Believe it or not, the founder of the profession of modern interior decorating wasn’t a gay man. That credit goes to Elsie de Wolfe, a lesbian who bounced back from her mid-life career crisis & was able to make a considerable living out of her fine taste & style.
de Wolfe was raised in Manhattan, educated abroad, & presented at Queen Victoria’s court. After “coming out” into society, de Wolfe lived with her parents & spent her time performing in amateur theatrical productions.
Her father died in 1890 with gambling debts which left the family in poverty. Faced with the prospect of marrying or supporting herself, de Wolfe chose to pursue acting professionally. It couldn’t have been an easy decision, since, at the time, acting was considered a disreputable occupation for women. It was probably the best decision a young lesbian could make.
Her career as an actress was a great success because of her wardrobe. Audiences came to gawk at her up-to-the-minute fashions. Her taste led her from the stage to interior decoration, the profession she more or less invented. She introduced light, airy décor & swept away heavy look of the Victorians.
de Wolfe influenced the rich & famous of London, NYC and Palm Beach, & popular taste as well: newspapers & magazines dispensed her advice, which was collected in to a bestselling & influential book-The House in Good Taste.
She advised Americans to throw out ostentation in favor of simplicity, to do away with the draperies in order to let in the light, to replace deep colors with beige & ivory. De Wolfe: "I believe in plenty of optimism & white paint, comfortable chairs with lights beside them, open fires on the hearth & flowers wherever they 'belong,' mirrors & sunshine in all rooms." The rooms that Americans inhabited in the mid-20th century owed much to de Wolfe's tastes.
Like de Wolfe, Elisabeth (Bessy) Marbury was also a career pioneer. She was one of the first theatrical agents, & her clients included Oscar Wilde & George Bernard Shaw. During Marbury & de Wolfe’s nearly 40 years as a couple, Marbury was initially the main support of the couple. The willowy De Wolfe & the rather masculine Marbury cut a wide path through Manhattan society. Gossip columns dubbed them "the Bachelors."
In 1907, de Wolfe & Marbury became friends with the heiress Anne Morgan, who would be an important part of their lives for the next 20 years. Together the trio undertook the renovation of the Villa Trianon in Versailles, which became a major showcase of de Wolfe's work. They became known as the Versailles Triumvirate, and their every move titillated the press. When they bought apartments in Manhattan's Sutton Place, sparking the rise of the unfashionable neighborhood, the NY gossip magazines buzzed with the news that an "Amazon enclave" had sprung up on the banks of the East River, & intimated that Lesbian assignations were underway there.
Starting at age 40, de Wolfe received her first major commission for Stanford White's Colony Club. She designed the interiors for the famous families of her day: the Fricks, Morgans, Vanderbilts, & Windsors.
In her early 50s, she stopped decorating to become a nurse in World War I in France where she earned the Croix de Guerre.
Deciding that she needed to have a title, de Wolfe married diplomat Sir Charles Mendl. The wedding was front page news in the NY Times, perhaps because since 1892 de Wolfe had been living openly in what most of society accepted as a lesbian relationship, the Times said: "The intended marriage comes as a great surprise to her friends. When in NYC she makes her home with Miss Elizabeth Marbury at 13 Sutton Place."
Shortly after the marriage, de Wolfe scandalized French diplomatic society when she attended a fancy dress ball dressed as a Moulin Rouge dancer & made her entrance turning handsprings. A guest chided her: "Elsie, it is wonderful to be able to turn handsprings at your age. But, after all, you are, you are Charlie's wife, and do you think it is in perfect taste for the wife of a diplomat to perform acrobatics in a ballroom?" She was 61 years old.
The woman who spent her life making things beautiful grew up listening to her mother tell her she was ugly. When she was 70 years old, The Parisian press named her the best dressed woman in the world.
This is why I really love her: de Wolfe had embroidered taffeta pillows bearing the motto: "Never complain, never explain." On first seeing the Parthenon, De Wolfe exclaimed "It's beige—my color!" At her house in France, the Villa Trianon, she had a dog cemetery in which each tombstone read, "The one I loved the best."
She is immortalized in song lyrics pf the era. In Harlem On My Mind by Irving Berlin, the lyrics profess to prefer the "low-down" Harlem ambience to the “high-falutin' flat that Lady Mendl designed."
One of the color schemes she popularized was the inspiration for Cole Porter’s song- That Black & White Baby of Mine with the lyrics: "All she thinks black & white/She even drinks black & white".
