decoratrix

From Latin decoratrix, equivalent to decorate +‎ -trix.

decoratrix (plural not attested) (rare)

1. A female decorator.
   • 1864, Chamber's Journal, page 456:

     Even the experienced housekeeper, who had been tirewoman to a duchess in her young days, and who shared the office of decoratrix with Jennings and the French maid, Mademoiselle Coralie, newly hired to supplement Jennings in her duties, and be hated accordingly by that waiting damsel—even the housekeeper declared that it would be painting the lily to alter so much as a ruffle of lace, or an inch of satin ribbon.

   • 1914, The Oil & Colour Trades Journal, volume 45, page 69:

     As female house painters are now being employed at Copenhagen, it is appropriate that the “Moniteur de la Peinture” should depict the decorator—or decoratrix—of the future in the accompanying clever little sketch.

   • 1921, Arts and Decoration, page 254:

     […] , has become the victim of misguided proprietors—the good old word “landlord” it would be inappropriate to use in this connection—who have turned it over for rehabilitation to a “smart” decorator or decoratrix.

   • 1921, Harper's Bazaar, volume 56, page 150:

     Nor is this all; at right angles against the wall, the ingenious decoratrix places a silken panel from which project cylindrical pegs softly padded, scented if the owner wishes, and covered with dainty fabric.

   • 1998, Patrick Mauriès, Your World—and Welcome to it: A Rogue's Gallery of Interior Design, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 59:

     Certified classics are the only objects that gain admittance to these intense and high-strung rooms that are usually the creations of a carefully stylized decoratrix clad in skyscraper heels and a little black dress (with dark glasses to match on days when she is especially tired, which is to say every day).

   • 2005, Keith Irvine, Chippy Irvine, Keith Irvine: A Life in Decoration, →ISBN, page 15:

     One of the firm’s clients was Mrs. Ronald Tree (née Nancy Langhorne, and soon to be Nancy Lancaster), a wealthy American grande dame and dilettante decoratrix, who became frustrated with the length of time Colefax & Fowler spent on her project.

   • 2008, Maxianne Berger, Chemins de désir, voies de plaisir, volume 2, →ISBN, page 65:

     The five-thousand-dollar stall renovations completed in just three days last summer were overseen by Horse Beautiful’s own Martá Ezdurta, the irreverent decoratrix and sly CEO of Charming Barns Forever.

• decoratress