Fact + Fashion: 6 Things About Coco Chanel You Didn't Know

I don't know much about Coco Chanel. There I said it. Actually, maybe not a lot of people do. The real Coco Chanel anyway.

Sure there was that movie with the ever so lovely Audrey Tautou (whom I adore!) but even that isn't the whole truth, or even a fraction of it. And I suppose we won't ever know the whole truth as Coco Chanel was extremely keen on shaping her past and her life the way she saw fit.

Frankly, the more I read about Coco Chanel the more I battle with my love/hate relationship with her. Did she make beautiful clothes that changed the shape of women's fashion? Yes. Was she nice? Not so much... in fact, not really at all.

Coco Chanel was meticulous about her work and a perfectionist | source

6 Things About Coco Chanel You Didn't Know

1.] Diana Vreeland said of Coco Chanel that she wasn't particularly a nice person but they were friends. But was she pleasant, not at all. I read this in Diana Vreeland's autobiography "DV" when she talks about her life in Paris.

Coco Chanel photographed in 1937 by Boris Lipnitzki | source

2.] Her last major love affair was with a German spy, right at the dawn of World War II. His name was Hans Gunther von Dincklage and he arranged for Coco to reside in the Hotel Ritz during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. {source}

3.] At the age of 20 she found work as a seamstress having honed her sewing skills at the Aubazine convent. BTW, side note, if you've never seen photos of Aubazine, you should. {source}

4.] Coco Chanel is depicted naked in a political cartoon drawn by her antisemitic lover Paul Iribe in which she represents France and is being cradled by Adolf Hitler and protected from Jews. {source}

5.] At her funeral, Coco Chanel's fashion models occupied the first seats and her coffin was covered with camellias, gardenias, orchids, and azaleas. A few red roses were also present as accent flowers. from Wikipedia

6.] She made suntans cool. Prior to Coco Chanel's time, being tanned usually meant you were a laborer. But she changed the outlook of being sun kissed with the idea that if you were bronzed it meant you lived a life of leisure. From the book Chanel and Her World (1981)

Coco Chanel as a young lady c.1910 | source

Coco Chanel photographed for Vogue c.1954 by Henry Clarke | source

Coco Chanel on the balcony of the Ritz hotel where she lived during the war years | source

Vintage CHANEL fashion sketches from the 1950s and 1960s

Here are some rare fashion sketches from the house of CHANEL through the 1950s and 1960s. Coco Chanel was most famous for her suit sets and it is amazing to me to be able to see these before they were ever cut and sewn from cloth. A fashion sketch is at first a dream then later materialized (and most are not). Which Chanel suit from the 1950s and 1960s is your favorite?








These CHANEL vintage fashion sketches are from the Bergdorf Goodman archives via Ana Lee Russian blog. Check out the link for more sketches!

The Oscars 2010 Fashion: Who Wore What?

Who wore your favorite Oscar dress? I thought the dresses were a bit safe this year, a lot of pretty neutral colors, which is nice, but it's the Oscars, I was really hoping for more VA-VA-VOOM!



Zoe Saldana in Givenchy Spring 2010 Couture


Sandra Bullock in Marchesa


Amanda Seyfried in Armani Prive


Carey Mulligan in Prada


Cameron Diaz in Oscar de la Renta


Anna Kendrick in Elie Saab


Sarah Jessica Parker in Chanel Couture


Maggie Gyllenhall in Dries Van Noten


Charlize Theron in Dior


Kristen Stewart in Monique Lhullier

Chanel Spring 2010, the lovely details will break your heart

This mini silent film showing the details of Chanel's Spring 2010 collection is so heartbreakingly beautiful. Little whispers of silk, chiffon, kisses of pearls and embraces of lace. I'm in love!

Video source YouTube

A Quote from Coco Chanel

"There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time!"



Photo credit: Britt Franken

Achieving Parisien chic: Excerpts from "Paris Frocks at Home"

Be yourself as you are and as you want to be. The frocks you wear will achieve this ambition for you. You can create a charmed circle of admiration wherever you go simply by the way you dress.

Happiness in wearing clothes is dependent, however, on some homely and revealing facts. You must know what you are really like. No one else, however, need know the whole truth about you.

You must have a long mirror and use it unsparingly in the best possible light. Unflattering daylight is essential. Then examine your contours and your proportions with the same critical eye with which Hollywood examines applicants for bathing beauty contests.

If all people reacted the same way to colors we could just give you a set of rules about what happens when one wears red, for instance, and all you would have to do is memorize the rules and be assured that all would be well. But we can't do it that way since no two people are exactly alike. Do you know anyone exactly like you except possibly your twin sister? No two people have exactly the same combination of coloring of hair, eyes and skin together with build and facial expression. In other words, no two personalities are exactly alike. But what about "types" you say? It's a comfortable theory but it just doesn't work when you start out to select your own best colors. Few of us are types, most of us are a mixture of characteristics found in a number of so-called types.

The exact coloring of your own hair, eyes and skin as well as your own special personally must be taken into account in accurately determining which colors are best for you.

Source: Paris Frocks At Home published in 1930 by Butterick Publishing, New York. Excerpts from vintagesewing.info Photo from IMDB from "Coco Before Chanel" starring Audrey Tautou.

Chanel Commercial featuring Audrey Tautou

I am obsessing over this new Chanel No. 5 commercial featuring the ever lovely Audrey Tautou.

Vintage Chanel + Shelli Segal in the Casual

I meant to post this yesterday right after I had lunch with my friend, Kimmy, but then I got back and had to take care of some work things and then realized I ran out of packing tape and had to jet off and get some from Staples (btw did you know packing tape is NOT cheap?) Then I realized I had nothing for dinner, so I had to run back out to Publix... so I got busy and forgot about it.

Anyhow, without further ado...


Dress: Vintage Shelli Segal
Bag: Vintage Chanel
Hat: Vintage 1960s
Belt: Thrifted
Shoes: Dolve Vita

Marilyn Monroe Chanel No. 5 Commercial

A lovely Chanel No.5 commercial featuring Marilyn Monroe. (Chanel No.5 was Marilyn Monroe's favorite perfume btw)

I always love seeing new Chanel commercials, they're always beautiful and elegant and have a very vintage feel to them. (Keira Knightley, Nicole Kidman, Vanessa Paradis...)