Costume History and Fashion Legends [essays in English language]

The Legend of Coco. Iron Lady Of Fashion

3/6/2018

First portrait of Gabrielle Chanel with one of her own hats published in the theatre magazine Comoedia Illustre, 1st October 1910

“Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are women inside the dresses. Most women dress for men and want to be admired. But they must also be able to move, to get into a car without bursting their seams! Clothes must have a natural shape.” [6.]
– Coco Chanel

During the 1920's, in particular, Coco Chanel left a lasting mark on women’s fashion and design. Up until the First World War, women’s clothing had been quite restrictive and tended to involve full-length skirts which were impractical for many activities. Coco Chanel helped create women’s clothing that was simpler and more practical. [6.] She also introduced garments for which no one before had even imagined that women would wear them. And they became a legend. This could only be accomplished by an unusually strong personality.
Chanel was known for her lifelong determination, ambition, and energy which she applied to her professional and social life. She both achieved financial success as a businesswoman and catapulted to social prominence in French high society, thanks to the connections she made through her work. These included many artists and craftspeople to whom she became a patron.

Early Years

Portrait of young Gabrielle Chanel in 1910. Source: Google search

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel
(1883 – 1971)

Little is known about the early years of the "Grande Mademoiselle", but it was undoubtedly memories of her childhood which, towards the end of her life, promted Gabrielle Chanel to say, "If you are born without wings, don't stop any from growing". [1.]

Most sources suggest Gabrielle Chanel was born in 1883, though this was a closely guarded fact – with Coco not keen on revealing her birth date. Her mother was unmarried and her upbringing was marked by poverty and uncertainty. Aged 12, her mother died, and her father sent his three daughters including Gabrielle to a convent in Correze. Life in the religious institution was strict and frugal, but she did learn to sew and gain a rudimentary knowledge of creating clothes. [6.]

As a teenager she quickly developed a tough character with a strong independent streak and, once she had left school, she began work as a shop assistant at a hosiers in Moulins. In her spare time, she sang at La Rotonde, a concert hall popular with officers from the regiment stationed nearby. Her repertoire comprised two songs, - "Ko Ko Ri Ko" and "Qui qu'a vu Coco? ". Her admirers were quick to give her a nickname derived from the element common to both. The legend of Coco was born. [1.]
Around 1908, Chanel began an affair with Étienne Balsan, a rich aristocrat. He offered her a life of luxury and leisure. However, Coco soon became tired of the easy life and when Arthur Boy Capel, who was Étienne's best friend and later became her lover, agreed to help her finance a hat shop in Paris, she did not hesitate for a moment. [1.]
This enabled Chanel to become acquainted with many wealthy aristocrats and a different social circle. [6.]
In 1910, Chanel established her workshop in rue Cambon in Paris - the sign outside stated "Chanel, Milliner".

Chanel hat worn by Gabrielle Dorziat, Les Modes, May 1912. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Legend Was Born

Coco Chanel, Deauville in front of first Chanel store, 1913. Source: theredlist.com

Having established her reputation as a milliner, Coco soon introduced her own line of clothing, initially creating a style which did not then exist for women - sportswear. She was seen on the beach, wearing a woollen fisherman's jumper and flowing pleated skirt at a time when knitwear was considered unfashionable. In 1913, she opened her first boutique in Deauville. Soon it became a popular place full of faithful clients. Exactly in Deauville emerged the simple, practical and elegant style of Chanel.
With the outbreak of war in 1914, women had to adapt to new circumstances and Chanel's first loose-cut suit, worn without a corset, was the ideal solution. Two years later, Chanel introduced jersey into the collection, designing a coat which had no belt or decoration and disguised the bust and hips under severe, almost masculine lines. She also created chemise dress - probably, the most iconic creations of 20th century. After Paul Poiret, who had lifted hemlines to reveal the feet, Chanel went further and showed the ankle. [1.]
Once she arrived at the Paris Opera with her hair cut short, and the legend says, that thirty-five thousand salons opened in France a sa result... As soon as she started to wear round-toed shoes, women threw out their pointed, three-starp shoes. She even wore pearls over her sweater and every woman wanted to copy her style. [1.]
It so happened that the greatest discoveries and the stylistic revolution came in the 20's of the 20th century.

