Jewels, Gowns and Legacy: Marie Antoinette’s Fashion Story Opens in London

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has opened a landmark exhibition, Marie Antoinette Style, dedicated to one of history’s most iconic and controversial queens.

Known for her extravagant fashion and opulent taste, Marie Antoinette remains a figure of fascination more than 230 years after her execution during the French Revolution.

The exhibition brings together over 250 objects, including her silk slippers, jewels, portraits, furniture, and even her final handwritten note from prison. Visitors can also see personal items such as her underwear, travel accessories, and court dresses, as well as modern reinterpretations of her style in haute couture and film, from Dior to Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.

Curators highlight her transition from Rococo to Neoclassical fashion, and how her image has been reinvented across centuries in art, film, and pop culture.

While her luxurious image was once weaponized against her during revolutionary propaganda, the exhibition shows how Marie Antoinette’s fashion shaped not only 18th-century France but continues to inspire designers and filmmakers today.

Running until March 2026, the show offers both a glimpse into her personal life and a broader reflection on the intersection of style, politics, and history.