Queen of Fashion

My father gave me Caroline Weber's Queen of Fashion for Christmas. Before I dig in, does anyone have a comment as to its reliability? Any pitfalls, fantastic stretches of logic or reasoning, or dubious sources that I should be on the lookout for?

It is an interesting book, which shows that Marie-Antoinette was not a dumb bimbo who liked to spend money on herself. Her clothes were carefully chosen with political power plays in mind. It does (without citing any strong evidence) insist that there was an affair with Fersen. It also said that the Queen chose to wear white to her execution, when really the choice was not hers.

Mata Hari wrote:It is an interesting book, which shows that Marie-Antoinette was not a dumb bimbo who liked to spend money on herself. Her clothes were carefully chosen with political power plays in mind. It does (without citing any strong evidence) insist that there was an affair with Fersen. It also said that the Queen chose to wear white to her execution, when really the choice was not hers.

Ah, thank you very very much! Nearly every biography that I've read of Antoinette has, unfortunately, declared her affair with Fersen to be an established fact so this does not surprise me in the least. On a personal level, I had a conversation with someone a few months ago who insisted that Antoinette chose to wear white to her execution, and I had raised an objection to it on the very grounds that you outline above. It's interesting to learn just where that idea had come from!

And please forgive me, but I'd like to narrow my question a little. I'm working on a recreational essay with a friend, and one of our chief focuses is the propaganda that was printed against Marie Antoinette: that is, why it was printed, to what extent it affected people's view of her, etc. Is this book a good source for that?

Yes, but a better source would be The Wicked Queen by Chantal Thomas which explores the massive propaganda effort against the Queen on the part of her enemies.

Curses, I looked it up on Amazon and it does look exactly like what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I was hoping to complete my essay in a week so by the time the book arrived it'd be too late!

...Oh well. I'll just enjoy Queen of Fashion for what it is. My partner is supposed to provide the resources for Antoinette anyway. I was just trying to supplement her because I am a virtuous soul. I get points for trying, no?

Thank you so much!