Shawl

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Empire style favored the cotton or mull dress, often sheer and invariably light in weight. In order for this garment to serve year-round, it had to be modified by layering. The popularity of the Kashmir shawl--and its European and Scottish copies--in the early years of the nineteenth century not only preserved decorum with these delicate dresses, but also protected the wearers from chill weather.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art