The Essentials Of Coco

Suit by Coco Chanel. Photo: Philippe Pottier, 1957. Source: theredlist.com

In 1920's Chanel introduced wide-legged trousers for women. Design was based on sailor's bell bottoms, which Coco called 'yachting pants'. These were followed two years later by wide, generously cut beach pyjamas.
Chanel's personal life brought her into the public eye and increased her influence on fashion during post-World War I years. She herself wore the clothes she had adapted from traditional menswear: belted raincoats, plain open-neck shirts, blazers, cardigans, trousers and soft berets. Gray and navy-blue were her favorite colors but she also created a trend for beige.
Throughout the 1920's Chanel introduced one fashion idea after another. She became the archetypal Garconne who was wearing loose, comfortable clothes and was setting a new short, boyish haircut. She teamed tweed skirts with sweaters and strings of pearls, transformed raincoats into fashion statements, and popularized the 'little black dress'. Numerous innovations of the period included oversized flat black bows, gilt buttons on blazers, sling-back sandals and iconic handbags with gilt chains. [ 2. ]
Chanel had a particularly strong influence on jewelry. During the 1930's she commissioned Fulco Di Verdura to design elaborate costume jewelry using fake and semi-precious stones in ostentatious settings.
However, nothing was as noticeable as a Chanel suit.
The neat Chanel suit always had been her hallmark. During the 1960's it had become a symbol of traditional elegance, worn with a gilt chain bag and a string of pearls.

Chanel's Handbag - 2,55

Gabrielle Chanel at her house La Pausa in the French Riviera with her dog Gogot, 1930

Gabrielle Chanel at her house La Pausa in the French Riviera with her dog Gigot, 1930 Source: theredlist.com

https://eluxemagazine.com/fashion/vintage-advantage-the-chanel-2-55/ Chanel 2,55

During 1920's Coco decided to design a handbag that freed up her hands. Inspired by the straps found on soldier's bags she added thin straps and introduced the final design to the market in 1929.

however, the design of the handbag was repeatedly supplemented.
After a successful comeback to the fashion industry in 1954, Chanel decided to update her previous creation. The updated design of her famous handbag was called 2, 55 after the date of creation, February 1955. For the first time, it was acceptable for women of considerable social status to carry a bag on their shoulders.

The handbag stroke out with some of its significant design details. Handbag's lining is made of burgundy color material. It represents the color of the uniforms at the convent where she grew up. Zipped compartment at the inside of the front lap is the one where Coco (in her original handbag) once stored her love letters. The backside of her bag has a back outside flap for storage of money. The bag originally came out with a front lock called "the Mademoiselle Lock" as a reference to Coco Chanel who never got married. Since handbag's upgrade in the 1980's, other versions can also be supplied with a lock in the shape of a double CC logo. The Chanel's bag has a quilted pattern on the exterior which gives the bag shape and volume. The quilted diamond or herringbone pattern is believed to have been inspired by several sources, such as, jockey's riding coats, by the stained-glass windows of the abbey at Aubazine, as well as by the cushions in Chanel's Paris apartment.

Gabrielle Chanel by Horst P.Horst, Paris, 1937 Source: Google Search

No. 5

Legendary perfume is one of the most important elements which confirms Chanel's creativity. Coco was fond of quoting her friend, french poet Paul Valéry, who said, "A woman without perfume has no future." Coco Chanel wanted to banish the taste for powdery, insipid creations smelling of violets. [1.] Her perfume would be unique, unlike any other.
During the late summer of 1920 Chanel went on holiday on the Cote d'Azur with her lover the Grand Duke Dimtri Pavlovich. There she learned of a perfumer, a sophisticated and well-read character called Ernest Beaux who had worked for the Russian royal family and lived close by in Grasse, the centre of the perfume industry.
Beaux was a curious and daring craftsman and took up Chanel's challenge. [7.]
Ernest Beaux was the greatest perfume-blender of the day, whose liberal use of aldehydes, - powerful synthetic substances usually administered in only very small quantities, proved exceptionally successful. [1.]
It took him several months to perfect a new fragrance but eventually he came up with 10 samples and presented them to Chanel.
The samples were numbered one to five and 20 to 24. Coco picked number five.
It is rumored that the concoction was actually the result of a laboratory mistake. Beaux's assistant had added a dose of aldehyde in a quantity never used before. [7.] Aldehydes blended with natural essences, they gave No.5 that indefinable quality which immediately established Chanel's first perfume as the precursor to all the great aldehydic floral fragrances. [1.].

The pleated skirt, the raincoat, the gold-buttoned blazer, costume jewelry, long strings of pearls, shoulder bags and many other creations of Coco! Her influence on the fashion industry has been immeasurable and now it is impossible to imagine what we ever would have done without her! She is known for many vivid quotes, but one speaks more loudly than others.