The Neoclassical Period, 1790-1820

After the French Revolution in 1789, the popularity of democratic politics initiated a revival of the simple designs of ancient Greece, the birthplace of democratic thought. Women discarded wide skirts and lavish trimmings for slim lines and overall simplicity. Dresses became little more than plain cotton tubes drawn tight just below the bust by a band of fabric or ribbon.
All eccentric skirt supports were discarded and the stays, now more properly referred to as corsets were longer and leaner, usually made of cotton rather than linen or silk, and were stiffened with a single wooden slat called a busk, inserted into a pocket down the center front.

The hips were held in tightly but the bust was still lifted high by the retention of shoulder straps.

The Romantic Period, 1820-1840

The Romantic Movement arose in Europe as a reaction to the austerity of Neoclassicism and as an expression of the spirit of change that characterized the age.

In fashionable dresses, sleeves and skirts began to expand and the smallness of the wais itself became the focus. This change necessitated the fall of the high waistline to a level below the rib cage.