Did Marie Antoinette play sports? It strains the imagination a little, but it's not entirely impossible to picture her pitching up in the backyard of the Petit Trianon for a nice game of croquet. Maybe even a set or two of badminton, before retiring to her rooms in Versailles to have her wig clamped back on as she nibbles on macarons and dreams of Count Fersen. Anyway, this train of thought comes courtesy of the latest Camilla and Marc collection, which takes its inspiration from the interiors of Versailles. Siblings Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman have put a jaunty spin on the baroque, turning out abbreviated cocktail dresses trussed with ruffles; sharp, shoulder-baring peplum tops and cropped trousers in reflective pink or a magnified jewel print; and striped knit and tailored dresses in colors of buttercream frosting. The strongest pieces here, unusually for the brand, were the most casual—the short, squared-off silk dresses with a high neck and fluttering sleeve were particularly good, as were the waterfall tank tops featuring a contrasting band of color on the hem. It's also worth calling out the Camilla and Marc denim: This season, the jeans were high-waisted, perfectly cut skinnies executed in a handful of pastels, and they looked like a cult phenom waiting to happen. Or to put it another way, the jeans seemed like exactly the thing a modern-day Marie Antoinette would don for a game of petanque, before shimmying off to meet her lover.
