Gentleman and Lady in Half Dress – 1807

A woman and man stand in a grove. Drawn during the height of the Napoleonic Empire, this illustration shows the woman and man in empire style. The woman’s empire-waist ‘half dress’ is white with short puffed sleeves, and has green zigzag trimming along the neckline, waist, and hem. The long visor of her poke bonnet shields her face from the viewer as she turns toward the man. Her pink bonnet has a striped headpiece, the visor is trimmed with a white ruffle, and the ties issue from a series of bows down the side of the brim to tie beneath the chin. A fringed rose pink scarf is tied loosely at her neck, and she carries a long yellow shawl edged with fringe and a cross-hatch patterned band.

She wears pendant earrings, long fingerless gloves, and white slippers. The gentleman stands in the background, looking toward the lady. He wears tan breeches, buttoned at the knee and tucked into black tall boots with wide tan tops. His white ruffled shirt has a very high standing collar, reaching his cheeks, with a cravat. The collar of his purple waistcoat mirrors that of his shirt, and it is worn buttoned only at the lower half. He wears a tan, knee-length top coat with a matching high collar and many buttons down the center front, which he wears unbuttoned. His curly hair is short and he wears long sideburns. He holds a black top hat and a walking stick.

Credit: The Claremont Colleges