Tuesday, 19 November 2013

Fashion Fades, Only Style Remains the Same

Very recently I have watched Coco Chanel the movie for the very first time and was really amazed by all the things that Coco (originally Gabrielle) went through and shaped her to the iconic figure she still remains. Today everybody recognises the two famous interlocking ‘C’s as those of the logo for the great Chanel. But unfortunately not everyone knows the great sacrifice that lead to the legacy as we know it today. She was the one who freed the female figure from all the tightness of corsets to more flowing and comfortable clothing. 

Women were of the idea that “Beauty requires a bit of suffering” so that they would please as well as not insult the men. For instance having their ankles completely covered otherwise they would be indecent and look cheap. But on seeing this on her first work place Coco realised that that was not what women actually wanted. Male fashion designers used to be the ones who came up with female fashion garments, in fact, according to the movie, during a polo game Coco had an argument with Paul Poiret regarding this point in which he states to “Let Paul Poiret to determine what a woman wants to wear”, which in response Coco responds with “you mean what you want them to wear, but are you sure that’s the same thing”. This was all because she was going against the norm of that time by wearing a straw hat for something as elegant as a polo game. She was simply following her needs irrespective of what society said.



By also following her needs she was the one who introduced trousers to women which initially it was something only worn by men. The reason behind it was that she was being restrained by the skirt whilst in trousers she could do anything and were more practical.



In one particular scene Coco is showing her hat to Jacques Doucet, a French fashion designer known for his elegant dresses, in hopes that he would use one of her creations in a movie he was designing the clothes for. At one point the “actress” is in front of a mirror with both Doucet’s and Chanel’s woks and on the dress is visible a butterfly. It made me think of another Art Nouveau designer, Rene Lalique’s jewellery. Doucet was strongly influenced by the opulent era but he might have as well encountered works by Lalique in Paris.


Here is showing similarities of the designers’ works. Since it was the era of Art Nouveau, artists were being influenced by nature as well as portraying the female figure. It was not just in relation to ornaments but also enhancing the delicate female figure herself. Such element is brought out in Doucet’s dresses which reflect the elegance, softness and simplicity of a woman’s body, by making use of flimsy translucent materials in superimposing pastel colours.

Later on Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913 with the help of one of the male admirers, who provided financial support and social connections over the course of her career. This lead to another shop opening in Deauville, which was a resort for the elite few. She also made dresses shorter which catered for everyone both rich and poor, the rich didn’t have maids to dress them and the poor needed to work.  There she had dedicated clients who made her sports wear a great success very quickly. This was due to the fact that the people who moved there did not bring maids with them thus the task of wearing corsets and elaborate dresses was much more difficult now and needed something more practical. To shock society even more her garments were made out of jersey, which was an unusual choice of fabric but due to her financial situation it was what she could afford. Before she started using it for her designs jersey was used for male underwear. But even after she had established herself well she continued to make use of jersey due to its qualities which draped well and suited her designs perfectly since they had to be simple and practical.



The shortened skirts, allowed women to leave their corsets behind and freed them for the practical activities made necessary by the war. Elements of these early designs became hallmarks of the Chanel look. Chanel took great pride as a woman in designing for other women, and by 1919, at the age of thirty-two, she enjoyed huge success, with clients around the world. Soon after, she relocated her couture house in Paris to 31 Rue Cambon, which remains the center of operations for the House of Chanel today.

To this day the look of Chanel is one that stands out. The elegance. The simplicity of it all. It is Chanel.



One of Chanel’s famous quotes is “to be irreplaceable one must always be different” and she sure was.

Nothing ever really disappears. After Boy died she designed a little black dress. She went on with her business. Everything was handmade and still is to this day so that everything is perfect. After the war her first collection was a total disaster and was not accepted by society. She was going to lose everything and another company was going to buy her out of her own business but she never gave up. She could lose even more money by breach of contract if she carried on with the second collection, but regardless she didn’t give up and carried on with everything she had in mind. She designed her second collection and brought it to the whole world to see. It was a sensation which lead to the great legacy we know today.

After Chanel’s death her assistants carried on her work with the same idea as she had, looking back at all the works she has created personally. Where her spirit and character will live on forever through her creations and continuity of her ideas and beliefs.





Jessa Krick, 2013. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971) and the House of Chanel  [online] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chnl/hd_chnl.htm  [Accessed on 31st October 2013]

Sainsbury centre. 2005. World Art Collection Exhibitions. [online] Available at: http://www.scva.ac.uk/collections/anderson/index.php?collection=29&collection_object=124 [Accessed on 31st October 2013]

The movie Coco Chanel portrayed by Shirley MacLaine

Design: a concise History by Thomas Hauffe

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