EMPIRE PERIOD

Empire period: translation

The period in French history (1804-1814) under the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte andEmpress Josephine. Women's clothing during this period was characterized by a style known as the empire silhouette: a low neckline, puffed sleeves, high waistline, and long columnar skirt. Neoclassical references for the silhouette came from ancient Greece and Rome, whose democratic governments served as political inspiration during the French Revolution (1789-1799). During this period, the style was known as Regency in England and America.

See alsoElizabethan period; Renaissance.