Originally appeared in print, April 2022. Illustration by Emily Stevenson.
Sofia Coppola’s 2006 biopic, Marie Antoinette, offers a visual feast from start to finish as we follow the evolution of the titular monarch’s saccharine style. Milena Canonero’s Academy Award winning costume design is central to the construction of Marie Antoinette’s identity throughout the film; the costumes themselves are symbolic of the young Dauphine’s metamorphosis from an innocent Austrian princess into the infamous queen we all know today for her love of the sweeter things in life.
This transition is deftly captured in one of the early scenes of the film, where we see the princess’s forceful disrobing, followed by a swift change into her new unfamiliar attire upon setting foot on French soil. This scene symbolises the stripping of Marie Antoinette’s identity and her emergence into the role as the queen of France, which quickly becomes overshadowed by her duty to conceive an heir to the throne.
Whilst Canonero certainly took some artistic liberties with the costume design, producing a creative reinterpretation of the character, the outfits worn by the Dauphine, played by Kirsten Dunst, were never far from factual. Speaking to The London Times Magazine, Canonero said: “I simplified the very heavy look of the 18th century. I wanted it to be believable, but more stylized.” Here, costume is employed as a powerful storytelling tool and acts as an important device used to support the narrative.
As Marie begins to find her place in the royal court at Versailles, her clothes gain a life of their own as we bear witness to a striking evolution of colour and shape in tandem with her rapidly changing circumstances. At the onset of the film, Dunst dons an array of sugary pastel dresses that look good enough to eat. Speaking of her inspiration for this candied aesthetic colour palette, Canoero recalls Coppolla handing her a box of pastel-coloured macaroons from the Laduree pastry house at the start of pre-production: “She told me, ‘These are the colours I love’. I used them as a palette. Sofia was clear about the colouration, but left the rest to me”. Mouth-watering sherbet pinks, pastel yellows and tiffany blues dominate the colour scheme for much of the movie, creating a wardrobe which bears a striking resemblance to the decadent cakes and pastries that Marie is often pictured indulging in. This motif is drawn early on in the film, when the young Marie Antoinette is described as “looking like a little piece of cake” by some gossip mongers at a court dinner.
As her time in Versailles progresses, so too does the queen’s style; her increasingly amplified silhouette has connotations of power, whilst the growing precarity of Marie’s wigs can be interpreted as symbolic of the monarch’s own instability as the revolution gains traction and danger looms ever-closer. The colours of her dresses gradually become brighter as she finds her footing and gains confidence amongst the once unsettling opulence of Versailles. The costume design aptly conveys the relief that finally comes with motherhood for Marie, the prospect of which has long burdened her. In their countryside retreat to Le Petit Trianon, we witness the queen at one with nature – she is no longer confined to the tight, excessive dresses worn at the palace, but appears draped in airy, angelic white garments. Similarly, her hairstyles become much more loose and natural, delicately framing the Dauphine’s face.
On returning to Versailles, the carefree fashion from Le Petit Trianon is quickly traded for more rigid, formal gowns in muted sombre colours made from heavy materials as the queen mourns the death of her mother and the revolution grows in intensity. The emotive colours chosen by Canonero for Marie Antoinette’s costumes help the story unfold and offer the audience a unique insight into the young queen’s private life, shedding light on some common misconceptions of her character. Coppola portrays the queen as a kind of tragic feminist heroine with whom it is impossible not to sympathise with in some way. We become privy to her vulnerability, worries, and naivety throughout the film, as she is not merely presented as a shallow, frivolous character.
