But there was worse to come in the form of railroad scion Harry Thaw. Terrified of poverty, fearing her marital options were now limited and somewhat infatuated with “Stanny,” Nesbit became his mistress. “He dominated me by his kindness and by his authority,” Nesbit wrote in her memoir. In the guise of “benefactor,” the 46-year-old married man entertained her in his opulent hideaway – an earthy paradise of “burgundy moiré drapes, overstuffed divans upholstered in crushed crimson velvet and Oriental silk cushions the color of claret and cinnamon.” One night in 1901, he plied the teenager with champagne and raped her. She was his “Botticelli come to life,” writes Uruburu. He was an “aesthetic prophet” who worshipped all forms of artistry. Once Nesbit became a Florodora chorus girl, it was inevitable the reigning beauty and society swell would meet. But he also possessed a dark side – he was a sexual predator who coveted under-aged, cash-strapped chorines.

The genius architect, part of the legendary firm of McKim, Mead and White, was suave and attentive. The first was Stanford White, “the pharaoh of Fifth Avenue.” As her fame grew, so did the wolves at the door. By 16, she was supporting a feckless mother and young brother in New York.

The copper curls and Cupid bow mouth symbolized girlish purity, but the sultry gaze, notes “American Eve” author Paula Uruburu, “suggested an Eve who had already tasted forbidden fruit.”įar from a siren, Nesbit was a lonely, destitute child. Her image was plastered on everything from Coke ads to Vanity Fair. In 1901, the exquisite Evelyn Nesbit was the new century’s “It Girl” and first sex goddess. Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century

American Eve by Paula Uruburu