What is your favourite dress for Marie Antoinette?Why?

Well, Aurora, I had an hesitation... Antoinette certainly would answer "en gaulle", those so light and fresh dresses she uses at Trianon... But I prefer "à la polonaise", with those delicate embrodered flowers and those so special turned-back facings...

I admit, it is not easy to choose between. I love en gaulle, so I chose finally that. But à la polonaise has really a bit of gold in silver position..
I like these both dresses specially with their effect of creating the lightness when walking.

I love the "en gaulle."

"En Gaulle"

I have no doubt Antoinette loved to wear "en Gaulle", but this is a vote for our favorites - and my vote differs than others so far.

My favorite is the Queen when she looks to me most regal, most majestic, with her jewels, her toque and plumes, velevet dress and long train on her trhrone with a pillow below her feet - in the Vigee LeBrun images of 1787 and 1788 - those were velvet dresses trimmed with fur.

My understanding is that she designed the dress and setting for the later 1788 painting - so appearing in that style did not displease Her.

Axel

Do you mean this painting on your avatar, Axel ? And do you mean she designed it herself ? Amazing ! Where did you get this information ?

Or maybe I get you wrong... Sorry if I did, my English may be too poor...

Anyhow, you comment is interesting, for I also think that Marie-Antoinette closely collaborated with her favorite painter Vigée-Lebrun for "designing" the atmosphere of each painting.

My vote is for the à la polonaise, purely because of all the choices I find that style the most beautiful

Thank you all for your interesting choises!
Do you know Axel and others if these portraits with the velvet dresses were painted in winter. I am asking because of those fur trimmings. Were they only used in winter dresses? In the nordic countries the fur coats were common, but rarely there are fur trimmings in the late 18th century fashionable dresses even in winter. But then the chateaus were effectively heated here.
Perhaps I should choose again, en gaulle for summer and la bleue for winter for La Reine.

My favourite dress of Marie Antoinette is a green dress with paniers, she wears it on a painting as Queen in al her splendor with al a big wig and a big dress, she is laing her hand on a wordglobe, behind her is a red velvet draperie. But the dress she is waering on the painting with her 3 childeren is also a fine dress, I think she had good taste, you know that she had a book with pieces of the material where the dresses were made of, every morning she pinned a pin into one of the fabrics of the dress she liked to wear that day,(I think she pinned more than one pin, because, she changed dresses a couple of times each day)

Robert

I like very well the dress "en Gaulle", like on the paintaing "à la Rose" (the first) of Vigée-Lebrun :



Very nice!!!!!
Simplicity and elegance are joined together !

Love it!!!

The "en gaulle" is really light, but my favourite dress is "à la Polonaise", because I think that it is the most charming.

Marie-Antoinette, en robe de velours bleu, or MA in a blue velvet dress, painted in 1788 by Vigee LeBrun, her last portrait of the Queen done from a live sitting, her last portrait of the Queen before Vigee's flight from France, is the painting I've been mentioning as my favorite.

An inset of that painting appears in my avatar, but that is just an inset from the full length portrait where the Queen was seated book in her lap with a pillow beneath her feet.

I've been shown an interesting study of the portraits of Marie Antoinette a dissertation of over 400 pages by Todd Lawrence Larkin.

In that dissertation, Larkin indicates that the 1787 Vigee portait of MA et ses enfants (with her children) that appeared in the 1787 salon was commissioned by the Batiments - the French government. But the 1788 portrait though similar was an entirely new arrangement commissioned by the Queen under her household budget and under her exclusive control.

Larkin goes on to say that this 1788 painting was intended to show the assertion symbolicly and in reality of a greater political power for Marie Antoinette. First in her commission of the painting, second in its dissemination to individuals like Count of Artois and Baron de Breteuil who met her approval, and third to the trappings of royal authority that appear in the painting.

There is no crib or children, but a Queen and ruler looking directly at us as her subjects - asserting her power and authority as sovereign.

The table has the eagle symbol of the Hapsburgs and the crown of France. Yet there is no bust of Louis or other reference to her role as wife. This image asserts her position her authority, which occured at just the time Marie Antoinette did take on an increasing role in government.


Axel

Above is full length image of Marie Antoinette "en robe de velours blue" 1788, on the cover of a recent book, which I discussed in my last post and earlier post to this trhead.

The choice of royal blue train, bodice and toque, contrasted with white skirt also sends the message of royal power and authority in contrast to the warm orange / red earth tones of the Queen's dress in her softer maternal portrait, Marie Antoinette "et ses enfants", 1787.