For men by men

Was interior decoration a job for a woman or a man? In the early twentieth century the question of gender was embedded in the professionalization of an enterprise that was still fluidly defined. Drawing together the arts, design, history, manufactures, sales, and several other disciplines, interiors work took place in the home, the department store, and in the studios of artists and architects. Formal schooling was still in its infancy, as were gate-keeping associations. ¹ This fluidity allowed both men and women with a varied range of skills and experience to work as decorators. After World War I, as the market for interior decoration services expanded beyond individual domestic projects, gender and professional status became a vexed topic. ² Some observers, like Candace Wheeler, advocated interior decoration as an artistic profession perfectly suited to women’s domestic backgrounds and inborn talents. By the 1920s, however, those aligned with the male-dominated world of furniture manufacture had begun to question the ability of women to competently manage large-scale interiors work in the public sphere: clubs, restaurants, and office buildings. Now known as “contract interiors,” such commissions often required working for business clients who valued efficiency, good management, and, in some cases, a masculine touch.