Member-only story
Elisabeth, The Empress Who Had Some Of The Most Bizarre Beauty Rituals In History
Bathing in olive oil, all-day hair appointments and a savage workout regimen that let her fit into a 19.5 inch corset were all part of her routine
Beauty and fashion have been integral parts of society going back to the first time two people ever saw each other. Over the years, many have gone to extraordinary lengths to enhance their appearance and make themselves stand out. However, perhaps nobody went further than Empress Elisabeth of Austria, whose routines for her beauty, hair care and fashion, were some of the most bizarre and stringent in recorded history.
Born in 1837 in Munich, Bavaria, Elisabeth was a Duchess from the royal Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. At the age of 16, she married Emperor Franz Joseph I, which made her the Empress of Austria and the Queen of Hungary — posts she held until she was assassinated at the age of 60 in 1898 when Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni stabbed her with a long sharpened needle as she walked to board a steamship.
Since her husband handled political matters, Elisabeth was often more of a visual representation of the Emperor’s reign. At 5'7" (tall at the time for a woman) and slim, she was considered quite beautiful. This reputation only furthered her devotion to fashion and following a dizzying array of beauty and hair care rituals.
Known privately by the nickname of “Sissi,” the young Empress became a beacon of grace and fashion, not unlike Princess Diana more that a century later. Interestingly, in her youth, she was considered to be quite common looking, with what has been called a boyish or round face. However, she worked diligently to change her reputation, and given how she is remembered by history, it appears she succeeded.
Nothing stood out more about her than her long, thick hair, which at times reached the floor. Her coiffure became a daily ritual of great lengths and difficulty. She had an “Imperial Hairdresser” named Fanny Feifalik, who was responsible for styling the hair each day. Given the lushness of her dark brown locks, it took copious amounts of time to get the hairdos just right, leading the Empress to once sigh, “I am a slave…
