While there are some stories I've read in researching Marie Antoinette that claim the famous phrase attributed to her is not actually something she would have said, a majority of people might know right away who one would be referring to with the mere utterance of the phrase. Truly, whether or not she said it, if given the chance to eat cake I'm going to want some cake!!
A model asked me to create a Marie Antoinette inspired session for her and that include costume. She sent me a couple of inspiration pictures for ideas she'd prefer where it related to the costume. A corset was, of course, needed but also she had a vision that included a high-lo skirt. Pink or preferably pastel in color. The model had shoes in pink already that she hoped to use so goal one was finding 'the right' dress in pink.
Thrift store shopping I found this rosy pink dress from Shein. The white ruffled dress was a second dress found at the same store. I knew I wanted layers underneath to mimic the dresses from that period of time so I cut the pink dress to create the layers of skirts.
In researching the famous French icon I was looking for clues to key aspects of her fashion. Bell sleeves (not picture here), ruffles, lace and more stood out to me so that was where I started.
Once I got the overlaying skirt the way I had pictured the next task was to create the high-lo skirt the model had wanted.
To do this I simply cut a V in the back of the top dress. Matching pinks wasn't easy but with some luck I was able to get pretty close; adding into the dress allowed me to create a faux high-lo look.
As I moved along in creation I also made some changes to smaller details revamping the look further and further. Recreated the bell sleeves using some of the pink material used adding into the skirt. The top skirt was revamped slightly with a change in the ruffle color. Continuing the ruffling onto the corset to tie it together and then the final touch ... bows!
The final outcome a Marie Antoinette inspired look fit for a Queen!
I loved everything about this costume and the model did, as well. It truly was a combination of her vision and my own melded together to create this look.