Elsie de Wolfe (also known as Lady Mendl[1]) (December 20, 1865?[2][3] – July 12, 1950) was an American actress, interior decorator, nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste,[4] 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."[5] During her married life, the press usually referred to her as Lady Mendl.
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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). In the 19th century, the skills of designers such as Candace Wheeler and design firms such as Herter Brothers were well known. De Wolfe reaped publicity and was one of the field's most famed practitioner in the early 20th century, a period that als o saw an increase of interest in interior design in the popular press. Among her clients were Anne Vanderbilt, Anne Morgan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Elizabeth Milbank Anderson (philanthropist) and Adelaide and Henry Clay Frick [14] . She transformed the design of wealthy homes from the dark Victorian style into designs featuring light, fresh colors and a reliance on 18th-century French furniture and reproductions.[3][6][7][8][9]
In her autobiography, de Wolfe—born Ella Anderson de Wolfe and the only daughter of a Canadian-born doctor—calls herself a "rebel in an ugly world." Speaking of herself in the third person, she says that her mother said often that she was ugly, but "just what ugly was she did not know... Now she was to know." Arriving home from school, she found that her parents had redecorated the drawing-room:
Hutton Wilkinson, president of the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation, notes that of course many things that De Wolfe hated, such as "pickle and plum Morris furniture," are prized by museums and designers; he believes that “De Wolfe simply didn’t like Victorian—the high style of her sad childhood—and chose to banish it from her design vocabulary."[11]
De Wolfe appeared with The Amateur Comedy Club in New York City as Lady Clara Seymour in "A Cup of Tea," (April 1886), and as Maude Ashley in "Sunshine," a one act comedy by Fred W. Broughton (December 1886). De Wolfe began her professional career in theatre, making her debut as an actress in Sardou's Thermidor in 1891, playing the rôle of Fabienne with Forbes-Robertson.[12] In 1894 she joined the Empire Stock Company under Charles Frohman. In 1901 she brought out The Way of the World under her own management at the Victoria Theatre, and later she toured the United States with this play.[12] On stage, she was neither a total failure nor a great success; one critic called her “the leading exponent of . . . the peculiar art of wearing good clothes well.”[13] She became interested in interior decorating as a result of staging plays, and in 1903 she left the stage to launch a career as a decorator.[14]
As have been described as the first lady of interior decoration, Elsie De Wolfe was without a doubt the first woman to have created occupation as a designer when none had existed before her. Through her, she introduced some of the most stylish and sophisticated ideas into the American homes that have been seen at that time. Elsie's presence in the design field was very apparent since she was a woman in a nearly exclusively masculine field. Many elements aided her in becoming such an influential woman designer. She had social connections in society, she already had a notable reputation as a designer, and her success in designing the interior of the house that she and close friend, Elisabeth Marbury, shared all helped her become the designer she was.
Elsie De Wolfe, however, was not a designer all of her life. She actually began her career as an Interior Decorator at about the age of 40. Replacing that of which Victorian style was presented, she chooses a more vibrant scheme, along with more comfortable furniture in the home to sit in. Her design was very feminine opposed to the very masculine design that came before it. Her designs were very light with fresh colors and delicate Chinoiserie furnishings, and soft, comfortably upholstered chairs, opposed to the Victorian design of heavy, red velvet drapes and upholstery, dark wood, and intensely patterned wallpapers. In her own words, she said, “I opened the doors and windows of America and let the air and sunshine in.” Her inspiration came from many designers and styles such as the 18th century French and English furnishings. Elsie studied many aspects of the French lifestyle. Taking in the art of entertainment, food, arts, and fashion, she brought those elements into the American society. This was portrayed in her new outlook on art and fashion, and also showed in her designs.[7]
Along with her design being much brighter and softer, it was also much more practical. She eliminated the clutter that used to occupy the Victorian home, which allowed people to entertain more guests comfortably. She introduced a variety of things, including: the cocktail party, comfortable chaise lounges, faux finish treatments, animal prints, delicate writing tables, and other things.
