An innovative designer, he adapted 19th-century dress to make it more suited to everyday life, with some changes said to be at the request of his most prestigious client Empress Eugénie.

Charles' father was a solicitor – described as "dissolute" – and left his family in 1836 after ruining its finances, leaving his mother impoverished and without financial support.

Eventually, Gagelin granted Worth permission to open a dress department, his first official entrance into the dressmaking world.

[10] His obituary, written by a Paris correspondent for The Times explained this comment in somewhat more detail, saying that he was refused a share in the Gagelin business, even though he had extended its activities into making up, rather than just selling, garments.

[1] Success came fast from this point on; in 1860 a ball dress Worth designed for Princess de Metternich was admired by Empress Eugénie, who asked for the dressmaker's name and demanded to see him the next day.

[12] This was work that required painstaking attention to detail, finesse and craftsmanship: a Worth bodice might have up to 17 pieces of material to ensure a good fit on its wearer.

[18] Worth became Empress Eugénie's official dressmaker and ensured the majority of her orders for extravagant evening wear, court dresses, and masquerade costumes.

[6] Alongside high society, the House of Worth also produced garments for popular stars such as Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry and Jenny Lind – who shopped there for both performance and private wear.

[10] The most famous surviving portrait of Charles Frederick Worth shows him wearing a hat, fur-trimmed cape and cravat.

A contemporaneous account from a visitor to the home of "the Napoleon of costumiers" in 1874 described Worth's entrance to meet his party in: "a flowing grey robe that fell to his heels, lined with pale yellow, with a deep vest to match, and numerous other overlapping appliances that modified and gave elegance to a costume as unique as it was comfortable".

The visitor, who described Worth as "not a bit 'Frenchy'", also noted that he was of medium height, strongly but not stoutly built with a dark moustache and had the appearance of a man who lived temperately.

He created unique pieces for his most important customers, but also prepared a variety of designs, showcased by live models, that could then be tailored to the client's requirements in his workshop.

It had grown increasingly large in size, making it difficult for women to manage even the most basic activities, such as walking through doors, sitting, caring for their children, or holding hands.

Worth wanted to design a more practical silhouette for women, so he made the crinoline more narrow and gravitated the largest part to the back, freeing up a woman's front and sides.

[21] Eventually, Worth abandoned the crinoline altogether, creating a straight gown shape without a defined waist that became known as the princess line.

[9] Worth found alternative sources of revenue in British and American customers and also turned his attention to encouraging the struggling French silk industry.

[1] By the late 1880s, Worth had established characteristics of a modern couture house – twice annual seasonal collections and brand extensions through the franchising of patterns and fashion plates.

[26] This was a claim disputed in British society magazine Queen, which put his rise to prosperity down to perseverance, intelligence and industry; this article was later reprinted in the San Francisco Call.

[26] Although he was not in day-to-day control of House of Worth, he remained an active presence; his obituary in The Times noted that he had turned over the business some years earlier but: "he was to the last a constant frequenter of the establishment".

The gardens contained statuary and stones retrieved from Tuileries Palace (former home of his foremost patron Empress Eugénie) that were about to be incorporated into a new hothouse.

[19] Charles Frederick Worth's funeral was held at the Protestant Church in the Avenue de la Grande Armée.

By 1897, clients could order a garment by phone, by mail, or by visiting one of Worth's branch stores in London, Cannes, or Biarritz.

[1] While Worth's obituary in The Times described him as a "dressmaker", he developed a framework for making and marketing clothes that shaped the haute couture industry that followed.

A biography for Museum of the City of New York notes: "Before Worth, the idea of a dress being recognizably the work of its creator didn't exist".