This is the third and final installment of a three-part series examining women's clothing and costume from the ancien regime through the French Revolution, Directory, Consulate and Empire by Dr. Melanie Byrd, and published here for the first time. The original illustrations done by Dr. Byrd and Holly Hess (co-owner of Antique Linen Company which makes reproduction period clothing) are in a paper doll format, similar to cut-out pictures that first became popular in the 19th Century.

The rise to power of Napoleon Bonaparte did not immediately change fashion. One story, though, foreshadowed the new direction that fashion would take under the Empire. One winter evening in 1799, Mme. Tallien and two fellow merveilleuses (a term coined during the Directory for young women who were excessively fashion conscious and who wore, to moderate eyes, extreme clothing) attended the opera clad as nymph-huntresses in tunics which barely reached their knees. Their costumes, which had been inspired by Amaury Duval, Chief of the Arts and Sciences Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior, included sandals with purple straps, and gold rings on their toes.

The overall effect was de trop (too much) for the taste of one slightly more conservative member of the audience, Josephine Bonaparte. The following day, she prevailed upon her husband, the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, to inform the three would-be Dianas that "the time of fable was over and the reign of History had begun." (This story may be fictitious, since Mme. Tallien and Josephine Bonaparte had been close friends.) Though Napoleon did nothing to drastically alter the current styles immediately, he did exert influence over the course of French fashion following the establishment of the Empire.

The coronation robe of Empress Josephine illustrates the manner in which costume, especially Imperial Court costume, used elements from previous eras. While high-waisted gowns had first been inspired in classical antiquity, they also resembled late medieval and early renaissance styles. The increased use of sumptuous embroidered satin and velvet during the Empire heightened the similarity. Stiff, standing lace collars had been a featue of the 16th and 17th centuries' costumes as well, and variations of the Spanish and Elizabethian nech ruffs adorned French Empire gowns.

The most direct manner in which Napoleon controlled fashion in the "reign of History" was his re-creation of an elaborate court. When Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were taken to Paris during the Revolution, the Versailles court tradition came to an abrupt halt. Furthermore, under the Terror, overly extravagant dress became a dangerous sign of wealth. The departure of emigrees had removed one sector of society which had previously taken the lead in setting fashion. Rose Bertin, former couturier (fashion designer) to Marie Antoinette, had fled to Vienna and London, which temporarily replaced Paris as the center of fashion.

Though fashionable outfits which extolled republican virtues were in vogue, Paris was seemingly oblivious to haute-couture (high fashion). A German trader passing through the city in 1791 observed a marked lack of interest in fashion. The Ther-midorian reaction in 1794-1795, and the Directory and Consulate periods saw a revival of luxury and voluptuous display in costume, but the pomp and grandeur of court costume was lacking.

When Napoleon became Emperor in 1804, however, the French court and all its trappings were reborn, this time at Malmaison, Fontainebleau and the Tuilleries. While court costume was similar in style to ordinary dress it was also subject to the Emperor's personal taste. Napoleon was fond of women. He also took great interest in the way they dressed, and he all but demanded outright that they be richly arrayed in his presence.

As a man who valued personal hygiene, the Emperor was not above complaining that even the daintiest women had ceased to bathe their feet, and insisted that women at court change their underwear frequently. His step-daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais, reported that he would often rearrange her mother Josephine's hair and choose jewelry for her. Napoleon also mistrusted the judgment of his second wife, Marie-Louise, to such an extent that on occasions when he wanted her to appear especially elegant, he chose her toilette (dressing and makeup) himself.

Napoleon's first opportunity to establish the sumptuousness of his court was his coronation. The gowns of Josephine and her cortege (procession) were designed by Isabey and executed by Louis Hyppolyte Leroy, the court costumer and milliner, and Leroy's partner Madame Raimbaut (Leroy would achieve domination of high fashion through the patronage of Napoleon).

Josephine's gown was the most opulent. The high waisted, white robe which fell from her shoulders had an immense train of silver brocade trimmed with gold beads. The long, tight sleeves were embroidered with gold thread, and the puffed tops of the sleeves were embellished with diamonds. Attached to the low, square neckline was a flat stiffened lace and gold cherreuse, or standing collar.

In addition, the Empress-to-be wore a girdle of gold ribbon set with thirty-one pink gems, and her bracelets, earrings, and necklace were made of precious stones and cameos. On her head she wore an eastern styled crown adorned with four rows of pearls interlaced with clusters of diamonds. The finishing touch was a voluminous, red velvet cloak lined with ermine and embroidered with golden bees, the Bonaparte symbol.