But most famously, from the song- Anything Goes by Cole Porter:
When you hear that Lady Mendl, standing up,
Now turns a handspring, landing up-on her toes
Anything Goes!
de Wolfe was raised in Manhattan, educated abroad, & presented at Queen Victoria’s court. After “coming out” into society, de Wolfe lived with her parents & spent her time performing in amateur theatrical productions.
Her father died in 1890 with gambling debts which left the family in poverty. Faced with the prospect of marrying or supporting herself, de Wolfe chose to pursue acting professionally. It couldn’t have been an easy decision, since, at the time, acting was considered a disreputable occupation for women. It was probably the best decision a young lesbian could make.
Her career as an actress was a great success because of her wardrobe. Audiences came to gawk at her up-to-the-minute fashions. Her taste led her from the stage to interior decoration, the profession she more or less invented. She introduced light, airy décor & swept away heavy look of the Victorians.
de Wolfe influenced the rich & famous of London, NYC and Palm Beach, & popular taste as well: newspapers & magazines dispensed her advice, which was collected in to a bestselling & influential book-The House in Good Taste.
She advised Americans to throw out ostentation in favor of simplicity, to do away with the draperies in order to let in the light, to replace deep colors with beige & ivory. De Wolfe: "I believe in plenty of optimism & white paint, comfortable chairs with lights beside them, open fires on the hearth & flowers wherever they 'belong,' mirrors & sunshine in all rooms." The rooms that Americans inhabited in the mid-20th century owed much to de Wolfe's tastes.
Like de Wolfe, Elisabeth (Bessy) Marbury was also a career pioneer. She was one of the first theatrical agents, & her clients included Oscar Wilde & George Bernard Shaw. During Marbury & de Wolfe’s nearly 40 years as a couple, Marbury was initially the main support of the couple. The willowy De Wolfe & the rather masculine Marbury cut a wide path through Manhattan society. Gossip columns dubbed them "the Bachelors."
In 1907, de Wolfe & Marbury became friends with the heiress Anne Morgan, who would be an important part of their lives for the next 20 years. Together the trio undertook the renovation of the Villa Trianon in Versailles, which became a major showcase of de Wolfe's work. They became known as the Versailles Triumvirate, and their every move titillated the press. When they bought apartments in Manhattan's Sutton Place, sparking the rise of the unfashionable neighborhood, the NY gossip magazines buzzed with the news that an "Amazon enclave" had sprung up on the banks of the East River, & intimated that Lesbian assignations were underway there.
Starting at age 40, de Wolfe received her first major commission for Stanford White's Colony Club. She designed the interiors for the famous families of her day: the Fricks, Morgans, Vanderbilts, & Windsors.
In her early 50s, she stopped decorating to become a nurse in World War I in France where she earned the Croix de Guerre.
Deciding that she needed to have a title, de Wolfe married diplomat Sir Charles Mendl. The wedding was front page news in the NY Times, perhaps because since 1892 de Wolfe had been living openly in what most of society accepted as a lesbian relationship, the Times said: "The intended marriage comes as a great surprise to her friends. When in NYC she makes her home with Miss Elizabeth Marbury at 13 Sutton Place."
Shortly after the marriage, de Wolfe scandalized French diplomatic society when she attended a fancy dress ball dressed as a Moulin Rouge dancer & made her entrance turning handsprings. A guest chided her: "Elsie, it is wonderful to be able to turn handsprings at your age. But, after all, you are, you are Charlie's wife, and do you think it is in perfect taste for the wife of a diplomat to perform acrobatics in a ballroom?" She was 61 years old.
The woman who spent her life making things beautiful grew up listening to her mother tell her she was ugly. When she was 70 years old, The Parisian press named her the best dressed woman in the world.
This is why I really love her: de Wolfe had embroidered taffeta pillows bearing the motto: "Never complain, never explain." On first seeing the Parthenon, De Wolfe exclaimed "It's beige—my color!" At her house in France, the Villa Trianon, she had a dog cemetery in which each tombstone read, "The one I loved the best."
She is immortalized in song lyrics pf the era. In Harlem On My Mind by Irving Berlin, the lyrics profess to prefer the "low-down" Harlem ambience to the “high-falutin' flat that Lady Mendl designed."
One of the color schemes she popularized was the inspiration for Cole Porter’s song- That Black & White Baby of Mine with the lyrics: "All she thinks black & white/She even drinks black & white".
But most famously, from the song- Anything Goes by Cole Porter:
When you hear that Lady Mendl, standing up,
Now turns a handspring, landing up-on her toes
Anything Goes!
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