--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She pushed open the door to the…" description: "\"“She pushed open the door to the restaurant. More lunchtime bustle, mostly women in hats with their coats thrown over the backs of chairs, the satiny l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/alice-mcdermott-1961_quote_she-pushed-open-the-door-to-the-restaura_1853201.jpg" --- # She pushed open the door to the restaurant. More lunchtime… ![“She pushed open the door to the restaurant. More lunchtime bustle, mostly women in hats with their coats thrown over the backs of chairs, the satiny linings and the fur collars and cuffs, the perfume and the elegant curves of the women’s backs as they leaned forward across the small tables, all…” quote by Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/alice-mcdermott-1961_quote_she-pushed-open-the-door-to-the-restaura_1853201.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/alice-mcdermott-1961_quote_she-pushed-open-the-door-to-the-restaura_1853201.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da6/alice-mcdermott-1961_quote_she-pushed-open-the-door-to-the-restaura_1853201.jpg) > ““She pushed open the door to the restaurant. More lunchtime bustle, mostly women in hats with their coats thrown over the backs of chairs, the satiny linings and the fur collars and cuffs, the perfume and the elegant curves of the women’s backs as they leaned forward across the small tables, all giving the hint of a boudoir to the busy place. She”” [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The scene captures a bustling, stylish lunch setting where women’s fashion and poise create a sensual, almost private atmosphere within a public space. **In simple terms:** A lively restaurant scene highlights women’s elegant style and subtle intimacy. Key Takeaway Notice how surroundings shape perception of people. Themes fashion social observation intimacy public vs private atmosphere Mood observational intimate nostalgic Type literary descriptive scene‑setting When to use this quote - dining out - fashion critique - social gathering - observational writing Key Concepts gender dynamics social performance visual detail Questions to Reflect On - How does setting influence our view of others? - What assumptions arise from focusing on appearance? A Different Perspective The description may idealize or stereotype women’s appearance, overlooking deeper individuality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boudoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boudoir/) ## Related quotes > [ Everything I say about \[writing\] battles applies equally well in the boudoir. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-humphreys/everything-i-say-about-writing-battles-applies-equally-well-in-the/) Chris Humphreys > [Covering a historic event is perfectly legitimate. It's not sneaking into somebody's boudoir... These people belong to history, and not to record that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-erwitt/covering-a-historic-event-is-perfectly-legitimate-it-s-not-sneaking/) [Elliott Erwitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-erwitt/) > [A girl never can predict who might wander into her boudoir during a bubble bath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/a-girl-never-can-predict-who-might-wander-into-her-boudoir-during-a/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [“So it's happened. I close my eyes again, and blank out the boudoir. Instead the image of himm standing next to me inthe garden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie-matthews/so-it-s-happened-i-close-my-eyes-again-and-blank-out-the-boudoir/) Sadie Matthews > [In Paris, the greatest expression of personal satisfaction known to man is the smirk on the face of a male, highly pleased with himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-paris-the-greatest-expression-of-personal-satisfaction-known-to/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/as-she-sallied-forth-from-her-boudoir-you-would-never-have-guessed/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [It was a woman's bedroom, actually a boudoir, and no man belonged in it except by invitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-winsor/it-was-a-woman-s-bedroom-actually-a-boudoir-and-no-man-belonged-in-it/) [Kathleen Winsor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-winsor/) > [It is extremely difficult to say how long the process actually took to finally achieve my fragrance, Boudoir, because there was a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/it-is-extremely-difficult-to-say-how-long-the-process-actually-took/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [The logic: Reading is a private pursuit, one that often takes place behind closed doors. A young lady might retreat with a book, might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/the-logic-reading-is-a-private-pursuit-one-that-often-takes-place/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [Oh yes, I dated Orson Welles. We had many encounters on both coasts. I remember the first time he saw me in a boudoir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maila-nurmi/oh-yes-i-dated-orson-welles-we-had-many-encounters-on-both-coasts-i/) Maila Nurmi > [Woman is shut up in a kitchen or in a boudoir, and astonishment is expressed that her horizon is limited. Her wings are clipped,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/woman-is-shut-up-in-a-kitchen-or-in-a-boudoir-and-astonishment-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“...my mother took a younger man as a lover. They spent all day in her boudoir, festering in each other's company.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tash-aw/my-mother-took-a-younger-man-as-a-lover-they-spent-all-day-in-her/) [Tash Aw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tash-aw/) > [I once went to the Mayfair club Annabel's and the best thing about it was the Ladies. Perfumed air, exotic wallpaper, full-length mirrors -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-reid/i-once-went-to-the-mayfair-club-annabel-s-and-the-best-thing-about-it/) [Susanna Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-reid/) > [Didn't love, like a plant from India, require a prepared soil, a particular temperature? Sighs in the moonlight, long embraces, tears flowing over hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/didn-t-love-like-a-plant-from-india-require-a-prepared-soil-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [Working-girls, in pairs and groups and swarms, loitered by these windows, choosing their future boudoirs from some resplendent display which included even a man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/working-girls-in-pairs-and-groups-and-swarms-loitered-by-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) ## More by Alice McDermott > [“Some vestige of his race or of his sex made him think, whenever he looked out across the ocean: As it was before me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/some-vestige-of-his-race-or-of-his-sex-made-him-think-whenever-he/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“If you want to see how far we have not come from the cave and the woods, from the lonely and dangerous days of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/if-you-want-to-see-how-far-we-have-not-come-from-the-cave-and-the/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“John Keane pressed his chest to the steering wheel as he put the key in the ignition, taking a deep breath as he did,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/john-keane-pressed-his-chest-to-the-steering-wheel-as-he-put-the-key/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“The fourth contraction seized her and suddenly she was perspiring. She heard herself cry out and then she heard the children’s voices like sparks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/the-fourth-contraction-seized-her-and-suddenly-she-was-perspiring-she/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“THE