1800-1815 ca. Unusual Skirt and Over Gown, Holland. Gathered underdress and overdress with short puffed sleeves. via Dutch Museum – Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

The dresses worn in Holland and other parts of Europe were the same style as dresses worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries. Empire waist gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given to the loose gowns adopted by the aristocracy as a symbol of turning away from the fussy, elaborate and expensive clothing worn in the 1700s in France to the period when Napoleon built his French Empire.