UK Type Wardrobes

UK Type Wardrobes

Feb 24

The British are famous as the progenitors of the wardrobe to the popular taste through their majestic royal courts where kings required chests for their elaborate robes, while at the same time serving as private banks for precious possessions like gold. It was an essential point in the 18^th century to have wardrobes ready as ‘serve-alls’ for such purposes as a coronation, a wedding, a burial and other Crown functions. According to the Master’s Chamberlayne of the year 1707, a quintessential Wardrobe for kingly and queenly functions stretching for 122 years was planned round the clock detailing how clothing was to be hung, arranged and appropriated with the rest of furnishings like bedsteads, per function. Every piece of livery required for dignitaries of the court were stored in chests, and later in rooms, as the century turned, for the given toilettes of high-class guests.

In the modern context, the British wardrobe has transpired from its humble progenitor, the chest, through the elaborate and heavy Victorian oaken cupboard, to the present post-war double-door, independent enclosure. Unlike the American, this is reserved as a closet, often being synonymous with its room rather than being necessarily appended to the wall. In certain cases however, the built-in wardrobe in the UK tends to be bigger and standing in better relief from that of the other side of the Atlantic that is at once functional and minimalist.

The UK style tends to incorporate a solid type that levels off from the cornice to the ground. The French Wardrobe is annotated with romance, mainly done in elegant tones like ivory; of small dimensions, it features craftsman’s homemade cupboard-styles with a set of drawers at the bottom beneath a double door for hanging attire at the top.