Evening dress
c. 1810
White silk tricot, pink fringe, and cord
Museum purchase
Object numberP92.2.13
The high waistline and small bust of this dress typify the prevailing style of the first French Empire. The openwork knit fabric reveals much of the wearer’s underclothing while also clinging to her figure, daring to highlight the natural female form. This style is strongly associated with Empress Josephine, the fashionable wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose slender figure was ideally suited to the columnar silhouette.
DescriptionEmpire silhouette evening dress in white openwork silk tricot, trimmed with pink fringe and pink and white cordCollections
Exhibitions