The immense mantle, fastened with gold embroidered velvet shoulder straps, was carried by the wives of Joseph and Louis Bonaparte and the Princesses Elisa, Pauline and Charlotte, but they resented the obligation placed upon them. When they did finally consent to the task, they performed it so awkwardly that Josephine had great difficulty walking.

While the coronation was the most elaborate event of the period, ordinary court dress was ornate enough to satisfy the Emperor's desire for luxury. There were two styles of court costume. The "grand costume" was similar to the coronation robe. It was embroidered in silver and featured short sleeves, an ermine lined velvet cloak embroidered with gold and silver which fastened at the waist, and was worn with a train. The "little gown," with long or short sleeves, was made of blue satin embroidered in a small scattered floral pattern. The velvet cloak, lined with satin, was attached to the left shoulder and right hip.

Printed fabrics became popular during the Empire, and Napoleon took a keen interest in promoting the French textile printing and dyeing industries. This illustration (at right) depicts a gown circa 1810 made from Toile de Jouy, named for one of France's well-known dye works. The Emperor visited the works in 1806. The gown features the fashionable neck ruff as well as a ruffled bodice, and it appears to have a pleat at the back of the skirt.

The ladies in the Empress's entourage dressed in white gowns embroidered in gold or silver with mother of pearl trimming, and of course, trains were de rigueur or required for court wear. Such a costume cost a minimum of fifty Louis, though Madame Joachim Murat (Napoleon's sister Caroline) and the Princess Borghese (his sister Pauline) often spent from 10,000 to 13,000 francs on court attire. Furthermore, new dresses were frequently required.

For example, for the wedding of Princess Stephanie, Madame de Remusat wrote that she had a new gown made "of pink crepe spangled with silver, and looped up with wreaths of jasmine, at the cost of sixty Louis."

Not all costumes required for court wear were confined to ceremonial functions. Leisure costumes were quite sumptuous, too. Napoleon once decided that the ladies of the court needed costumes for hunting at Fontainebleau. Leroy, who had produced the coronation robes, designed an outfit composed of a short velvet redingote, or tailored coat, worn over an embroidered white satin dress. Velvet boots matched the redingote and a toque, or square turban ornamented with a plume, completed the ensemble. The Empress chose amaranth (reddish-purple) velvet embroidered in gold for her redingote, and the ladies in waiting also wore amaranth velvet coats. Queen Hortense (Josephine's daughter who married Louis Bonaparte) chose blue embroidered in sliver for her costume, the Princess Borghese (Pauline) preferred lilac and silver, and Madame Murat (Caroline) wore pink and silver.

As incongruous as velvet and satin sportswear may seem, such extravagance was typical of the Imperial court, and especially of the Empress Josephine, who had always had finery. During the Directory, Josephine and Mme. Tallien often appeared at the Luxembourg palace where Barras held court (and the French Senate was housed starting in 1804). Josephine dressed stunningly, despite mounting debts. Occasionally, Josephine appeared in a contour-fitting gown decorated with real rose petals, or costumed as a bird in a robe embellished with feathers and dangling pearls.

Throughout her life, the svelte, petite Josephine delighted in the simple, clinging style of dress made of fine fabric and lavishly trimmed. An inventory of the Tuilleries from 1809 showed that at that time Josephine owned 673 dresses of velvet and satin, 33 gowns of cashmere, 202 summer dresses and 498 chemises. She had purchased 520 pairs of shoes in that year, with 265 pairs remaining from 1808. She also owned 980 pairs of gloves, 252 hats, and 138 pairs of white, 32 pairs of rose and 18 pairs of flesh-colored silk stockings. Josephine never wore stockings she had previously worn, and she changed her intricately embroidered linen three times daily.

The morning toilette of the Empress was astonishing. After rising at nine, lavishing "unwearied efforts on the preservation of her person and on its embellishment" and having her hair arranged, Josephine began the arduous challenge of choosing her wardrobe for the day. To this end, huge baskets containing numerous gowns, shawls and hats were brought to the Empress for her inspection. In the morning, she always wore a hat covered with feathers or flowers, and wrapped herself in a shawl. Josephine owned from 300 to 400 shawls, which she had grown to adore, despite her initial repugnance to the garment which she had reportedly felt when Napoleon first introduced the wrap to her. According to Madame de Remusat, Josephine wore shawls, which she found light and warm to such an extent that Napoleon, who found the garments too concealing, more than once tore the offending shawls off and cast them into the fire. This was a departure from Napoleon's tendency to wish that women be decently clad in his presence.

