzling.

The style that we now associate with this period and with what I always call ‘french fru..fru..’ is laden with ruffles and bows and ribbons and frills.

The soft pastels are easy on the eye and allow all the mass of embellishments to leap out in joyful concoctions that are frivolous and fun. I can’t really imagine the time taken to arrange all this on the bodice of a dress but there is no denying it has a fairytale quality to it.

When you look at the detail of this, you can see the threaded ribbon effect is made up of satin padded appliqués.

The silk embroidered roses on this gown though are just so finely worked and the effect is very beautiful.

There was lots of fabulous embroidery to look at on all the costumes.

I love the mixture of sequins, floral embroidery and beading on this dress. The tiny details are what blow you away at this exhibition, especially if you are a stitcher. The colour combinations and the intricate patterns are a wonder to behold.

There were some absolutely exquisitely beautiful fans too and again the minute details and artistry used in these is remarkable.

The intricate spines on this fan are amazing. I somehow wish we still used these today! There is some incredible jewellery on display too.

The only thing I can take away from this extraordinary affair is that I do like velvet ribbon ties on necklaces - so might have to try that out. The diamond bows though were utterly charming.

There is also a section about the hairstyles of the day and the strange grey wigs that they wore piled upon their heads with any amount of decorative items woven into them. They looked uncomfortable and cumbersome but highly entertaining. One of Marie Antoinette’s most famous stylings was the ship in her wig…

The exhibition is set up in a series of rooms and the first part is about the Queen and her life at Versailles. There is a small but grim section about the end of her life and the revolution and it is very poignant to see the contrast between all this courtly splendour and her last days in prison.

The last rooms deal with her legacy and this I found very interesting. It is easy to forget how much of this episode in fashion has carried down through time and is still found in our clothes today…ruffled sleeves, frilled necklines, ribbon trimmings and embroidery. Despite the revolution it seems the whole idea of it never really went away and in the 19th century her style was often used in fancy dress costumes of the aristocracy.

Top designers have used elements of Marie Antoinette style ever since!

The whole exhibition is just wonderful and there is so much to see, this is just a glimpse. I thought about whether her legacy had infiltrated my space at all and what I might have that was in this style. I did make a costume sculpture at my ceramics class several years ago and it lives in my sewing room.

I did also embroider a clutch bag several years ago which has metallic and silk embroidery on and it is interesting to see how this can be as modern today as it was over two hundred years ago.

Marie Antoinette was a tragic figure, a captive of her position, all her life really despite unimaginable riches. She died by the Guillotine at the age of 37. I am glad she did leave a legacy and perhaps I will find a little velvet bow to wear on Valentines day.

There is, however, always time for more embroidery! See you soon x

ps. The exhibition is on at the V&A until the 22nd March 2026.