In powdered wigs, feathered tricorns and embroidered dresses, around 750 people attended the Fêtes Galantes on Monday evening, an annual gathering of lovers of history and Baroque-style costumes at the Palace of Versailles, to the west of Paris.
"The pleasure is to wear the right costume in the right place", explains Bruno Martinon, retired, sporting an "opera costume" in turquoise velvet which required "eight months of work", and a headdress feathered, about forty centimetres high.
This year's theme was the Royal Wedding of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, which was held in 1770. Participants paraded in colourful costumes and drank champagne to the sound of trumpets.
Entrance tickets for the evening were sold between €170 and €595.