In addition to revealing Josephine's fondness for luxury, many of her costumes showed a distinctly personal touch. The Empress's preference for the color rose was apparent when she appeared at a ceremony for the fete de la Federation attired in a gown of rose tulle (a very sheer gauze-like fabric) spangled with silver stars. Even in private, Josephine's flair for style was visible. One evening she appeared before Napoleon in a white satin dress edged with swans' down, a popular trim appropriate for Josephine whose heraldic symbol was the swan. (Josephine's preference for swans was evident in her bedroom decor. The swan motif appeared on her furnishings.)

Following her divorce from Napoleon in 1809, Josephine maintained her love of extravagance. On the day of her death in 1814, she insisted on dressing in an elaborate robe de chambre because she believed that the Emperor of Russia might come to visit her. The former Empress and reigning beauty of the Empire died in a gown of pale rose trimmed with ribbons.

While the creation of the Imperial court played a key role in re-establishing formal ornate costumes, it was restricted to the elite circle of those directly involved in court life. The revival of sumptuous display in fashion however, was carried beyond the court and throughout fashionable Europe by the couturier (fashion designer) Leroy, who rose to fame under the auspices of Napoleon.

Napoleon presumably once remarked to Leroy, "a man like you needed a man like me." The reverse may also be true; Napoleon, who was interested in promoting the domestic French textile industry, needed a powerful arbiter of style to create and stimulate demand for fashions that used Lyon silk and other French textiles. Leroy met the need. Like Rose Bertin before him, he was well known throughout Europe.

Marie-Louise, the Emperor's second wife, showed little interest in fashion during her reign as Empress, though during the Hundred Days her love affair with the romantic Count Neipperg kindled in her an interest in clothing, and she requested that Leroy send her dozens of dresses and hats in Vienna.

France did not have another figure in the fashion world equivalent to Leroy until the successful international appeal of Eugenie's (wife of Napoleon III) favorite courtier Charles Frederick Worth, who ironically was British. Notable exceptions to Leroy's appeal were few. Only Napoleon's mother resisted his sumptuous creations and Mme. Recamier, one of the most prominent exponents of the Grecian robes during the Directory, never espoused the ostentations finery of the Empire and continued to favor white muslin gowns until her death.

As the emphasis on lavish ornamentation returned to vogue, so too did the necessity for more underclothing. The liberty afforded to those women who possessed the ideal classical figure and who discarded their "stays" existed only briefly. By 1805, corsets began to reappear. This time, they were longer than during the ancien regime, binding the torso and hips to accommodate the straight classical gowns. Social satirists showed their disdain for the prevailing trend through such caricatures as the "Marvelous Effects of Lacing" and the "Fury of Corsets" which depicted all ages and social classes squeezing themselves into the device.

Breasts were no longer bound to be flattened, but rather to be pushed up. This had been a feature of costume that alarmed not only moralists but also physicians from the advent of fashion during the Revolution. A surgeon in Mainz, which had been secularized during the French Revolution, noted from observation in convents that breast cancer was common among nuns, because they bound their breasts. Binding and padding prevented ventilation, which was also believed to cause cancer. The same dangers threatened the fashionable, who constricted their bodies for vanity. A further evil of the corset was the possible damage it could do the the reproductive system. Napoleon denounced the corset as the "assassin of the human race...which maltreats their progeny, presages frivolous taste and imminent decadence."

Elastic was a popular device. An elastic corset had appeared in 1804, and, according to the Journal de Dames et des Modes in 1811: "...the old and young disguise the size of the stomach with an elastic belt; faded coquettes support their fallen allurements with an elastic corset...."

In 1811, the author of the Mirror of the Graces, an English commentary of the current state of fashion, described the hip length "pregnant stay," made of jean or silk reinforced with whalebone busks, which was adopted by fashionable mothers-to-be. Another "atrocity" of style, according to the author, was the "divorce," a padded triangle of steel placed between the breasts to separate them and provide the fashionable cleavage.