TINY SPIDERS that lived in the higher branches of the downed tree (which now meant the branches that lay on the other side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/the-tiny-spiders-that-lived-in-the-higher-branches-of-the-downed-tree/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [What makes a sentence, a phrase, a moment, or a scene delightful? Something about recognizing the truth in it, hearing the music in it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/what-makes-a-sentence-a-phrase-a-moment-or-a-scene-delightful/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Michael had slipped beyond the crest of the dune. Jacob was lying flat out now, on his stomach, his little men all before him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/michael-had-slipped-beyond-the-crest-of-the-dune-jacob-was-lying-flat/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“The wind,” Mary said again. “It was making everyone tear up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/the-wind-mary-said-again-it-was-making-everyone-tear-up/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Not a soul,” Mary Keane said to her husband, the wind lifting her words, tossing them gently back over her shoulder, the way it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/not-a-soul-mary-keane-said-to-her-husband-the-wind-lifting-her-words/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“There wasn’t a tear to be seen on the faces of the men and women in the street as the two of them walked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/there-wasn-t-a-tear-to-be-seen-on-the-faces-of-the-men-and-women-in/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“His love for his children bore down on his heart with the weight of three heavy stones. There were all his unnamed fears for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/his-love-for-his-children-bore-down-on-his-heart-with-the-weight-of/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Mr. Persichetti knew that six weeks before its time and with a good thirty-minute ride to the hospital once the ambulance came (would it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/mr-persichetti-knew-that-six-weeks-before-its-time-and-with-a-good/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Mike Shea became a medic during the war and was now married, working for Pfizer. To this day he can’t look at her straight.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/mike-shea-became-a-medic-during-the-war-and-was-now-married-working/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [As a writer, I'm too busy and worried to experience the delight while composing my own work, although, of course, I hope a reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/as-a-writer-i-m-too-busy-and-worried-to-experience-the-delight-while/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [“Why not?” but without conviction, confirming for them both that this was a sudden impulse that most likely would not last out the afternoon.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/why-not-but-without-conviction-confirming-for-them-both-that-this-was/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) [Explore all 194 Alice McDermott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) ## More Boudoir quotes > [ Everything I say about \[writing\] battles applies equally well in the boudoir. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-humphreys/everything-i-say-about-writing-battles-applies-equally-well-in-the/) Chris Humphreys > [Didn't love, like a plant from India, require a prepared soil, a particular temperature? Sighs in the moonlight, long embraces, tears flowing over hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/didn-t-love-like-a-plant-from-india-require-a-prepared-soil-a/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [I once went to the Mayfair club Annabel's and the best thing about it was the Ladies. Perfumed air, exotic wallpaper, full-length mirrors -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-reid/i-once-went-to-the-mayfair-club-annabel-s-and-the-best-thing-about-it/) [Susanna Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-reid/) > [“...my mother took a younger man as a lover. They spent all day in her boudoir, festering in each other's company.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tash-aw/my-mother-took-a-younger-man-as-a-lover-they-spent-all-day-in-her/) [Tash Aw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tash-aw/) > [Woman is shut up in a kitchen or in a boudoir, and astonishment is expressed that her horizon is limited. Her wings are clipped,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/woman-is-shut-up-in-a-kitchen-or-in-a-boudoir-and-astonishment-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Oh yes, I dated Orson Welles. We had many encounters on both coasts. I remember the first time he saw me in a boudoir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maila-nurmi/oh-yes-i-dated-orson-welles-we-had-many-encounters-on-both-coasts-i/) Maila Nurmi > [The logic: Reading is a private pursuit, one that often takes place behind closed doors. A young lady might retreat with a book, might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/the-logic-reading-is-a-private-pursuit-one-that-often-takes-place/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [It is extremely difficult to say how long the process actually took to finally achieve my fragrance, Boudoir, because there was a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-westwood/it-is-extremely-difficult-to-say-how-long-the-process-actually-took/) [Vivienne Westwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-westwood/) > [It was a woman's bedroom, actually a boudoir, and no man belonged in it except by invitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-winsor/it-was-a-woman-s-bedroom-actually-a-boudoir-and-no-man-belonged-in-it/) [Kathleen Winsor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-winsor/) > [As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/as-she-sallied-forth-from-her-boudoir-you-would-never-have-guessed/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [In Paris, the greatest expression of personal satisfaction known to man is the smirk on the face of a male, highly pleased with himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-paris-the-greatest-expression-of-personal-satisfaction-known-to/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“So it's happened. I close my eyes again, and blank out the boudoir. Instead the image of himm standing next to me inthe garden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadie-matthews/so-it-s-happened-i-close-my-eyes-again-and-blank-out-the-boudoir/) Sadie Matthews > [A girl never can predict who might wander into her boudoir during a bubble bath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burnham-schwartz/a-girl-never-can-predict-who-might-wander-into-her-boudoir-during-a/) [John Burnham Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burnham-schwartz/) > [Covering a historic event is perfectly legitimate. It's not sneaking into somebody's boudoir... These people belong to history, and not to record that if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-erwitt/covering-a-historic-event-is-perfectly-legitimate-it-s-not-sneaking/) [Elliott Erwitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-erwitt/) > [Working-girls, in pairs and groups and swarms, loitered by these windows, choosing their future boudoirs from some resplendent display which included even a man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/working-girls-in-pairs-and-groups-and-swarms-loitered-by-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) [Browse all 17 Boudoir quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boudoir/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“She pushed open the door to the restaurant. 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