The Empire Line was everywhere in the sixties. It was a style which was inspired by the fashions of the First French Empire, which lasted from 1804 to 1815, which featured a very high waistline, just under the bust, with a long, loose-fitting skirt underneath. This could be very flattering, which is possibly why designers come back to it perennially.  





The popularity of Jane Austen movie and TV adaptations over the last few decades have helped the process enormously. Right is a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1996 movie adaptation of Emma, wearing a good example of an Empire Line dress (which is not a term which would have been used in the 19th Century).






Here is the ultimate fashion influencer of the First Empire, the Empress Josephine, in a 1805 portrait by Pierre- Paul Prud’hon, wearing what we now call an Empire Line dress.

In the sixties designers used the high waistline but with a more fitted skirt, such as in this 1960s knitting pattern from Robin which I picked up recently and which inspired this blog post. Here the Empire Line is used as part of a mini-dress design.




As befits the general theme of Knitters of Yore, before knitting pattern companies used the style, various high-end couture designers put their own, spin on the look. Here is a cocktail dress by Oscar de la Renta from Vogue Spring 1970 on gold and silver brocade. 






And here is a slightly earlier example, a 1958 evening dress by Lanvin-Castillo, in a picture taken from a fashion spread photographed in the Institut de France, where original dresses from the period were displayed. Full marks as well for some very on-point eyeliner.






Tania Mallet, top model and one of the stars of the James Bond film Goldfinger, photographed by John French in December 1963 wearing in empire-line dress by Sambo for Dollyrockers.







From 1969, an Empire Line dress pattern for Vogue Paris by Christian Dior.






And more recently, Jennifer Lawrence at the Vanity Fair Oscars after party in 2024 wearing a 1996 Givenchy couture Empire Line gown designed by John Galliano, presumably inspired by the release of Emma that year.

 

 

 

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