Elsie de Wolfe

Elsie de Wolfe
Elsie de Wolfe in The Shades of Night (1901)
Born	(1859-12-20)December 20, 1859?
Died	July 12, 1950(1950-07-12) (aged 90)
Occupation	Actress, interior decorator, author

Elsie de Wolfe, also known as Lady Mendl, (December 20, 1859? – July 12, 1950) was an American actress, interior decorator, nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste, and a prominent figure in New York, Paris, and London society. According to The New Yorker, "Interior design as a profession was invented by Elsie de Wolfe," although the praise is not strictly true. De Wolfe was certainly the most famous name in the field until the 1930s, but the profession of interior decorator/designer was recognized as a promising one as early as 1900, five years before she received her first official commission, The Colony Club in New York. During her married life (from 1926 until her death in 1950) the press often referred to her as Lady Mendl. She was born in New York City and died at Versailles, France.

In the 18th century, interior decoration was the purview of upholsterers, (who sold fabrics and furniture), and architects, (who employed a variety of craftsmen and artisans to complete interior design schemes for clients). By the late 19th century, the skills of designers such as Candace Wheeler and design firms like the Herter Brothers were well known.

While Elsie de Wolfe was not the first interior decorator, she reaped maximum publicity through her social and commercial contacts, becoming the field's most famed practitioner of the early 20th century. Among de Wolfe's distinguished clients were Amy Vanderbilt, Anne Morgan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Henry Clay and Adelaide Frick. She transformed the interiors of wealthy homes from dark wood, heavily curtained palaces into light, intimate spaces featuring fresh colors and a reliance on 18th-century French furniture and accessories.

In her autobiography, de Wolfe — born Ella Anderson de Wolfe and the only daughter of a Canadian-born doctor —called herself a "rebel in an ugly world." Her sensitivity to style and color was acute from childhood. Arriving home from school one day, she found her parents had redecorated the drawing-room: