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18th Century Dressing Tables and Dressing Rooms

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Additional Resources

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Vanities: Art of the Dressing Table

Les Toilettes (Serviettes de Toilette, Tabliers de Toilette), L’Art de la Lingerie, Garsult, 1771

Power Breakfast Inspired by a King: The 18th-Century Toilette

An 18th Century Lady’s Toilette: Hours of Leisurely Dressing and Private Affairs

Getting dressed in the 18th century

Designing Women: The Dressing Room In Eighteenth-century English Literature And Culture

Last updated: Jan 5, 2024

The focus here is on illustrations showing the dressing table (or toilet table) and the various accoutrements that could be found on the table – cosmetics, pincushions, patch boxes, hairpins, jewelry, and so on. You can also see how ladies (and some gentlemen) got themselves presentable (and what they were wearing while doing so – women are often shown in a white peignoir or dressing jacket (like V&A T.28-1969), while men sometimes wear a morning gown), as well as looking at how the dressing room itself was furnished and who else was in the room at the time – including hairdressers, barbers, maids, and even milliners who come by to sell goods.

The Galerie des Modes provides an illustration of one such table, along with some commentary:

Without extending here on the origin and antiquity of toilettes, we must confine ourselves to remark that a toilette is now an indispensable piece of furniture for all people; whether they have pretensions or are out of style. There are closed toilettes and dressed ones; the latter are the most excellent and agreeable; the others require less of an appareil.