Though corsets provoked controversy, the wardrobe of an Empire belle would have included other undergarments. The main undergarment was the chemise, a thin, low cut short sleeved sack-like garment, which usually extended to mid-calf. Toward the late Empire, when skirts became slightly fuller, lace trimmed petticoats returned to favor. Pantalettes appeared during this time. They were visible below the hem of the dress, however, and they caused embarrassment to women who wore them, and consequently, did not gain wide popularity. References to their inclusion in the wardrobes of various women do exist though.

In the mornings, women wore camisoles of percale or batiste (a type of light weight cotton) adorned with ribbons, lace and embroidery. In the chamber, while preparing the morning toilette, women wore a peignoir (dressing gown), or a levatine, a robe de chambre made of satin trimmed with blonde lace and tulle, for receiving friends in the bedroom.

By the late empire, plain classical gowns as at right were often embellished with high ruffled lace collars that were attributed to Elizabethian or Spanish influence. Sleeves that were cut open or slashed in a diamond-shaped pattern to reveal undersleeves were also inspired by 16th and 17th century styles. Such styles foreshadowed the Romantic preoccupation with Gothic ornament, and recalled a vogue for Spanish elements in dress that had been part of some 18th century fashions. The bonet was inspired by the tall military shako. This ensemble represents the height of fashion and would have been less accessible to those of modest means.

While corsets and other undergarments were one private aspect of the fashionable woman's wardrobe, another even more personal manifestation of beauty was apparent in the use of cosmetics. During the Napoleonic period, beauty was linked to hygiene and health. A social commentator in 1800 mentioned in an article on the manners of Parisian ladies that soap had become more indispensable than bread to women of fashion. Rouge had been heavily used during the ancien regime, to the disdain of the moralists. Powdered wigs and rouge became associated with aristocracy during the Terror, and too, deemed unhygienic. The towering wigs were lice ridden, and cosmetics contained harmful ingredients, such as lead or mercury.

The ideal of feminine beauty promoted in women's manuals of the new era stressed natural good looks that were a reflection of a healthy lifestyle. Smallpox vaccination could prevent the ravages of that disease, and avoiding venereal disease would also help insure good looks. Clean, evenly spaced teeth were prized, and it was advised that girls who had beautiful teeth at fifteen or sixteen would be more marriageable adults. Brushing the teeth each morning and using toothpicks after meals became a daily ritual among those determined to preserve their attractions. (Josephine had poor teeth, and seldom laughed or smiled without trying to conceal them.)

While women were exhorted by the authors of advice manuals to maintain the healthy, natural look, the discrepancy between the ideal and reality was made apparent in period painting. Early in the Empire, Gerard's (a contemporary of David) painting Psyche et l'Amour brought the pallid look into vogue and, those without the desired white skin used various whiting lotions, paint, pearl powder or enamel. Portraits such as those of Mme and Mlle. Riviere by J. D. Ingres also attest to the use of rouge during the Empire. The British who always cited the French as the most egregious example of immodest excesses, referred to the French proclivity for face painting.

Complaints leveled against Empire women seemed to echo those previously stated against their 18th Century predecessors. An English gentleman of 1784 commented at length on the face painting practiced by French women, but excused the custom on the grounds that French women painted audaciously with no attempt to deceive the unwary male. Painting without "malice aforethought" was morally acceptable to him since he believed that French women had inferior complexions. In 1811, an anonymous "Lady of Distinction" penned a little book entitled Mirror of the Graces to instruct English women on the art of beauty.

She scathingly decried the French method of applying rouge: "French women, in general and those who imitate them daub it on from the bottom of the side of the face up to the very eye, even till it meets the lower eyelash, and creeps all over the temples. This is a hideous practice. It is obvious that it must produce deformity instead of beauty, and as I said before, would metamorphose the gentlest-looking fair Herse into a fierce Meduse."

While the use of make-up sparked disapproval and was discouraged, it was used by Imperial women including the Empress Josephine and Napoleon's sister Pauline. While Josephine remained secretive about her cosmetics, the extravagant Pauline requested that even upon her death, her face be powdered and rouged.

Although cosmetics became widely used in the Empire, women showed interest in more than just their faces. As the French Court established itself as the center of opulent finery, lavish and more complicated gowns returned to style. There was much variety in fashion during the Empire, and while gowns retained their simple straight lines, more sumptuous fabrics and ornate trimmings became the hallmark of haute couture. Napoleon's desire to stimulate the native French textile industry also brought silks and satins into use, as well as lace edging and embroidery.