Dress

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Empire fashion waist was just under the bust, truncating the torso. Quilted corsets with side boning and a long center-front busk reinforced the columnar silhouette. As the shoulders are held back, the bust seemed even higher.

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