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Born
Elsie De Wolfe was born in New York, New York, USA on December 20, 1865 -
Growing Up
Elsie was known as "a little fat queen in a black dress and a load of jewels". She was fat and ugly and spent many years in Scotland until she was presented at Quenn Victoria's court and introduced to London society. -
Inspired
Once she returned to New York in 1884 she became a devotee of amateur theatricals, then a popular form of charitable fund-raising. -
First Career
Wolfe's first career choice was an actress. She appeared with The Amateur Comedy Club in New York City as Lady Clara Seymour in "A Cup of Tea," in April 1886 and as Maude Ashley in "Sunshine" in December 1886. -
Fathers Death
Her fathers death in 1890 left her family in odd circumastances and influenced Wolfe to turn to the professional stage. She was assisted in entering the acting world by her close friend, Elisabeth Marbury. -
Success
With her previous films being a success, she was led to a full-time theatrical career, making her professional debut in Sardou's Thermidor in 1891, playing the role of Fabienne with Forbes-Robertson. -
Ending her acting career
In 1901 she intorduced The Way of the World which she managed at the Victoria Theatre. She later toured the United States in the role. While on stage it was said 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'. -
Becoming an Interior Decorator
She became interested in interior decorating as a result of staging plays. The critism was one influence for her to launch a career as a decorator. -
Interior Decorator
During the Victorian period she added warm colors and a bit of eighteenth-century French elegance. She helped convert interiors of dark, heavy draperies and overly ornate furnishings into light, soft, more feminine rooms. She made a feature of mirrors, which both illuminated and expanded living spaces, and brought back fashion furniture painted white or pale colors. -
The Colony Club
A group of powerful New York women named Astor, Harriman, Morgan, Whitney and Marbury, organized the city's first club exclusively for women, the Colony Club. Marbury (Wolfe's long time lover until 1933) got Elsie's commison to do the decoration.She introduced a casual, feminine style with an abundance of glazed chintz, tiled floors, light draperies, pale walls, wicker chairs, clever vanity tables. The Colony opened in 1907. -
The Name of Interior Decorating
She was very successful in interior decorating and was known to have created the occupation. Her social connections, her reputation as an actress and her success in decorating wealthy peoples houses helped her further her career. -
Greatest Commission
Elsie designed interiors for many prestigious private homes, clubs and businesses on both the East and West sides. In 1913, her reputation had grown so much that her studio took up an entire floor of offices on 5th Avenue. That year she received her greatest commission from a very rich man Henry Clay Frick. -
The House of Good Taste
In the mid 1914's Wolfe published her first book "The House of Good Taste". The book consists of interior design with ideas that have lasted a century because they influenced not only the wealthy clients of Park Avenue and Palm Beach, but popular taste as well in the 19th and 20th century. -
Awards
During World War I de Wolfe stayed in France and won the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour for her hospital relief work, particularly among gas-burn cases. -
Married
Wolfe married to Sir Charles Mendl, a British diplomat, in 1926. It was page one news in the New York Times and it was said, "The intended marriage comes as a great surprise to her friends." Seeing as she was known to be openly in a lesbian relationship with Elizabeth Marbury, whom she lived with since 1892. -
Period: to
Well Known
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." -
Best Dressed
Paris experts named her the best-dressed woman in the world, noting that she wore what suited her best, regardless of what the fashion stated. -
Death
After the war Wolfe returned to Villa Trianon, she had a long life and died in Versailles, France on July 12, 1950 at the age of 85.