In 1905, Stanford White, the architect for The Colony Club and a longtime friend, helped de Wolfe secure the commission for its interior design. The building, located at 120 Madison Avenue (near 30th Street), became the premier women's social club. It opened in 1907, and its interiors gave her recognition almost over night. Instead of the heavy and masculine style of the day, Elsie used light fabric window coverings, painted the walls with pale colors, tiled the floors, and added wicker chairs. The effect was the illusion of an outdoor garden pavilion with a touch of femininity.[15](It is now occupied by the American Academy of Dramatic Arts) The success of this endeavor was a turning point that launched her on a financially successful career.[3][16]
Over the course of the next 6 years, Elsie designed the interiors of many prestigious homes and clubs on both the East Coast and West Coast. She also did opera boxes, a dormitory, and a model home. By 1913, she had developed her business enough to take up an entire floor of offices on 5th ave., complete with assistants, secretaries and bookkeepers. In 1915, she was commissioned a job by Henrik Clay Frick, one of the richest men in America at the time. Previously he had lived at a chateau in Pennsylvania and while making millions monopolizing the coal industry. Upon his retirement he moved to New York, where he bought a block on 5th ave, along with the building the NY public library had occupied, for around $2.5 million. He demolished the building and hired Thomas Hastings to build a new home for he and his family. Sir Charles Allom, known for his work remodeling Buckingham Palace, was hired to decorate a number of rooms on the first floor of the home, while Elsie was hired to decorate the second floor, which included the sleeping quarters amongst other rooms. Though it is not known exactly how it was that she secured the job with Frick, it is possible that it was because she was known as one the best, if not the best, decorators of the time. Earning commission for every piece of art or furniture she purchased for Frick, Elsie became a very rich woman. She continued to design interior spaces for a long list of prestigious clients and wrote several books and articles. During World War I she volunteered as a nurse in France, and it wasn't until nearly the end of her career that, at the age of 61, she married.
De Wolfe's 1926 marriage to diplomat Sir Charles Mendl was page-one news in the New York Times. Shortly after her marriage, she scandalized French diplomatic society when she attended a fancy-dress ball dressed as a Moulin Rouge dancer and 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?" [17]
The Times said that "the intended marriage comes as a great surprise to her friends," perhaps because since 1892 de Wolfe had been living openly in what many observers accepted as a lesbian relationship. As the Times put it: "When in New York she makes her home with Miss Elizabeth [sic] Marbury at 13 Sutton Place."
The daughter of a prosperous New York lawyer, Elisabeth (Bessy) Marbury, like de Wolfe, was also a career pioneer. She was one of the first theatrical agents, and her clients included Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. During their nearly 40 years together, Marbury was initially the main support of the couple. Dave Von Drehle speaks of "the willowy De Wolfe and the masculine Marbury... cutting a wide path through Manhattan society. Gossips called them "the Bachelors." [14][18][19][20][21]
In 1926 the New York Times described de Wolfe as "one of the most widely known women in New York social life," and in 1935 as "prominent in Paris society." Her morning exercises were famous. In her 1935 autobiography, de Wolfe wrote that her daily regimen at age 70 included yoga, standing on her head, and walking on her hands.[22]
In 1935, Paris experts named her the best-dressed woman in the world, noting that she wore what suited her best, regardless of fashion.[23]
De Wolfe had embroidered taffeta pillows bearing the motto "Never complain, never explain."[24] On first seeing the Parthenon, De Wolfe exclaimed "It's beige—my color!"[3][25][26] At her house in France, the Villa Trianon, she had a dog cemetery in which each tombstone read, "The one I loved the best."[27]
Elsie de Wolfe was also able to transform interiors in the 19th century from Victorian style to a fresh new style. Most of Victorian style featured dark colors and not very much light. de Wolfe used new styles that featured light colors. She appreciated the simplicity in that was involved with light and fresh colors. She did not focus on what all she could fit into the room, but rather what was appropriate to fit into the room. The appreciation for this grew through her practices with yoga. The simplicity that she exerted in her daily life reflected her designs. She tried to unify the room using all the aspects of the room. Tying in the upholstery, to the paint, to the curtains, etc.
Elsie de Wolfe was able to create a name for herself apart from he husband that was often not common during her time. She was able to have publishing in Good House Keeping. This is where women were able to build a name for themselves, as well as begin to create a name for women in the design world. This shows when women start to surface in the design world. She also gets the honor designing the Colony Club. This was the first women's social club in New York.
American Decades opines that "she was probably the first woman to dye her hair blue, to perform handstands to impress her friends, and to cover eighteenth-century footstools in leopard-skin chintzes."[28]
Ludwig Bemelmans,The one I loved the best (1955)