La Femme du Directoire au Ier Empire (in French)

 
From the publishers:
With the French Revolution coming to an end, a breath of fresh air blew through French society, liberating it and its traditions.
 
“Les Merveilleuses”, veritable symbols of the Directory period, demonstrated their infatuation with luxury and their lifestyles through the clothes that they wore. Fashion broke free from previous traditions, as the female form became liberated and a new aesthetic took hold. Immediately afterwards came the Consulate and the Empire, laying the foundations for a new social order that reaffirmed a woman's place at the centre of the household. The light antiquity-style tunics of the Directory were replaced by a sense of “decency”, with Bonaparte demanding that Josephine “cover up”.
 
Fashion once again reflected the social evolution taking place, which included the status of women, hygiene, beauty, luxury, the creative arts, trade and politics – several themes that this study of the female fashion investigates. Richly illustrated with images of models in period-authentic costume, documents and period accessories, this book traces the fashions of the bourgeoisie, the artist, the prostitute, the Merveilleuse and the empress.
 
Note from napoleon.org: a veritable immersion in the world of female fashion during the Directory, Consulate and Empire periods. The lives and costumes of the various different women described (some real and some imaginary), taken from the many different social classes in French society, are authentic and richly detailed. The highly realistic mise en scene of the photos, with the young women dressed up in authentic period costume, renders these fashions resolutely modern and not that different from ours. (E.P.)