Miscellaneous Definitions — accessories, trims, tools and general fashion terms from Apparel Search
An Empire silhouette is created by wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust, with a long, loose skirt which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to apple shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust, the shape of the dress helps to lengthen the body, and Josephine Bonaparte was one of the traditional trend-setters or figureheads for the Empire waistline.
The original empire line was seen on women from early Greco-Roman art when loose fitting rectangular tunics known as "Peplos" or the more common "Chiton" were belted under the bust, providing support for women and a cool, comfortable outfit suitable for the warm climate.
The last few years of the 1700's first saw the Empire dress coming into fashion in Western and Central Europe (and European-influenced areas), and it evolved through the Napoleonic era until the early 1820's when the hourglass Victorian styles become more popular. The style was often worn in white to denote a high social status (especially in its earlier years); only women solidly belonging to what in England was known as the "genteel" classes could afford to wear the pale, easily soiled garments of the era. Josephine Bonaparte was the one of the traditional trend-setters or figureheads for the Empire waistline, with her elaborate, skilfully-decorated Empire line dresses. The complete and drastic contrast between 1790's styles (especially those of the second half of the decade) and the constricting and voluminous styles of 1770's (with their long, cylindrical silhouette above panniers) is probably partially due to the French political upheavals after 1789 (though there is not usually any very simple or direct correlation between political events and fashion changes). English women's styles (often referred to as "regency") followed along the same general trend of raised waistlines as French styles, even when the countries were at war.
The 1960s saw a revival of the Empire silhouette, possibly reflecting the less strict social mores of the era (similar to when the unconstricting 1920's "flapper" styles replaced the heavy corsetry of the early 1900's).
See also
sewing,
tailoring, dressmaker,
zippers, rhinestones, rivets, sequins,
velcro
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/empire_silhouette). 1/12/06 |
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The Empire silhouette is produced by moving one line. Take a dress, raise its waistline from the natural waist to a point gathered near or just under the bust, and let a long, loose skirt fall from that high line, skimming the body rather than fitting it. Everything else about the silhouette follows from that single placement. The bodice becomes very short, the skirt becomes most of the garment, and the body's own waist and hips are not shaped by the dress at all but passed over by falling cloth. The outline is especially flattering to apple shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust, because the eye is drawn to the narrow, decorated band under the bust while the stomach area is covered by a skirt that never closes around it. For the same reason the shape of the dress helps to lengthen the body: the long uninterrupted fall from bust to hem reads as one tall column, and the legs appear to begin higher than they do.
The line has ancient roots that its later wearers knew and valued. The Empire line was seen on women from early Greco-Roman art, when loose fitting rectangular tunics known as peplos or the more common chiton were belted under the bust, providing support for women and a cool, comfortable outfit suitable for the warm climate. A rectangle of cloth, a belt placed high, and gravity did the rest, which is why the silhouette can be reinvented in any period that rediscovers classical dress: it requires no complex pattern, only the decision about where the gathering line sits. That simplicity also makes the Empire line a useful contrast in fashion history. Where corseted styles build a silhouette by reshaping the body inside the garment, the Empire silhouette builds its shape by choosing where cloth leaves the body and falls free.
The last few years of the 1700s first saw the Empire dress coming into fashion in Western and Central Europe, and European-influenced areas, and it evolved through the Napoleonic era until the early 1820s, when the hourglass Victorian styles became more popular. The complete and drastic contrast between 1790s styles and the constricting and voluminous styles of the 1770s, with their long, cylindrical silhouette above panniers, is probably partially due to the French political upheavals after 1789, though there is not usually any very simple or direct correlation between political events and fashion changes. In its earlier years the style was often worn in white to denote a high social status, especially in England's genteel classes, since only women solidly belonging to those classes could afford to wear the pale, easily soiled garments of the era. English women's styles, often referred to as Regency, followed along the same general trend of raised waistlines as French styles, even when the countries were at war.
Josephine Bonaparte was one of the traditional trend-setters or figureheads for the Empire waistline, with her elaborate, skilfully decorated Empire line dresses, and her patronage fixed the style's association with the Napoleonic court whose name it carries. The silhouette's later history is a pattern of revivals whenever dress loosens. The 1960s saw a revival of the Empire silhouette, 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. The connection is consistent: a raised waist and a free skirt ask nothing of the body's midsection, so the Empire line returns in periods that are discarding structure, and retreats when fashion returns to the shaped waist. For a modern shopper the practical reading is simple: an Empire silhouette emphasises the bust, lengthens the apparent body, and forgives the waist and stomach entirely, which is why the cut persists in maternity dress, evening dress and summer dress long after its Napoleonic moment.
An Empire silhouette is created by wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust, with a long, loose skirt which skims the body. The waistline is raised to just below the bust and the skirt falls from there.
The Empire line was seen on women from early Greco-Roman art, when loose fitting rectangular tunics known as peplos or the more common chiton were belted under the bust. It came into fashion in Western and Central Europe in the last few years of the 1700s and evolved through the Napoleonic era until the early 1820s.
Josephine Bonaparte was one of the traditional trend-setters or figureheads for the Empire waistline, with her elaborate, skilfully decorated Empire line dresses. The style was often worn in white to denote high social status in its earlier years.