21 Facts About Oei Hui-lan

Oei Hui-lan, known as Madame Wellington Koo, was a Chinese-Indonesian international socialite and style icon, and, from late 1926 until 1927, the First Lady of the Republic of China.

Oei Hui-lan was married firstly to British consular agent Beauchamp Caulfield-Stoker, then to the pre-communist Chinese statesman Wellington Koo, and was a daughter and heiress of the colonial Indonesian tycoon Oei Tiong Ham, Majoor der Chinezen.

The couple then spent time in Shanghai, Paris and London where Oei Hui-lan became a celebrated hostess.

Oei Hui-lan was born on 21 December 1889 into a leading Peranakan Chinese family in Semarang, Central Java, then part of the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia.

Oei Hui-lan's effort captivated the audience, and but for the fact that encores were not allowed she would most certainly have been recalled.

Oei Hui-lan was accompanied by her sixteen-year-old niece, Lim Tshoen, from Singapore and her twelve-year-old nephew, Arthur Lim, on piano.

In 1909, in Semarang, Indonesia, Hui-lan married Beauchamp Forde Gordon Caulfield-Stoker, an Anglo-Irishman who was the British consular agent in Semarang, and eventually represented his father-in-law's sugar interests in London.

Oei Hui-lan reveled in the dancing and fashion opportunities provided by London high society.

Oei Hui-lan filed for divorce in 1919, claiming that her husband had refused to introduce her to his family and on grounds of cruelty and misconduct.

Oei Hui-lan followed her husband in 1923 to Beijing, where she supported him in his role as Foreign Minister and Finance Minister of the Republic of China.

Oei Hui-lan recalls in her memoirs that Wallis's only phrase in Mandarin was "boy, pass me the champagne".

The great inheritance from Oei Hui-lan's father ensured that the couple could afford to entertain the beau monde of Paris and London on a scale that was beyond the means of most diplomats.

Oei Hui-lan oversaw the education of her two sons by Koo, Yu-chang Wellington Koo Jr.

In 1941, Oei Hui-lan moved to New York City, where her sons Wellington Koo Jr.

Oei Hui-lan's aim was to use her international connections to persuade the United States to join the war on the Allied side to help China's war effort in Asia.

Oei Hui-lan spent the remainder of her life in New York City.

Oei Hui-lan authored two autobiographies in collaboration, first in 1943 with the society columnist for The Washington Post Mary Van Rensselaer Thayer, then in 1975 with the journalist Isabella Taves.

Oei Hui-lan is widely acknowledged for reinventing the Chinese cheongsam in a way that accentuates and flatters the female figure.

Oei Hui-lan thereby helped modernize, glamorize and popularize what soon became the Chinese female national dress.

Oei Hui-lan was featured several times by Vogue Magazine on its list of best-dressed women in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

Oei Hui-lan was featured as a "woman of style" at China: Through the Looking Glass, an art exhibition curated by Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda, and held to great acclaim in 2015 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.