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XII
SITTING-ROOM AND BOUDOIR
I N  some strange way the word boudoir has lost its
proper significance. People generally think of
it as a highfalutin' name for the bedroom, or for
a dressing-room, whereas really a proper boudoir is
the small personal sitting-room of a woman of many
interests. It began in old France as the private sit-
ting-room of the mistress of the house, a part of the
bedroom suite, and it has evolved into a sort of office
de luxe where the house mistress spends her precious
mornings, plans the routine of her household for the
day, writes her letters, interviews her servants, and so
forth. The boudoir has a certain suggestion of inti-
macy because it is a personal and not a general room,
but while it may be used as a lounging-place occasion-
ally, it is also a thoroughly dignified room where a
woman may receive her chosen friends when she
pleases. Nothing more ridiculous has ever happened
than the vogue of the so-called "boudoir cap," which
is really suited only to one's bedroom or dressing-
room. Such misnomers lead to a mistaken idea of
the real meaning of the word.
Some of the Eighteenth Century boudoirs were ex-
tremely small. I recall one charming little room in
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