Napoleonic Pleasures

Women’s underwear during the First Empire Underwear was originally worn to protect the wearer's skin from often richly decorated clothes that could irritate or scratch the skin. They were also intended to add an extra layer to keep out the cold and make warm conditions more bearable, whilst also resculpting the body to suit the […]

This classic turkey recipe combines sweet and savoury flavours, lemon and bacon, and madeira wine and forcemeat and illustrates perfectly two key aspects to Second Empire cooking: hearty ingredients and imaginative presentation. A simple turkey would be transformed into something that could surprise guests with its various flavours and dazzle them with its turtle-like appearance.

One of the major changes to high society brought about by the Revolution was the modification of meal times. Theatre curtain times were pushed back and the knock-on effect was that the evening meal could no longer begin before 11pm, midnight and even two o’clock in the morning if attending a ball. Ancien Régime suppers […]

Fashion accessory: the shawl The shawl is a generally square or triangular piece of material worn by women across their shoulders, over the top of their dresses, as an additional layer of warmth. In Asia and the Far East, shawls were traditionally worn by both men and women. The item of clothing arrived in Europe […]

At the beginning of the 19th-century, the potato was still to take over the family dinner table and continued to be considered like other varieties of sub-vegetables reserved for animal feed. Nevertheless, this hardy tuber's easy cultivation and clear nutritional benefits, coupled with occasional waves of famine and devastating crop failure, would ensure this humble […]

M. Durochereau’s Eau de Cologne On 29 January, 1811, a certain Suireau Durochereau, based at Neuve-Saint-Eustache in Paris, was awarded a five-year patent for his eau de Cologne. Durochereau, based at Rue Saint-Neuve-Eustache in Paris, was one of the first French perfumers to patent an alcohol-based fragrance, the recipe for which appeared in a later compilation […]

"The geographical plan of the Island & Forts of Ste Helena" Napoleon I's exile on the island of St Helena has contributed greatly to a heightened interest – particularly amongst the British public – in this scrap of land in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Lieutenant Read – his name and rank are the […]

The hairstyle developments during the Second Empire The Capote, the Rodomengo, the Fanchon, and the Diadem Tress During the Second Empire, the empress Eugénie in France was the queen of fashion and taste. What she wore and how she dressed her hair became all the rage. Long hair was seen as particularly feminine – indeed some let […]

The bustle The Second Empire was to be the setting for both the glory days and the decline for the crinoline fashion. By the end of Napoleon III's reign, the voluminous crinoline styles of the 1850s, made famous by the work of celebrated British designer, Charles Worth, had begun to fall out of fashion. It was in 1867 […]

Just like today, little boys and girls during the First Empire loved sweets and desserts of all types. But one well-known dish in particular was very popular: “oeufs à la neige” (literally “eggs in snow”), little 'floating islands' of whipped egg-white, sweetened and poached in a custard-like crème anglaise. Delicious! During the 19th century, eggs were […]