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From 1938, Janet Flanner profiles Elsie de Wolfe
In 1921, at the pinnacle of her decorating career, Elsie de Wolfe sued one of her clients for neglecting to pay her for seventeen thousand dollars' worth of furniture. De Wolfe had never before set foot in a courtroom, but cross-examination presented no terrors for a woman who, at the age of fifty-six, was plucky enough to perform headstands in public. When the opposing attorney asked whether she had written a certain letter, she replied that she was not a stenographer. When asked whether she had overseen the furniture shipment, she replied that she was not a shipper. "Well," the lawyer asked, "what do you do, Miss ...