Alexia Sinclair, 'La Coiffure Oiseau', 2013 "Marie Antoinette has become synonymous with fashion, and rightly so. A devoted follower of style, she received daily counsel from her dressmaker, known as the “Minister of Fashion,” together laying the foundations of what would become haute couture.
Her famed headdresses, known as poufs, were constructed from a combination of her own hair, human hair extensions, and wool. These lofty coiffures reached up to six feet in height, bound to wire scaffolds, and adorned with precious jewels and large plumes. Some styles even reflected contemporary topics and politics, featuring detailed figurines such as ships, windmills, babies, and even fresh vegetables. Through these self-promoting coiffures, Marie Antoinette could play with politics while remaining at the forefront of fashion.
Initially, Marie Antoinette dazzled Parisians with her avant-garde approach, but the mood dramatically shifted. A series of devastating harvests and the soaring price of bread drove the starving population to stage riots known as the Flour Wars, a prelude to the Revolution.
Against this backdrop, Marie Antoinette continued to attend the Paris Opera, opulently dressed in her powdered coiffures. Flour, in desperately short supply and used extensively in her hairstyles, became the unlikely symbol that inspired the legendary remark attributed to her: “Let them eat cake.” (source)
