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Dorothy Draper

The anti-minimalist decorator who brought bold color and cabbage roses to the world.

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Dorothy Draper (1889–1969) was an American interior decorator who pioneered the professional interior design business in 1925.[1][2] She created a bold, anti-minimalist style called Modern Baroque, using bright colors, large prints, and dramatic contrasts.[1][3][2] Her design approach, which rejected minimalism, was applied to hotels, restaurants, theaters, department stores, and homes.[4][2]

Life and work

Born into the wealthy Tuckerman family in Tuxedo Park, New York, Draper was educated at home by tutors and attended the Brearley School for two years.[5][6] She married Dr. George Draper in 1912 and began decorating houses they bought and sold, which developed her flair for design.[7][8] Encouraged by friends, she founded the Architectural Clearing House in 1925, considered the first official interior design business.[9][10] Her first major hotel commission was redecorating the Carlyle Hotel in the early 1930s.[11]

During the Depression, she wrote the "Ask Dorothy Draper" column for 70 newspapers and sold over a million yards of her cabbage rose fabric.[12][13] In 1937, she created the Hampshire House lobby with a black-and-white checkerboard floor and neo-Baroque decorations.[14] By painting a row of former tenement buildings black with white trim and adding colored doors, Draper made the area known as Sutton Place desirable.[11][10] After World War II, Draper was hired to redecorate the Greenbrier Hotel; the $4.2 million project used 45,000 yards of fabric and 40,000 gallons of paint.[15][16]

What the cited sources add

The Greenbrier's website states that Draper oversaw every design detail at the resort, from matchboxes to staff uniforms.[17] An Architectural Digest article reports that Draper called the Greenbrier lobby "a Brobdingnagian monster of a bowling alley" before her renovation.[18] The Dorothy Draper & Company history notes she designed interiors for jet planes, automobiles, and cosmetics packaging.[2] The Architectural Digest profile states that interior designer Carleton Varney called Draper "what Chanel was to fashion"[10]

The same profile reports that Draper's secretary Brooke Marshall later became Brooke Astor.[10] A feature describes Draper as "her era's Martha Stewart" and quotes her telling Edward R. Murrow, "We have no respect whether the things are old or not, we just cut anything we want if it looks better"[16]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Peter Osbaldeston, "The Palm Springs Diner's Bible: A Restaurant Guide for Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, la Quinta, Bermuda Dunes, Indio, and Desert Hot Springs", Pelican, 15 Nov (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "History - Dorothy Draper & Company", Dorothy Draper & Company. facts only, no text reused. dorothydraper.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dorothy Draper & Co. - History", Dorothydraper.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dorothy Draper", Hampshire House (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Koncius, "A Pioneer In Pink And Green", The Washington Post, 2006-05-18; Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63; Moonan, "Be Bold, Confident and Larger Than Life (But Never Clash) (But Never Clash)", The New York Times, 2006-05-19 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63; Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63; Moonan, "Be Bold, Confident and Larger Than Life (But Never Clash) (But Never Clash)", The New York Times, 2006-05-19 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Koncius, "A Pioneer In Pink And Green", The Washington Post, 2006-05-18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Collins, "Design Legends: Dorothy Draper Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Collins, "Design Legends: Dorothy Draper Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest; Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Collins, "Design Legends: Dorothy Draper Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest. facts only, no text reused. architecturaldigest.com
  11. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63; Collins, "Design Legends: Dorothy Draper Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest; Collins, "Design Legends: Dorothy Draper Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Depression Class", tribunedigital-chicagotribune; "Depression Class", tribunedigital-chicagotribune; "Depression Class", tribunedigital-chicagotribune; "Depression Class", tribunedigital-chicagotribune; "Depression Class", tribunedigital-chicagotribune (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Owens, "The Surreal Deal", The New York Times, 2006-04-02; Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63; Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Moonan, "Be Bold, Confident and Larger Than Life (But Never Clash) (But Never Clash)", The New York Times, 2006-05-19; Carnes, "Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation But Missed the History Books", Oxford University Press, 2003-09-15, p. 63 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Dorothy Draper" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Greenbrier - Interior Design at The Greenbrier", www.greenbrier.com; "Dorothy Draper's Design Legacy"; "History - Dorothy Draper & Company", Dorothy Draper & Company; "Dorothy Draper's Design Legacy"; "Dorothy Draper's Design Legacy"; Collins, "Design Legends: Dorothy Draper Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest; Koncius, "A Pioneer In Pink And Green", The Washington Post, 2006-05-18 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  16. "Dorothy Draper's Design Legacy". facts only, no text reused. cbsnews.com
  17. "The Greenbrier - Interior Design at The Greenbrier", www.greenbrier.com. facts only, no text reused. greenbrier.com
  18. Beall, "The Greenbrier Architectural Digest", Architectural Digest. facts only, no text reused. architecturaldigest.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dorothy Draper (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In which place was Dorothy Draper born?

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Not quite. The answer is Tuxedo Park, New York, U.S..

2. In what year did Dorothy Draper die?

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Not quite. The answer is 1969.

3. In what year was Dorothy Draper born?

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Not quite. The answer is 1889.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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