Empire period. Two women at an Official ball in the Strasbourg Theater.

The Age of Undress by Amelia Rauser.

Dress in the Age of Jane Austen by Hilary Davidson.

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley 


France, fashion, empire, Official ball , Courboin, François, Octave Uzanne,
An Official ball in the Strasbourg Theater; (1805). London: Heinemann, William, 1898. Courboin, François (illustrator)

Womens fashion at an Official ball during the French Empire in 1804.

The two women depicted here at a ball are wearing more formal attire, closer to the ‘costume de cour.’ The attire of Napoleon’s court, and consequently the mode for his entourage, was codified in 1804.

The woman on the right is dressed very similarly to the code for the empress. Her dress is white silk, embroidered in gold. The collar is ringed with lace and a coat attached at the shoulders with a long tail.

The woman on the left is wearing a more simple, white empire-waist dress. White remained a very popular color for women during the Empire period.

Source: Fashion in Paris; the various phases of feminine taste and æsthetics from the revolution to the end of the XIXth century by Octave Uzanne, Lady Mary Loyd, François Courboin. London, W. Heinemann, 1901.

Related

Note:  The fashion of Regency. Riding dress of grey cloth. Caroline hat. 1795.

Support and Seduction: The History of Corsets and Bras (Abradale Books) by Beatrice Fontanel.

Thoughout the ages, women's breasts have been subjected to the endless whims of fashion. From the ancient Greeks to Mae West and Madonna, this light-hearted book charts the changing shapes of female beauty. The elegant and amusing images - including fashion drawings, paintings, photographs, and film stills - illustrate the often surprising history of the garments women have worn for support - and seduction.


The Age of Undress by Amelia Rauser.

Dress in the Age of Jane Austen by Hilary Davidson.

Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley 


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