Empire silhouette
Empire silhouette, Empire line, Empire waist or just Empire is a style in clothing in which the dress has a fitted bodice ending just below the bust, giving a high-waisted appearance, and a gathered skirt which is long and loosely fitting but skims the body rather than being supported by voluminous petticoats. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasize the bust. The shape of the dress also helps to lengthen the body's appearance.
While the style goes back to the late 18th century, the term "Empire silhouette" arose over a century later in early 20th-century Britain; here the word empire refers to the period of the First French Empire (1804–1815); Napoleon's first Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais was influential in popularizing the style around Europe. The word "empire" is pronounced with a special quasi-French pronunciation /ɑːmˈpɪər/ in the fashion world.[1]
History
The style began as part of
The last few years of the 18th century first saw the style coming into fashion in Western and Central Europe (and European-influenced areas). In 1788, just before the Revolution, the court portraitist
Empire dresses were light and loose, usually white, and were often made with short sleeves. A tie around the waistline, sitting just below the bust, was often in a different color. A long rectangular shawl or wrap, very often red with a decorative border in portraits, was also worn, and was lain around the midriff when seated—for which sprawling semi-recumbent postures were favored.
The adoption of this style led to a drastic contrast between 1790s fashions and the constricting and voluminous styles of the
English women's styles (often referred to as "
The 1960s saw a revival of the style, possibly reflecting the less strict social mores of the era, similar to when the unconstricting 1920s "flapper" styles replaced the heavy corsetry of the early 1900s.
See also
- 1750–1795 in Western fashion
- 1795–1820 in Western fashion
- Chiton
- Corset controversy
- Emma, Lady Hamilton
- High-rise (fashion)
- Peplos
- Spencer (clothing)
References
Notes
- About.com
- ^ Hunt, 244
- ^ Hunt, pp. 244–245
- ^ Lubrich, Naomi (2015). "The Little White Dress: Politics and Polyvalence in Revolutionary France" in: Fashion Theory. The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture, 19:5.
- ^ Charles McGrath, Pretty Words, Jane; Would That You Were Too, The New York Times, April 1, 2007.
Further reading
- Bourhis, Katell le: The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789–1815, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989. ISBN 0870995707.
- Naomi Lubrich: “The Little White Dress: Politics and Polyvalence in Revolutionary France” in: Fashion Theory. The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture, 19:5, 2015
External links
- Media related to Empire silhouette at Wikimedia Commons