Closets and Wardrobes

[potioncat]

> Geoff: 
> I don't know how serious you are being, Carol, but in UK 
> speak, dresses, shirts and trousers. would go in the wardrobe 
> while socks, underwear and small items would go in drawers. 


Potioncat:
In Colonial America, houses were built without closets because taxes 
on houses were determined by the number of rooms; closets counted as 
rooms. Homes now have closets for each bedroom. Is that true in 
England as well, or do bedrooms generally have a piece of furniture 
(wardrobe) for hanging dresses, shirts and trousers?

Geoff:
> The word "dresser" is a bit old-hat. It might be used if you 
> possess something like a Welsh dresser but they are very 
> out of fashion with modern kitchens having wall-hung 
> cupboards.

Potioncat:
What is a Welsh dresser? Is it like a Wilson cabinet? (Sort of a 
china cabinet.) 

While we don't have dressers in kitchens, we do have them in 
bedrooms. In fact, I don't ever hear chest of drawers anymore. I'm 
not sure what the difference is between a dresser, a chest of drawers 
and a bureau, but I'm not especially domestic. 

We had a Bureau of Medicine in the U.S Navy, but it had nothing to do 
with storing medications.

Geoff:
Closet is, surprisingly, somewhat confined in 
> its use to something you come out of..... Well, not necessarily 
> *you* but you know what I mean.

Potioncat:
So the phrase is the same? (MAD Magazine adds a Wardrobe to their 
series of jokes based on DD, hence the title of the post.)


> Geoff:
> Off at a tangent, I have been amused several times recently 
> when reading material from across the "pond" to find 
> references to the "parlour" being made. This, to English eyes, 
> is very Victorian and labels its user as being incredibly 
> old-fashioned.

Potioncat:
It is here as well. More modern would be the living room. The family 
was often banned from going there because it was for company. I don't 
think houses have them any more. (Living rooms, not company.)