The Fashion History of Coco Chanel

      Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was one of the most influential fashion designers the world has ever known. Coco Chanel was born in Samur, France, in 1883, and had a very tough childhood. In 1895, Chanel's mother died when she was only twelve years old and shortly thereafter, her father left the family. With no one left to care for Coco and her many siblings, they were sent to live in an orphanage until they reached adulthood. Coco Chanel was raised in an orphanage of the roman Catholic monastery of Aubazine, where she learned the trade of a seamstress. When Chanel turned eighteen she left the orphanage and pursued singing. During this time, she preformed in bars in Vichy and Moulins where she earned herself the nickname "Coco." Many say she acquired her nickname from one of the songs she loved to sing. Chanel herself once said that it was a, "shortened version of coquette, the French word for "kept woman."

     Chanel realized that she would not be able to support herself on her modest earnings as a singer and soon afterwards, began designing hats as a hobby. Chanel soon realized she had a passion for design. Chanel's modest career quickly grew once theater actress Gabrielle Dorziat modeled her hats in the popular play, Bel Ami in 1912. A man who admired Chanel, Arthur Edward Capel, provided her with key financial assistance to open up her first boutique in 1913. When her boutique first opened in Deauville, France. it sold luxe casual clothing as well as many hats that could be worn for both leisure and sport. Chanel's designs were simple, practical, and often inspired by menswear. Chanel frequently used a fabric called jersey for its low cost and its ability to drape well.
   
 (I absolutely love the picture below because it just has such a wonderful whimsical feel to it btw: all of the pictures I have used are not creations of my own and may be found at google.com) 

Chanel quickly opened a second boutique in 1915, named Chanel-Biarritz. Her boutique flourished. Many women found themselves drawn to Chanel's clean and uncluttered styles, with their boxy lines and shortened skirts, her unique style permitted women to no longer wear their corsets and freed them for the practical activities that had been made necessary by the war. In 1924, Chanel made an agreement with the Wertheimer brothers, Paul, and Pierre, directors of the famous perfume house Bourgeois, and created the very successful perfume, "Parfums Chanel."

Chanel's personal interests often provided inspiration for her fashion lines. Her clothing often followed her favorite color palette, varying shades of beige, black, and white. Many of her favorite elements from her art collection, and theatrical interests inspired her new designs and collections. Chanel was known for her relentless drive for perfection, every part of her clothing had to be perfect in her eyes. In 1926, Chanel introduced the famous "little black dress" and showed the world how an article of clothing can be used universally and for many different occasions. The concept of a dress that was suitable for both day and evening soon became a staple in Chanel's future clothing lines. Chanel also used bright and colorful fabrics for chiffons for daytime wear. For evening clothing Chanel created clothing that made a sliming silhouette but, the clothing was often embellished with lace, tulle, and decorative pieces to soften and romanticize the ensemble.

Even though Coco Chanel had experienced great success with her clothing and perfume franchise, she closed her boutiques in 1939, when France declared war on Germany. Other shops moved to different countries, but  Chanel stayed in France, and waited to see what the future held for her. Following the end of the war, Chanel realized that she could no longer sit and watch as the other designers created beautiful clothing and found great success. Chanel decided to open her boutiques once more. However, Chanel ran into many difficulties when trying to accomplish this task such as: securing finances, finding new fabrics, hiring a completely new staff, and competeing in the fashion world as the age of seventy against new, young designers. 

Chanel's comeback collection made its debut in 1953. Even though Chanel's collection was not a huge success, she began to work even harder to perfect her clothing. She updated her classic looks, reworking her classic tweed designs until women from all over France desired her new fashion lines. Within three seasons, Chanel had found success and respect in the fashion world once again. The Chanel suit quickly became a status symbol for a new generation of high fashion. The suit was made of lovely solid or tweed fabric, had a slim skirt and collarless jacket trimmed in braid, gold buttons, patch pockets, with gold-colored chain sewn into the hem to ensure it hung properly from the shoulders.

Chanel also reintroduced, with great success over the years, her unique shoes, jewelry, and handbags, along with many new scents of perfume. 

