Description from Orientalism: Visions of the East in Western Dress. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994. "White mull with allover embroidery with silver tinsel" (35). The description in The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789-1815, edited by Katell le Bourhis et al. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989) reads: "Evening dress of sheer muslin ... embroidered in silver-gilt thread. American, c. 1810 .... The most stylish women in America were drawn to French fashion, even though such dresses as this may have been considered very risqué" (102).
The embroidery on this dress looks today more brown or black than the gold it would have originally been when first sewn. Because we see this dress on a mannequin it is hard to get a sense of its daring, but the space between the breast and a good part of each breast itself is revealed by the very wide v of the neckline. The fabric is very sheer, here shown over several petticoats to make the dress flare out at the hem. If worn over legs, however, more would show even with the petticoats, particularly as the dress swayed with movement.