What is a high boy chest?

Author: Modesta Becker Jr.  |  Last update: Tuesday, March 3, 2026

A high chest (also known as a highboy) is a low set of wide drawers with another, narrower set of drawers set on top. Highboys were popular in England and in early eighteenth-century America and, like the Dutch-style cupboards known as kasten, were often used for storing clothing and linens.

What is a tall boy chest?

A tallboy is a double chest of drawers, or a wardrobe on a chest of drawers. (In the US, the chest on chests are often referred to as highboys and wardrobe on chests are referred to as tallboys, but the English typically refer to both types of furniture as tallboys).

What is the difference between a tallboy and a highboy?

A tallboy is a piece of furniture incorporating a chest of drawers and a wardrobe on top. A highboy consists of double chest of drawers (a chest-on-chest), with the lower section usually wider than the upper.

What makes a dresser a highboy?

Highboys are unique pieces of furniture that date back to the 17th century. They are made up of two distinct pieces of furniture stacked together, making them up to seven feet tall. The bottom set of drawers was topped with a larger and thinner set of drawers, giving it plenty of storage space.

What is the purpose of a tallboy?

Tallboys are, you guessed it, tall! They're not boys though. They're actually just a taller furniture option for bedroom storage, sometimes also referred to as a Chest of Drawers. That means additional space for you, your clothes and whatever else you need to stash away quickly before guests come over.

Mahogany Highboy Chest on Chest

What is the difference between a tallboy and a chest of drawers?

A tallboy chest is a taller and skinnier version of a standard chest and is traditionally used for small articles of clothing such as lingerie. If you often find you can't fit all your socks and undergarments in a disorganised dresser drawer, a tallboy chest can help you organise these items in separate drawers.

What is a highboy used for?

Highboy dressers exhibit a vertical design, typically comprising of two sections. The lower section, known as the lower chest or “chest-on-chest,” features wider and deeper drawers, providing ample storage for bulkier items.

Why is it called a tall boy?

Why Was It Called a Tallboy? The term came from the French “bois” which means wood - so it quite simply means tall wood furniture! The etymology of wardrobe also has French roots, first appearing in the English language in the 14th century.

What is a gentleman's dresser?

What is a gentleman's chest? A gentleman's chest is so named for its tall cabinet section that offers enough length to hang dress pants, ties, suits, and other hanging clothing. The design features a column of drawers with a large cabinet for hanging clothes beside the drawers.

What is considered a highboy?

A Ford is considered a highboy when it's an F-250 made between 1967-1977.5 with 4WD, requiring a divorced transfer case and resulting in a higher front end for more clearance.

What is a low dresser called?

A lowboy, however, generally refers to a dressing table or console. Today, you might hear the term “lowboy” to describe any low or long dresser, console table, or bedroom vanity that comes up to about waist level.

What is standard highboy height?

Highboy tables or bar height tables, are the same table top with a taller center pole, making them 42″ tall. These are the tables used for cocktail hour to allow guests to stand around with a cocktail or small plate of food.

What is a low boy dresser?

furniture. lowboy, antiquarian term for a small dressing table with four or six legs and two or three drawers, resembling in some ways the lower portion of a highboy (q.v.). Lowboy and highboy were often made to match.

What is the furniture that holds clothes called?

As its name implies, a wardrobe is designed for garment storage. Typically, a wardrobe will house a large space with a hanging rod for shirts, blazers, and slacks, and there may also be shelves or drawers to accommodate socks, ties, scarves, and other clothing items.

What is a high chest measurement?

High bust measurement: Hold your arms relaxed by your sides and measure above the bust, at armpit height.

What do the British call a dresser?

In British English a dresser or a Welsh dresser has shelves in the upper section for storing or displaying tableware. Chests of drawers have traditionally been made and used for storing clothing, especially underwear, socks, and other items not normally hung in or otherwise stored in a closet.

What is a mule dresser?

This unique piece of furniture has a lid that lifts from the top and a drawer or drawers below. A mule chest stands on legs or brackets and off of the floor, and most have locks.

What is an edgy dresser?

Edgy style generally consists of unexpected cuts and silhouettes, unconventional accessories (think boots, hats, jewellery, glasses), or even a bold haircut.

What is tall boy slang for?

A “tallboy” — as a term used to describe oversize beer cans, not a chest of drawers — has been around since at least the mid-1950s, when the once-dominant Schlitz Brewing started selling 16-ouncers.

What is 24 oz beer called?

Silo, or “tallerboy”: 24 ounces.

What do Americans call a chest of drawers?

a piece of furniture with drawers in which you keep things such as clothes. Synonyms. bureau (FURNITURE) US. dresser.

What is the difference between a tallboy and a highboy dresser?

The design of a highboy and a tallboy differs despite being of comparable size. Unlike a highboy, which has two chests of drawers, a tallboy has a wardrobe on top of one. A more compact option are lowboys, which are made entirely of drawers.

What is a dentside?

Dentside Ford Truck

The Dentside Ford has a slightly more rounded front end, and overall, this truck has cleaner lines, including the hood cutline that matches the fender crease. This body design was also used on the short-lived, second-generation Ford Bronco.

Why is it called a highboy?

The name highboy is derived from a corruption of the French bois (“wood”) and became common in English in the late 1600s. The prototype of the highboy was the chest of drawers on a stand with turned legs (i.e., shaped on a lathe). The lower section is usually wider than the upper and has three drawers of the same size.

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