Dress

Unknown

1795–97 · silk, cotton · Costume Institute

The Empire dress owes its name, physical emancipation, popularity, and even its sexiness to France. In this English example, French style is slavishly followed in the gown's high waist and modish stripes. But for all its classicizing details and shape, the gown retains vestiges of the ancien régime in its open-robe construction.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1795–97

Medium

silk, cotton

Culture

British

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Miss Irene Lewisohn, 1937