Marie Antoinette remains to enthuse the fashion sphere with her impactful Rococo style even centuries after her reign. The “let them eat cake” Queen (she never actually said that, we know) is notorious for numerous things: her extravagant style, rebellious character, and lavish spending habits just to name a few. Commanding French fashion during her rule, she used fashion as a coping mechanism to deal with the pressures of her duties, advocating that money can in fact buy you happiness. Can we say that Rococo is back in fashion when it seems as though it’s never left? Throughout the saga of striking catwalks and runways, designers who cherish theatrical and story-telling designs have fused elements of Versailles into their creations. It’s a style that has exceeded beyond the catwalk and onto movie screens, interior design and into V&A’s upcoming exhibition. In an age that cycles through microtrends on a weekly basis, how is it that Rococo is a fashion constant, transcending from the 18th to the 21st century?
Starting with a little backstory to get to know the icon that is Marie Antoinette. Wedded at the fledgling age of 14, she was thrown headfirst into the role of being Queen of France. Of course, with any title promotion, but especially that of royalty, comes with a burden of great expectation and scrutiny – hence her insatiable need for shopping to cope with such pressures. Just as influencers today face online scrutiny, Marie Antoinette’s extreme fashion sparked caricatures, pamphlets, and gossip that both elevated and undermined her. She became ridiculed under the watchful eye of the court for her immeasurable spending habits, which inevitably cost the greatest price of all: her life. The 18th Century’s fashion was shaped by Marie Antoinette defying the rigid hierarchy of court life. Her deliberate use of volume in silhouette created with the wide pannier skirts and towering poufs to assert a presence and power.
The bigger, the better could be the headline for this particular era of fashion, with sweeping silhouettes and even loftier hairdos, Rococo is arguably the most elaborate style of all. If you’ve heard of the Coquette trend, then you’ll already be acquainted with the basis of Rococo, as Coquette is practically it’s great, great grandchild. Picture: opulent gowns adorned in embellishments of pearls, bows, ruffles, lace, florals, pastel hues. Giving a nod to Theatrical costuming and storytelling, captivating designers such as Galliano and Westwood for the innate drama and fantasy. With a modern culture obsessed with the idea of minimalism, Rococo keeps fashion compelling in its maximalism, reminding us that fashion has long been about visibility, performance, and narrative control, not just clothes. It portrays fashion as a way of escapism, for both the 18th and 21st century during times of political unrest, providing cultural counterbalance. It’s both political and performative, a balance that is not exactly a piece of cake.
Some of the greatest fashion moments and house names have ascended from individuals intending to rebel against norms of the wardrobe and think unconventionally. Galliano, Westwood, McQueen, Schiaparelli, are just a mere handful of designers that come to mind. Imaginably seeing part of themselves reflected in Marie’s rebellious nature to wear clothes that weren’t considered fit for societal standards. The most recognisable runways for instilling the spirit of Marie Antoinette’s rambunctious character, are Vivienne Westwood’s Fall/Winter 1995, Christian Dior’s Fall 2007 couture and Moschino’s ready to wear Fall 2020. Each designer interpreting Baroque style and moulding it into their personal panache, sharing similarities in the layers upon layers of frills and sumptuousness. More recent interpretations are more of a subtle nature for Dior’s Spring/Summer 2025 hip accentuating skirts, bows and lace finishings, and even in the styling of the feet to resemble a Rococo-esque corset tie. It’s no wonder that it attracts artists who create not for wearability but drama, using silhouettes as tools of empowerment, visibility, and performative storytelling.
Director Sofia Coppola’s cinematography paired with Manolo Blahnik’s costume design for the screen adaptation of Marie Antoinette (2006), provided us with illustrious garments described by journalists at the time as downright edible and rightfully so. Manolo’s shoes compared to the decorative icing of cakes and sweet treats with scrumptious frosted frills. Together, Coppola and Manolo revived Antoinette into 2000s culture and now again this Autumn. Their costume artistry, and other possessions of the Queen will be available to gawk at from the 20th of September at London’s V&A museum. The exhibit is sponsored by none other than fashion’s favourite shoe designer: Manolo Blahnik. Offering not just a glimpse of 18th century luxury but a mirror reflecting why her Rococo style remains urgently relevant today. For fans of fashion, history, cinema, art, and interior design or all of the above, your opportunity to gawk is accessible until March 2026.
Antoinette’s enduring legacy persists because it embodies contradictions: power and vulnerability, artifice and authenticity, frivolity and rebellion. These tensions still resonate in today’s fashion landscape where clothes are not just garments but statements, reflecting societal status and values. With the upcoming V&A exhibition, Antoinette is likely to re-enter fashion’s conversations and undoubtedly rematerialize onto upcoming catwalks and into the hands of daring designers. Whether you resonate with her unquenchable spending habits (guilty) or admire her ability to command fashion across seas and generations, it’s undeniable that Marie Antoinette will remain a muse for creatives beyond just what she wore.
To See More, Visit: Marie Antoinette Exhibit at V&A South Kensington
Words: Libby Matthews