Marie Antoinette's days began with her own semi-public rising ceremony that paralleled the king's lever.

Upon waking up around eight, she would be handed a dressing gown, and then take breakfast (little but coffee or hot chocolate) either in bed or at a small table nearby. Some mornings, a tub would be rolled into the room for her to bathe in while wearing a flannel gown; after getting out, she would be dried off and dressed in another shift and dressing gown. Either way, she would get back in bed to read or embroider for a while; at this point more people were admitted to the room, like her doctor and surgeon, the king's doctors and surgeons, her private secretary. Eventually, the first femme de chambre would bring in a book full of swatches of fabric matching all of the gowns in the wardrobe, and the queen would stick a pin into the ones that she intended to wear during the day: one court gown for the pre-midday-meal ceremonies, one casual outfit for the afternoon, and one formal gown for the evening. Servants would bring these out wrapped in silk taffeta, as well as a taffeta-covered basket containing a couple of chemises and neck handkerchiefs for the day. Earlier in her reign, the male viewers would leave and individual pieces of clothing would be handed by a servant to the highest-ranking lady present to give to the queen or help the queen into - this could lead to farcical situations if everyone didn't get to the room on time; her waiting-woman Henriette Campan later wrote a memoir that documented one instance where the queen's shift had to be passed from one woman to the next as new ladies and princesses walked in, while Marie Antoinette stood naked in the middle of the floor. However, once Rose Bertin became an important part of the queen's dressing routine, she would retreat to the closet to dress after the toilette described in a bit: the ladies were not enthusiastic about giving the tradeswoman a place of prominence that implied she outranked them. Around noon, the maids who had been with her were replaced by new ones in full court dress, and more people would come into the room (such as the Princes of the blood, captains of the guard, and other officers). The queen would make her full hair-and-makeup toilette at a table brought into the middle of the room, all of her ladies would join her, and then she would set out of her chambers to meet people who were to be presented to her.

At this point, she would meet up with the king for mass, normally a small ceremony. The two would then dine in the "cabinet of the nobility", a room attached to her chambers, with titled nobles holding specific serving appointments and anyone who could make it to Versailles watching, and then split apart again so that Marie Antoinette could change out of her hoops and train and into something more comfortable.

After the early-afternoon dinner (sometimes followed by another dinner with the Duchesse de Polignac, her BFF; perhaps it was necessary, given that the queen was known to have barely touched her food at the public meals), her time was more her own. This was when she might socialize with her ladies, read or be read to, receive more people, embroider, walk around the gardens, etc. Then she would head back to her rooms for yet another change of clothes, into the formal "robe parée" that was appropriate for the supper and card parties which, like dinner, were fairly public. She might then go on to a more private party with close friends, or go out to the opera.

When she was ready for bed, the queen would be undressed in much the same way she'd been dressed in the morning. A basket with her nightclothes (a lace-trimmed shift, loose corsets, and a nightcap) would be brought out, and her clothing taken back to the wardrobe to be meticulously mended, cleaned, and stored. If the king were going to spend the night with her, she would be put to bed first; then he would come in through the door that connected their rooms after his own coucher ceremony that put him into his nightclothes. In the morning, before the full lever, one of the queen's servants would open the door to put him back into the hands of his male staff.