dressing table

The dressing table (also a vanity table or simply a vanity, in Australian English, a duchess) is a table specifically designed for performing one's toilette (dressing, applying makeup and other personal grooming), intended for a bedroom or a boudoir. Terminology The dressing table is one of the examples of a rapid change in terminology. Originally in the 18th century it was called a toilet table, or simply a toilet, occasionally toiletta. However, as the American word "toilet" changed its meaning to describe a toilet bowl and became a vulgarity somewhere in the 19th century, the term dressing table (that was in use earlier as well) had quickly replaced the toilet in the US, while the British, with their lavatory, were able to keep the word "toilet" neutral and to retain the toilet terminology for longer. The word "toilette" comes as a French diminutive form of toile, a cloth that from Medieval times was spread on top of a table prior to using cosmetics. For some time in the 18th century American English contained a spelling variant twilight table. In the US, a term "lowboy" is used to describe a dressing table with multiple drawers made to match a tall chest, tallboy. One of the best visual expressions of a connection between the vanity table and vanitas was made by Charles Allan Gilbert in his All Is Vanity (1892).