Friday Shoe History Corner: Marie Antoinette’s shoe
Posted on August 17th, 2007 by shoesense under Friday Shoe History CornerThis is Marie Antoinette’s shoe, lost on August 10, 1792 (she was executed over a year later). Image from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, via Caroline Weber’s wonderful, highly-recommended book, Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution:
Virtually none of Marie Antoinette’s impressive wardrobe survived the Revolution; this is just a drawing of a delicate high-heeled slipper with ruched ribbon trim which she wore during her flight from particularly rowdy crowds who were chanting ‘Down with the tyrants! Death! Death!’ During her and the king’s quick escape, the Queen lost this shoe. Well, it’s probably not the kind of extravagant shoe with diamond-encrusted soles which Madame Du Barry was sporting while she was the favorite of King Louis XV (Marie Antoinette’s father-in-law), but it’s indicative of the queen’s sophisticated and dainty tastes.
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Piperlime
September 22nd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Hi. I would just like to point out that Louis XV wasn’t Marie Antoinette’s father-in-law but her grandfather-in-law. Louis Auguste (Louis XVI)’s father died, making Louis Auguste the new dauphin and heir to the throne. Louis XV actually had quite a long reign and probably would have reigned longer if he didn’t get smallpox.
That aside, I think I would have loved to see the Du Barry’s shoes…purely out of curiosity though rather than admiration. Her “tastes” were just too much!