1804–1815 ca. Fawn Cotton Dress With Embroidery Beading, Austrian. Simple Empire style dress with A-line skirt from a high waistline and short bodice as Jane Austen and contemporaries across Europe would have worn. Fawn colored cotton with deep bead embroidered hem, embroidery on the wrists and around the wide scooped neckline. Transparent fabrics of the early were beginning to be replaced with fabrics with more weight that were less likely to tear. Plain silks in vivid colors were at first made up in the simple lines of muslin dresses but then plain gowns began to be decorated with intricate contrasting applications and beading. This dress was part of “The Fine Art of Costume” exhibition, 1954 October 15th at the Met Museum, N.Y.C. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org. Credit: Gift of Mr. Lee Simonson, 1939. Accession Number:C.I.39.13.52

Empire Style Dress:  Named after the First Empire in France. Empire dresses had a low neckline and skirts started directly under the bust and flowed into the classical relaxed wide styles of Greece and Rome. This style of dress is associated with Jane Austen and her contemporaries as a high-waisted dress was worn most days. Cotton, silk or taffeta were the popular fabrics.