vetenskapochupplysning

During the French revolution and the whole 1800^th century were Europe influenced from France. The style Rococo grew and established. Rococo came after the Baroque had enlarged mostly the man wear. It had become more feminine and most of all it had taken over more from woman wear. Rococo was a big admirer of china and a lot of inspiration with a man suit containing coat, waistcoat and breeches. Why was now the rest of the man in Europe so interested in dressing likes women with perfume wigs and tights that highlighted their legs? Well, one reason for using perfume was that keeping the bad breath and smell away but was that all? Maybe because women clothes has always been more detailed and not as strict as men wear was men a little bit jealous and it would probably be more expensive and finer to have men wear with details. Also a big different in the 1800^th century was that women had a lot of different styles to choose from. By influencing from women the clothes would differ a little anyway. The good economic times made it also easier for even the middle class to afford trendy and fashionable clothes. Personally I think that men wear shall be pretty strict but with some small details but not too much influence from women clothes.

by: Jakob Lundén

Marie Antoinette was accused for being both a sex addict, incestuous, lesbian and a range of other outrageous allegations. She became extremely unpopular even though we can’t be sure how much of this is actually true. Marie Antoinette was the wife of King Louis XVI of France and through her marriage with him she became the queen of France. If you want to know more about her, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette .

As you might be aware of, the life of Marie Antoinette included extreme luxury. It was like that already from the beginning. Her marriage with the Sun King was an arrangement between France and her home country Austria to strengthen the bonds between them. One get the feeling that they compensate the marriage and love that she never got to have with material things. Already when she at first arrived there were children dressed in white spreading flowers in front of the carriage. Through the years she was then overthrown not only by flowers, but also with the latest fashion, the most expensive fabrics and glittery, lustrous accessories. In the beginning she enjoyed it. After all she was nothing more than a 14-years-old girl and a quite vain one. She went to parties, arranged parties in her own gigantic garden by the castle Versailles and enjoyed herself. She had it all, you might think. And all this luxury made her of course very extravagant and interesting to other nobles. Her life more or less became like a spectacle. The most honourable task a noble could get was to help her get dressed like a giant Barbie doll. The higher in rank the nobles were, the more private tasks they got. Marie Antoinette’s life more or less became a spectacle.

It’s said that Marie Antoinette had a love affair with the Swede Axel von Fersen. However this is true or not is uncertain. But we do know that Axel von Fersen played a significant at the escape of the royal family some years later. As you can understand from all the things the Queen was accused of, her love life was widely discussed. Also, as the time passed on, her interest for fashion erupted and became, if possible, even more extreme. She spent dream sums of money every day. And I can’t help but wonder; was it to compensate her unhappy life in general? Was Marie Antoinette actually the first shopaholic, shopping until she is broke because it was the only thing that could make her happy?

If you think of it, is she really that different from the celebrities of today? The pressure it involves for anyone who is rich and famous could sure make you want to have an outlet for everything that you can not say in public. That is how it was, and that is how it is. Nowadays we can not watch celebrities get dressed in the mornings, but their lives are still very public since everything they say and do simply can be spread all over the world.

We know that luxury did not make Marie Antoinette happy and that luxury does not make celebrities of today happy either. Isn’t it funny that a lot of people, despite all that we know, still, more than anything, want to be rich and able to buy lots of things?

Victoria Gunnerek