Napoleon’s brother, Louis Bonaparte, we already discussed…

.. in great detail because Napoleon made him marry Empress Josephine’s daughter (from another marriage), Hortense.

They were the King and Queen of Holland from 1806-1810, and were married when he was 24.

Fashion was very important to both of them.  The 3 key Regency styles can easily be pointed out through Hortense’s portraits.  In this early portrait, she wears the 1st era plain “little white dress”.

One of the distinguishing differences in Regency was HOW the dress was worn.  1st era had wrap around strings similar to tying a chef’s apron under your bust today.