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CHAPTER XXXI
TREATMENT OF A WOMAN'S DRESSING-ROOM
Every house, or flat, which is at all pretentious, should arrange a
Vanity Room for the use of guests, in which there are full-length
mirrors, a completely equipped dressing-table with every conceivable
article to assist a lady in making her toilet, slipper-chairs and
chairs to rest in, and a completely equipped lavatory adjoining.
The woman who takes her personal appearance seriously, just as any
artist takes her art (and when dressing is not an art it is not worth
discussion) can have her dressing-room so arranged with mirrors, black
walls and strong, cleverly reflected, electric lights, that she stands
out with a cleancut outline, like a cameo, the minutest detail of her
toilet disclosed. With such a dressing-room, it is quite impossible to
suffer at the hands of a careless maid, and one can use the black
walls as a background for vivid chair covers, sofa cushions and lamp
shades.
Off this dressing-room should be another, given over to clothes, with
closets equipped with hooks and shelves, glass cabinets for shoes and
slippers, and the "show-case" for jewels to be placed in by the maid
that the owner may make her selection.
At the time of the Louis, knights and courtiers had large rooms
devoted to the care and display of their wardrobes, and even to-day
there are men who are serious connoisseurs in the art of clothes.
PLATE XXVII
Interior decoration not infrequently leads to a desire to chic
the appearance of one's "out-of-doors." We give an example of a
perfectly commonplace barn made interesting by adding green
latticework, a small iron balcony, ornamental gate and setting
out a few decorative evergreens. Behold a transformation!
A commonplace Barn Made Interesting
The dressing-table should be constructed of material in harmony with
the rest of your furniture. It may be of mahogany, walnut, rose wood,
satin wood, or some painted variety, or, as is the fashion now, made
of silk,—a seventeenth and eighteenth century style (in vogue during
the time of the Louis). These are made of taffeta with lace covers on
top, and in outline are exactly like the simple dotted-swiss
dressing-tables with which every one is familiar,—the usual variety,
so easily made by placing a wooden packing box on its side. In this
case have your carpenter put shelves inside for boots, shoes and
slippers. The entire top is covered with felt or flannel, over
which is stretched silk or sateen, in any colour which may harmonise
with the room. A flounce, as deep as the box is high, is made of the
same material as the top, and tacked to the edges of the table-top.
Cover the whole with dotted or plain swiss. A piece of glass, cut to
exactly fit the top of the table, is a practical precaution. A large
mirror, hung above yet resting on the table, is canopied in the old
style, with the same material with which you cover your
dressing-table.
If the table is made of the beautiful taffeta, now so popular for this
purpose, as well as for curtains, it is, of course, not covered with
swiss or lace, except the top, on which is used a fine, hand-made
cover, of real lace and hand embroidery, in soft creams,—cream from
age, or a judicious bath in weak tea. The glass top laid over this
cover protects the lace.
If the table has drawers, each can be neatly covered with the taffeta,
as can the frame of any table. A good, up-to-date cabinet-maker
understands this work as so much of it is now done.
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