Napoleon is conquering the entire Europe. To unite the “Old and the New” he has to divorce Josephine and to marry the archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. The former Empress, Josephine Beauharnais, continues to be a fashion icon in Paris at the beginning of the Nineteenth century.

Since 1796, she contributed to launch the fashion of the impalpable “à la Grecque” muslin dresses, already exciting in their abstract and erotic elegance, that sometimes were worn wet to make them cling to the body even more.

Since 1810 and until her death, on May 29th, 1814, she is the main character in the reinvention of the taste: she has the interiors of the Malmaison, her own castle just outside Paris, redecorated following the dictates of fashionable architects, such as Percier and Fontane and she set up again the trio of magnificent women that dominated the Parisian scene ten years before, in a often very unconventional way: beautiful Thérèse Tallien, sparkling Fortunée Hamelin and herself, despite her age of over fifty years.

Napoleon, as Colbert had done before him, tried to support the industry of national laces, especially the lace made in ALENÇON. For his coronation he wore a collar made in Alençon lace commissioned to the Beuvry & Co workshop.

The scene takes place in a hall at the ground floor of a country estate, with large windows overlooking the garden; Thérèse, who holds a book in her hand, welcomes her two illustrious friends, Josephine and Fortunée, who entered from the doors on the garden. Witnessing the scene is one of the young fashionable men that Thérèse loved to have around; he is observing with curiosity a precious handkerchief that one of the three ladies had willingly let fall at his feet.

• In order to favour the commerce of national products, Napoleon emanated an imperial decree that established that ladies and gentlemen had to wear evening gowns made of “silk for any kind of activities at the court”. Moreover, he supported the production of Chantilly and Alençon laces, the only laces allowed to be used in the decoration of court dresses. (Akiko Fukai (edited by), The Kyoto Costume Institute, La Moda storia dal XVIII al XX secolo, Koln, 2003, p.52).

• In 1799 Josephine Bonaparte bought the Malmaison estate, that included the castle and the surrounding grounds, the park with the woods, the vineyards and the fields. She was the one to suggest the purchase of the estate to general Bonaparte, who did not approve, because of the high price asked by the owners. This did not discourage the Empress-to-be, who, after a rather difficult negotiation and advancing just a small part of the considerable sum, bought the estate, getting herself into “personal” debt, unbeknown to her husband. (E. Stojkovic Mazzariol, La Malmaison, Novara, 1983, p.3).

• Napoleon tried to encourage especially the production of Alençon lace. According to the imperial dispositions the bed linens were trimmed with Alençon laces for an amount of 40,000 francs. After his divorce from Josephine Beauharnais, in 1809, the following year he married the archduchess Marie Louise of Austria and a coverlet, enriched by the Austrian imperial coat of arms, was donated to his new wife. Moreover, as a wedding present, Napoleon commissioned curtains, more coverlets, bed sheets and pillowcases, all trimmed with Alençon lace. (M. Eirwen Jones, The Romance of Lace, London, 1951, p.92).

• It was almost noon when Josephine Beauharnais arrived with her carriage in front of the cathedral the day of the coronation ceremony; inside, the guests had been waiting for about five hours. Accompanied by the four hundred musicians of the orchestra, the future empress stepped inside wearing a long white satin gown covered by gold and silver embroideries and enriched by diamonds. It was not easy for her to reach the gilded thrones, since she had to carry the circa thirty-six kilos of the long train. (C. Erickson, L'imperatrice creola Amori e destino di Giuseppina di Beauharnais, la prima moglie di Napoleone, Milan, 2003, pp. 238-239).

• Josephine Beauharnais is credited with the merit of having reintroduced the use of handkerchiefs as fashion accessories. Contemporary sources maliciously suggest that she revived the use of the handkerchief in order to more easily hide an unpleasant defect; a rather large mouth and less than healthy teeth. For this reason she always brought with her an immaculate scented handkerchief that she always instinctively brought to her mouth, even when all she had to do was smile. (A. Cantagallo, I segreti del fazzoletto, Foligno, 1992, pp.110-111).