The Costumes of Marie Antoinette | The Movies and the Woman

The Affair of the Necklace

While this movie is not a favorite of mine, the costumes were fun. In fact many of them seemed to be a nod to the 1938 movie. For example in one scene Jolie Richardson wears a birdcage hairpiece, and in another wears a gown with starbursts and stars in her hair. Of the all the costumes and accessories, the hats were my favorite feature.

Another interesting tidbit is that the costume designer from this movie is designing the gowns for the up coming movie starring Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette. It will be Interesting what she comes up with, will it be another "Affair", or will it be something new.

The Costume designer, Milena Canonero worked with a team of 52 milleners, stylists and tailors to give a modern audience a window into a court and time in which clothing did make the man or woman. Designer Milena was drawn to this time period, and wanted to make it accessible and fun for a modern audience. She wanted to be involved with every aspect of the characters, not just the clothes but the make-up and hair( which involved over 300 wigs). Wanting to give the movie a more modern and contemporary feel, the costumes were all based in history, but they were stylized by utilizing a slightly different cut rather than what was historically accurate as well as using modern colors. While the cuts were modern, the fabrics and textures were not. She used real 18th century laces, and even threw in a few real gowns from that time period for flair.

Clothes were not the only thing that was modernized, the famous diamond necklace was given a face lift. The original was overly ornate and a very heavy piece. It was redesigned to be more alluring and delicate. The movie necklace was crafted in cubic zirconia as one piece, utilizing over 647 stones with the traditional blue, satin ribbons.

This is a movie that I don't have alot of pictures of, so if anyone has pictures from this movie please send them in. d_Angus323@yahoo.com

Affair of the Necklace Pictures

Marie Antoinette

The Peacock Dress Jeweler's Visit Blue Strolling Dress

The Star Gown The Church Dress Cream and Grey Suit

The Blue Audience Dress Various Gowns

Jeanne de la Motte

The Red Dress

Costume designer, Milena Canonero wanted this dress to epitomize what jeanne would be by putting her in a red "bloody" dress when she is introduced. Instantly we know that she is important that she will bring about something horrible. Milena made all of Jeanne's dress vibrant, while the rest of the court were put in pale ghostly colors to show that they were fading away.