For starters, I suppose I should make it clear that my name is, in fact, NOT Marie. But I do like to associate myself with the most infamous Marie of all time: Marie Antoinette.
She was born Maria Antonia Josephina Johanna as an archduchess of Austria, in 1755. Maria had two older sisters, both of which destined for significant arranged marriages and powerful futures. This plan was never really in the cards for Maria. However, due to an outbreak of smallpox which killed one of her sisters and left her other sister "unfit" for a royal marriage due to facial scarring, Maria was left the duty of marrying Louis Auguste in order to cement alliances between Austria and France as a result of the Seven Years' War. Walking onto French soil on May 7, 1770, she was thereby Marie Antoinette, Dauphine of France. She was 15 years old.
One of the most notorious aspects of her and Louis' marriage is that it was not consummated for 7 years due to not only Louis' ignorance of the definition of consummating, but also his overriding interest in his hobbies: hunting and lock-making. As a result, Marie spent her time, money, and energy on fashion and gambling.
Marie was edgy. When it came to self-expression, she was a total rock star. In modern-day terms, she was such a hipster. Yes, it was expected of her to stand out among the women at Versailles, but she adopted her own personal style...
Okay, maybe we don't know exactly how she dressed, but if I learned anything from Sofia Coppola's 2006 film Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst, it is that Marie was, for lack of a better abbreviation, a B.A.! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
Okay, so now the stage is set. Basically, the other day I was thinking, "I really like being a trendy Suzie Homemaker. I think I want to be a modern-day Marie Antoinette." Simple thought on the surface, but for me it holds profound possibility! No, Marie was not a housewife... though she did have her own cottage because she was kind of a homebody. And no, I'm not exactly married to a royal locksmith, but this is just my first installment of this blog. Give me time.
In the meantime, feast your eyes on the most literal visual examples of a Modern Marie and her interests.
"Let them eat cake!" -Marie Antoinette
Expect me to show you things like this! Maybe not always elegant, but definitely precious. Enjoy!
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