.. Empress Josephine of France. From the days of the French Revolution starting in 1793, until 1815 when Napoleon was overthrown and exiled, Josephine ruled the world of “little white dresses” as they became more embellished through 3 stages of Regency fashion.
While Regency would continue until about 1828, there was a “gap in fashion leadership” from 1815 to about 1840 when the next key woman would emerge to lead the next 60 years.
(Portrait: left: Napoleon’s sister Caroline; center: Josephine; right: Marie Louise who would replace Josephine as a “not particularly fashionable” empress when she became Napoleon’s 2nd wife)