"You would give me such unbelievable pleasure, as I know from experience how greatly the general public appreciates the exhibiting of fashions of the past", Carla de Jonge wrote this in a letter requesting the loan of this exquisite empire dress in 1924. The dress was given pride of place in the museum display cases and also enhanced 'An evening meal at the time of Louis Napoleon' during the very popular touring exhibition The Costumes of our Ancestors in 1936. The court of King Louis Napoleon at the Palace on the Dam in Amsterdam was run since 1808 according to royal French regulation as far as fashion and manners were concerned. One of the sources of inspiration for this kind of etiquette was the fashion journal Elegantia, the Dutch equivalent of the Journal des Dames et des Modes. A luxurious evening gown such as this one was known at the time as a 'golden rain' gown. The refined, diamond shaped decoration, consisting of overlapping gold coloured sequins, gives the evening gown an almost regal allure: 'Dutch' court dress with a French cut. The dress has been restored specially for this exhibition and is on view again for the first time in many years. The combination of gold thread and sequins sewn on to delicate silk crepe means that it will always be a very fragile garment.