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This Christmas-colored day dress and spencer is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (CI 1979.20ab). The description in The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789-1815, edited by Katell le Bourhis et al. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989) reads: "Day dress and matching spencer of silk taffeta. Probably Neopolitan, c. 1795 ... Reflective of a transitional style, this dress still has the fullness of the round petticoat, but the waistline has risen slightly up the ribcage" (45). I don't like the accessories shown with this dress in the photo: the muff is ratty, but an acceptable color; the cap trim is a terrible color and lacking in any elegance, particularly compared to the elegant fichu and hem embroidery. No women who selected such embroidery would wear a cap as tasteless as the one shown. The hem embroidery, with its pattern of daisies and lace, is quite lovely. |
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