Emma Hamilton

emma

I have just finished the most extraordinary book, England's Mistress, the Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton

Emma was born in 1765 in the most dire of circumstances and became the most famous woman of her time. She moved to London on her own when she was 12!  She was the Paris Hilton of the eighteenth century, everyone knew of her. She had an extraordinary life, eventually moving to Naples and hobnobbing with Marie Antoinette's sister, the Queen of Italy.

She was a sought after artist's model for a time and because of that, images of her were everywhere.
She became mistress to Admiral Horatio Nelson and eventually bore him a daughter. What is so fascinating is the portrayal of the times and the way people lived their lives. The stuff about Nelson was remarkable, he was a tiny man with one arm, a torn ear, no front teeth, scars all over and she was absolutely smitten with him as was ALL of Britain. The fashion was to wear clothes with his image on them, anchors and his name emblazoned everywhere. He was a superstar.

Emma worked as a courtesan for a while as one of the "Kelly" girls.

Mini makeup lesson circa 1770 follows......

Thick makeup was the fashion and there was a law passed that men could divorce their wives if they could prove she fooled him into marriage using her make up to hide her age or ugliness!
Courtesans were the most heavily painted.

First there was a layer of cold cream and then a heavy layer of white lead(!) paint.(sometimes mixed with vinegar)
Eyebrows were shaved off and replaced with false one made of mouse skins darkened with lead.
Cheeks were ornamented with beauty spots cut out of silk and glued on in various colours.
Mouth was coated with a dilution of red plaster of paris.
Painted blue cream on eyelids
Cheeks were rouged brightly with mercury sulphide.
Teeth were sometimes whitened with plaster of paris or chalk!
Despite all of this, the nails were left unadorned.
Orange water or rose was used as  perfume.

The hair styles were elaborate and HIGH. the hair stylists had waiting lists months long. They took three to four hours to create styles three feet high abd added fake pearls, feathers, flowers, models of houses and boats! The styles were kept for three months and then redone. It was common to have infestations of lice, bugs and sometimes even mice!! This fashion was started in 1765 and was most extreme in the 1780's. Women had special head rests to sleep on and when they went outside they wrapped their do's in gauze.

Fake boobs were made of cloth or porcelain and they even had fake bottoms and hips made of cork.

Can you say slave to fashion? I cannot imagine.
Anyway the book is a fascinating read and I would recommend it.