Marie Antoinette's Head: The Royal Hairdresser, the Queen, and the Revolution by Will Bashor6/10/2020
As the Queen's hair grew taller and more elaborate the cries of displeasure and revolution grew louder. Mr Bashor has quickly become my go-to historian and writer when I want to learn more about the infamous french queen and the downfall of the monarchy during the late 18th century and I certainly picked up some new trivia to share on a rainy day (or dinner conversation) with Marie Antoinett'e Heads: The Royal Hairdresser, The Queen and the Revolution. Here again he paints a balanced view of both sides of the opposition from the aristrocrastic circle and the main players in the revolution but this time using a charismatic historical figure who was responsible for creating the queen's trademark over the top coiffures and capturing the queen's own emotions and keeping her secrets. His name was Léonard-Alexis Autié and he led quite the fascinating life arriving in Paris with only his prized comb and slowly creating and powdering hair in back stages of theatres then catching the eye and falling into bed with wealthy clients until finally asked to temper the tresses of the queen herself. Who knew hair syling could be so interesting and bit risque? This work does lose its momentum towards the end when it is evident that "Monsieur Léonard" was asked for less and less as Marie Antoinette began losing her hair from repeated tragedies, disappointments and stress. There are also sections about what happened after the queen and king are executed that tend to ramble about the once esteemed hair dresser of royalty but overall this was an intriguing look at history and I loved the images of the different hair styles of the era and their meanings and what the different styles of Marie Antoinette's puffed up locks in specific paintings signified during her reign. -Purchased and read on kindle -EGP/October 2019 Comments are closed.
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