Marie Antoinette Halloween Costume Ideas

During her reign in the late 18th century, Marie Antoinette wore ornate Rococo fashions such as the gown a la Polonaise made from rich silk fabrics. When making a homemade Marie Antoinette Halloween costume, it's important to understand the basic clothing elements of the women's fashions during the Rococo period. You can make your Marie Antoinette Halloween costume more authentic by researching history and looking at portraits of this 18th century French queen. If you prefer to get creative, you can make any changes you like to the costume as long as you borrow elements from the 18th century Rococo clothing that Marie Antoinette wore. You can also look to the movies for inspiration for your Marie Antoinette costume.

Marie Antoinette Halloween Costume Dress

A corset and pannier hoop skirt are helpful in creating a Marie Antoinette Halloween costume. The pannier underskirt, in particular, gives the Rococo-style Marie Antoinette Polonaise skirt its characteristic shape. You can make an 18th century corset and pannier skirt using a sewing pattern such as Simplicity 3635.

It would be very difficult to craft a Marie Antoinette Halloween costume from scavenged clothing. However, you can make the outer Marie Antoinette costume using a sewing pattern such as Simplicity 3637 or Butterick B4485. The dress can be any color you like. The best cheap material to make the dress is probably polyester satin. If you want to make your Marie Antoinette costume really authentic, you should use silk. You can trim the dress with materials such as lace and ribbon to make it look more authentic. To make the costume sexier, just make the skirt, underskirt and sleeves of the dress shorter and narrower. If you have sufficient sewing skills, try tapering the skirt so it's shorter in front and longer in back. You could also skip the pannier underskirt altogether and wear a flared miniskirt with lacy petticoats underneath. Wear thigh-high white stockings and shoes that match your dress.

Marie Antoinette Hairstyles

Aristocratic women during the 18th century didn't wear wigs, but rather used pads, pomade and false hair extensions to style their natural hair into tall hair styles, then powdered their hair gray or white. These styles can be difficult to achieve, so it's fine to wear a tall gray or white curly wig with your Marie Antoinette costume. You can adorn your 18th century hairstyle using ornaments such as small ships, feathers, jewels, ribbons or flowers. They also often wore ornate hats on top of their outrageous hair styles, making them even taller.

Marie Antoinette Costume Hats

If you like, you can buy any 18th century style hat from a costume store. You could also make your hat from a pattern. 18th century women often wore Bergere straw hats decorated with feathers and ribbons. They also sometimes wore simple mob caps made from muslin or gauze.

Marie Antoinette Costume Jewelry and Other Accessories

Marie Antoinette wore very little jewelry in her portraits. Sometimes she can be seen wearing simple jewelry, such as a doubled up pearl necklace and tripled up pearl bracelets seen in the portrait by Elizabeth Vigée-Le Brun which accompanies this article. To make your Marie Antoinette Halloween costume complete, carry an accessory such as a lace or painted silk fan or a single rose.

For similar costume ideas, read Halloween Queen Costumes for Adult Women, Disney Snow White Halloween Costumes and Alice in Wonderland Halloween Costumes for Adults.

Sources:

"C18th Paniers Fashion History." Fashion-Era.com
Lord Scott, "An Introduction to Ladies' Fashions of the Georgian Era of the 18th Century." WeMakeHistory.com
"Polonaise Style." FashionEncyclopedia.com
"Eighteenth-Century Headwear." FashionEncyclopedia.com
"18th Century Women's Hair and Wigs." Costumes.org