Chanel passed away in 1971 and several of her assistants designed the couture and ready-to-wear lines until Karl Lagerfeld was able to take over as the new head of the company. Lagerfeld lookd to past designs for future inspiration for clothing, as Chanel had done for him. His designs incorporated signature Chanel details including tweed fabrics, gold chains, jersey fabrics, quilt-stitched leather, and the famous "CC" logo.

Lagerfeld's ability to take cues from Chanel's past fashion lines, re-work them, and bring them to life in the twenty-first century continously testifies to the importance of Gabrielle Chanel's contributions to women's fashion all over the world.

A Wonderful Quote

"I don't design clothes, I design dreams."
                                 -Ralph Lauren

This is one of my favorite quotes by one of fashions most influential men. It shows how much fashion means to Ralph Lauren and how it isn't just a job to him but his life's work.

Rework Your Old T-shirts

     Often when going through my closet I find many shirts that I haven't worn in ages, but thankfully there are many easy ways to alter your clothing to make them look brand new and soooo cute! 
   One of my favorite ways to breathe new life into an old T-shirt is to make it a cut off tee. Simply take a pair of scissors and cut all the way across the shirt right below the bust line. Wear with a colored cami underneath your new cut off tee and you are ready to wear your new shirt!
     Another way to spice up a shirt is to cut shapes out of the shirt such as: stars, hearts, or smiley faces or a funky pattern of your own creation. You can either cut your designs on the front of the shirt and wear another shirt beneath it or you can cut your designs in the back and let your skin show through the shirt or if you are feeling very ambitious you can cut designs on both sides of your tee.

1920s Fashion and How it Still Influences Fashion Styles Today

     The 1920's was a prosperous and happy time. Women's fashion was beginning to be influenced heavily by the glamorous clothing used in movies and worn by famous actresses (such as: Greta Garbo and Claudette Colbert). In the early 1920's waistlines were at the waist but were loose and shapeless. Women sometimes wore suits with  long hemlines and somewhat full skirts, often with belts at the waist of the jackets. Both dress and suit bodices were worn loose, even baggy. By 1923, waistlines began to drop between the natural waist and hips. The waistline dropped to the hip in 1924, while styles continues to be baggy and loose. 

     In 1928 hemlines rose up to the knee and dresses were made to be more tightly fitting. These tightly fitting flapper-style dresses were fastened with a continuous lap, usually applied to the left side seam of the dress. Many fasteners such as: hooks and eyes, buttons, or snaps were all used to fasten the lap.
     During the day, neutral grays, browns, and blues were common, but pastels and more lively colors were sometimes worn. At night, women wore a rainbow of colors; prints were quite common, but usually in small checks or figures, or a floral pattern. Wool and cotton were the most commonly used fabrics of the  decade. Because of silk's luxuriousness it was in high demand. However, the limited supply caused it to be rather expensive. "Artificial silk" was soon patented in the U.S. and this new product, named rayon, was soon widely popular. Rayon stockings became popular in the 1920's as a substitute for silk stockings and undergarments.
       Shoes became a noteworthy addition to fashion. They were influenced by many popular dance crazes such as the Charleston, which required a shoe that was tightly fastened with a closed tow and low heel. The most common style of shoes was the single-bar pump that had a pointed toe, high heel, and one tiny covered button. Other popular elements were high tongued, cutaway decorated, crossover, and t-strap heels. 

       During the 1920's men's fashion was rather modest. While at work, men typically wore suits dyed in tones of peach, blue-gray, and cedar were commonly worn. Shaped silk ties with geometric patterns and a black bowler hat completed the look. Wide trousers were commonly worn; some even were as wide as 24 inches at the hem. Black patent-leather shoes were popular at this time and were most commonly worn with formal evening wear. While wearing casual clothing the average 1920's man would sport two-tone shoes in white and tan, or white and black. However, lace-up style shoes were mostly in demand. Knickers were very popular casual wear gentlemen. Golf coats and Norfolk coats were worn with the knickers. These coats had large pockets, a belt, and usually one button. Many of theses designs are still echoed through clothing that is worn even today. Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing this!

An Inspiring Quote

"I don't do fashion, I am fashion."
               - Coco Chanel

I love this quote because I think it is a great representation of how incredibly dedicated and passionate Coco Chanel was about fashion and I hope I can always be just as enthusiastic about fashion and style.