Coco Chanel - 1452 Words

People often ask me, When did you first become interested in Coco Chanel? and if Im honest, I was fascinated long before I started researching her biography more than a decade ago, all the way back to my earliest memories in childhood. For there on top of my mothers dressing table stood a bottle of Chanel No. 5, beyond my reach but not out of sight, and I knew from the moment I began to discern its mysterious letters and number that there was something magical to the black-and-white cipher. Im not alone in that discovery -- Chanel has come to represent the essence of everywoman, whether in the scent of her perfume or her choice of bold red lipstick or the perfect little black dress -- but the story of Coco feels somehow entwined with†¦show more content†¦But much else was hidden away, hundreds of miles from Rue Cambon, at Aubazine, a remote 12th-century Cistercian abbey high in the hills of the Corrà ¨ze, where Gabrielle was shaped by the nuns who raised her. Chanel never a dmitted to her years at Aubazine, where she lived from the age of 11 to 18, in an orphanage run by the sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Her father, a feckless peddler always on the run from his family, left his three daughters there after the death of their mother from TB and disappeared forever. The nuns who still live at Aubazine are more concerned with the worship of God than the antecedents of fashion, yet they were kind enough to allow me to visit them, on the understanding that I observed their rules of prayer and silence. Gabrielle came here with her two sisters in February 1895; I arrived at the same time of year, a bitterly cold season, when winter had not yet loosened its grip on the mountains (and I felt lost in the deep despair of a looming divorce). Only a handful of nuns remained, the orphans long since vanished, though their dormitories were untouched, the childrens iron beds lined against whitewashed walls hung with crucifixes. Here I walked, and here I sat, contemplating what it meant to be cast aside, not in the expectation of finding anShow MoreRelatedThe Fame of Coco Chanel629 Words   |  2 Pagesmany women to not eat nor breathe. That’s when Coco Chanel change everything for women, that made her career in the fashion industry go through the roof. Before Coco became an icon in the fashion industry, she was put in an orphanage ever since her dad had left her sister and her. Coco was then raised by nuns, which is where she was taught to sew, a skill will help her to fame. Though her name wasn’t always Coco, her birth name was Gabrielle Chanel. Her nickname came from her first job as a singerRead MoreCoco Chanel1043 Words   |  5 PagesGabrielle Chanel was born in the French town of Saumur on the 19th of August 1883. She was one of 5 children and when her mother died; her father couldn’t manage on his own so the girls went to an orphanage and the boys to work on a farm. Gabrielle s tayed at the orphanage and visited grandparents on holidays until 1900 when she moved in with them. She went to a local convent school with her aunt Adrienne who was almost the same age as Gabrielle, she remained a valued friend. Gabrielle and AdrienneRead MoreCoco Chanel Bibliography1186 Words   |  5 PagesCoco Chanel At the start of the twentieth century, the idea of women in business seemed crazy. In those days, men held all the positions of power and made all the decisions about money. They believed that a woman’s place was in the home, looking after her children, cooking for her family and managing the house. If a woman needed to work she could perhaps find a job in a shop or in a factory, but she had no chance of working as a businesswoman or a banker or a lawyer. Women’s fashions in theRead MoreThe Making of Coco Chanel508 Words   |  2 PagesCoco Chanel was born on the 19th of August in 1883 in Sammur, France her parents giving her the name Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. When Coco was around 12 her mother passed away this provoked her father to abandoned her and her 5 siblings, she and her sisters were sent to a convent for abandoned girls and her brothers were sent to work. The time she spent in the convent was a dark time therefor she didn’t like to speak of but she reflected in some of her pieces as she used the tones and shapes fromRead MoreCoco Chanel and Fashion Essay994 Words   |  4 Pages Coco Chanel, born Gabrielle Bonhuer Chanel, on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France was an amazing woman who redefined fashion as we know it today. She was a clothing designer who revolutionized the fashion industry with her suits, little black dresses, and avant garde flare. Because of this quickly in her young life she became well know , and rose to be the fashion icon that she is today. From the timeless designs that are still popular to this day, and the sophisticated outfits that can be pairedRead MoreJean Patou and Coco Chanel701 Words   |  3 PagesThe 1920s was a period of change and reform in many things ranging from entertainment, consumerism, and fashion. Fashion, one of the greatest changes in the 1920s was influenced by designers such as Coco Chanel, Jean Patou, Clara Bow, also known as the â€Å"It Girl† all influenced fashion for both women and men in the 20s. Previously, women had to behave polite and modestly and had to wear long dresses down to the ankles. But some women started to go past those social boundaries that were set by societyRead MoreGabrielle Bonheur Coco Chanel637 Words   |  2 PagesGabrielle Bonheur â€Å"Coco† Chanel is one of the greatest fashion inventors of all time. In her early life as a child, she was put in an orphanage by her father after her motherâ€℠¢s death. Her father worked as a peddler and didn’t make enough money to take care of her. He barely made enough money to keep himself alive. The nuns of her orphanage taught her how to sew which became a vital know-how for her career later on. To earn money to live on her own, she started a singing career at local clubs in VichyRead MoreInformative Outline About Coco Chanel Essay1033 Words   |  5 PagesCommunication Topic: Coco Chanel General Purpose: To Inform Specific Purpose: By the end of my speech the audience will know better about Coco Chanel. Thesis: Coco Chanel brought the world of high fashion to the masses. Introduction I. Does anyone know what this logo is? A. I am assuming most of women in this room know what this is. B. This is Chanel logo, one of the most famous fashion brand in the world. C. A lot of women know Chanel and they are fascinated of Chanel products, butRead MorePassion Grew into a Worldwide Brand for Coco Chanel623 Words   |  3 PagesCoco Chanel once said, â€Å"Jump out the window if you are the object of passion. Flee it if you feel it. Passion goes, boredom remains.† The creator of classic â€Å"Chanel No. 5† perfume, started off with a small passion of making clothes. This passion grew into a worldwide known brand. Passions are like a little spark and as you keep on working, the spark turns into a flame, which is your path to success, and from a flame a roaring fire is created; the roaring fire that impacts the world. I have a passionRead MoreEssay on The Elegant Life of a Legend: Mademoiselle Coco Chanel2035 Words   |  9 PagesGabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born August 19, 1883 to Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle, a stallholder and a laundrywoman at the time of her birth. Gabrielle was the second daughter born to the Chanelâ€℠¢s. She had five siblings, her two sisters Julie and Antoinette, and her 3 brothers Alphonse, Lucien, and Augustin. Chanel rarely talked about the circumstances of her birth, but she did occasionally mention a train journey that her mother had undertaken just before, in search of the elusive Albert.