On November 5, 1798, Marie-Caroline was born a princess of Sicily and Naples of the House of Bourbon. She later married into the French Royal to which she spent a lot of time dedicating herself to the arts. According to the Fashion History Timeline website, “she arrived in France in 1818 determined to be a leader in all things, from art to literature and music, to fashion” (Harper). Although she was forced into exile in 1830, Marie-Caroline spent lots of time before then studying and appreciating the arts. She especially spent time over the art of fashion. It is interesting to see the progression of Romantic fashion from Gothic through the influence of Marie-Caroline, especially as we finished Northanger Abbey. The book has lots of influence from the Gothic and so did Marie-Caroline’s fashion. Her appreciation for fashion is a great reflection of the change from the gothic to the romantic era. She found an appreciation for the fashion of the past, “Marie-Caroline’s fashion choices reflected the Romanticism of the era, particularly the fascination with the past. Both her clothing and her ever-expanding collection of art were often in the French style troubadour, an offshoot of Romanticism, defined by idealized depictions of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” (Harper). In her time in French royalty, she would through costume balls “making a fashion of the old Gothic or Renaissance heritages, and leading a [trend] to exoticism, with her Persian and Turk balls” (The Mother). Marie-Caroline was a fashion icon with her renaissance-styled clothing and with this, a lot of the Romantic period fashion had an obsession with the past. One moment that had lots of influence on Romantic fashion having an obsession with the past was La Quadrille de Marie Stuart. This was a ball hosted by Marie-Caroline in 1829 that is shown through a series of lithographs by Eugene Louis Lami. “The costumes from La Quadrille de Marie Stuart, as it came to be known, were reported in the fashion press and undoubtedly reinforced the 1820s obsession with the past” (Harper).

Citations:

The Mother-of-Pearl Fan of Marie-Caroline, Duchess of Berry. madd-bordeaux.fr/en/month-object/mother-pearl-fan-marie-caroline-duchess-berry.

Franklin, Harper. “1820-1829.” Fashion History Timeline, 27 May 2020, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1820-1829/#:~:text=century%2C%20decade%20overview-,OVERVIEW,styles%20borrowed%20from%20past%20centuries.