Let’s talk briefly about the lady who once occupied this house, Marie Antoinette.  So much has been written about her, but little ever mentioned about how as a member of royalty, she was without a doubt THE trendsetter of her time.  She was a lady who valued her privacy, and dressed skillfully but casually for a woman in her position.  She craved independence and often dressed like a maid or shepherdess.  Whether she was with her close friends and sometimes in front of her real maids, she imitated lives that were so different from her own.  Her straw hats adorned with flowers was so different from the demands of traditional fashion that they appeared scandalous to those who would have certainly liked to see less of a simple woman and more of a Queen.  This kind of defiance certainly didn’t help her case, and she began to slowly lose favor with the French people.  Marie Antoinette’s quest for beauty and her aspiration to reach a form of authenticity and purity eventually led her to develop a lifestyle that would leave its mark on the history of trend setting.