A 19th-century empress’ beguiling tresses are enjoying renewed fame thanks to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
Crowned in 1854, Elisabeth of Austria was famous for her luxuriant chestnut hair, which fell to her feet and required hours of daily care: “I am a slave to my hair,” the monarch wrote in her diaries. Her 1865 portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, in particular, has gone viral as a result of Mia Goth’s character in Frankenstein sporting similar locks.
Art history buffs noted the similarities, with one historian telling Artnet News that, like Goth’s, Elisabeth’s hair was a symbol of aspirational femininity, proving she “had the time, money, and lifestyle to be able to maintain it.”