Rose Bertin: The Creator of Fashion at the Court of Marie-Antoinette

1913

Central DC137.5 L865

London: John Long

Before Chanel, Dior, or Lacroix, there was Rose Bertin (1747-1813). Bertin trained as a milliner. Through her contacts at the Royal Court, she supplied ‘dresses and finery’ to Marie Antoinette after her arrival in France to marry the Dauphin in 1770. Bertin was responsible for many of the iconic fashions of the times, made famous by the Queen. One design in particular was a pouf that depicted the bizarre, contemporary scene of Louis XVI’s inoculation against smallpox. In Langlade’s biography of the celebrated Bertin, he describes Marie Antoinette’s reign as ‘one of futility and chiffon’. Unfortunately, the Queen’s love of extravagance fanned the flames of the Revolution that would be her downfall.