Actually, this whole business of having maids dressoneself goes back to the days of high court etiquette under the Bourbons at Versailles and the Habsburgs in Vienna.
It was an actual state occaision togo to bed [coucher] and wake & bathe [levee] assisted not by maids, but by noble ladies "granted" the privilage. It was a grave matter of rank & privilage, the queen's underwear going through a whole line of noble ladies while she stood there freezing! This was done "in public" i.e. the state bedroom, access to watch being by rank or bribe.
It was actually a bit of a joke, as normally, after "officially" retireing, the queen [or king] would move from the hyge, cabopied state bed to more comfy quartes.
I understand this was all a way to keep the troublesome nobles at court and from causing trouble. By the time this evolved to our "era' these tasks had been relegated to maids & valets. Performing the same functions in "stead" of whomever had the actual "right" to do it. Obviously it was cumbersome & time consuming way to get some sleep. Also, remember even at this period, bathing was still not really an everyday occurence for most people. {I could see why not in the old days} Alexandra's generation had pretty much dropped all this, but the titles remained, mistress of this & that. As in any age though, the sticklers for "tradition" would protest.
Communal bathing, at least among men, was not only common, but often the only way for men to socialize without form & formality. Bath houses were also very traditional.
I do not know about women, but for boys, common showering starts with the first gym class at school in all cases I know of. Especially in team sports. Then [if the route is taken] the military, on to gym as adults. No big deal.
Cheers,
Robert
