ABSTRACT
The early years of the interior decoration business is often told with a set of stock characters: Elsie de Wolfe, Nancy Lancaster, Syrie Maugham, Dorothy Draper, and others. 1 Providing professional services involving interiors proved a welcoming environment for working women. The dynamics of the interiors business changed dramatically after World War II, when some women, as either interior designers or architects, started working on large commercial projects for firms that were themselves big corporate entities.
