For the love of codpieces

DISPLAYS of historic fashion are always a popular draw with visitors to historic places, providing an insight into changing tastes and fashions and often shedding unique light on their original wearer

This autumn, the V&A unveils a captivating exhibition dedicated to Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated French queen whose brief yet eventful life continues to bewitch audiences and fuel the creative imagination. Marie-Claire Chappet traces her enduring influence on culture and fashion

Marie Antoinette’s passion for furniture and genius for bagatelles, however evanescent their purpose, filled the French royal palaces with beauty and charm, as Matthew Dennison reveals

Get ready for a season of self-expression – bows are big, the cape is back and OTT belts are cinching in everything. Pick your winter style persona; this is no time to play it safe

From its not-so-humble beginnings in London via a stint in the trenches and star turns on the Paris catwalks, the king of the boot room has been on an extraordinary journey, finds Deborah Nicholls-Lee

With a strength of character that belied her fragile looks, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun pushed the boundaries of royal portraiture and, after the French Revolution, challenged the loss of female influence via every frill and fold in her work