People have mixed feelings about Coco Chanel. She is both known for her amazing fashion sense and for her apparent collaboration with the Germans during WW II. However readers may feel about Coco, this book will provide an extensive look at who she was, what influenced her, the places she lived and, of course, her fashions. It is an insightful and interesting look at a woman who lived a dramatic and creative life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.
#LivingWithCocoChanel #NetGalley
From the Publisher
The Country Girl
Gabrielle Chanel kept many facts about her childhood secret. She only offered hints about the poverty and the abandonment she had suffered, of the cloisters and chestnut trees of the Auvergne landscape that formed a backdrop to her early life. She was born on 19 August 1883, under the Leo star sign. Being superstitious, she chose the lion symbol for many aspects of her life – in her apartment in rue Cambon, Paris, on her creations and as a marker on her headstone in the cemetery of Lausanne. ‘I love everything that’s up high,’ she said. ‘The sky, the moon, and I believe in the stars. I was born under the sign of the Lion, like Nostradamus. I’d rather have a touch of the invisible than roast mutton every day.
Twenty-three-year-old Gabrielle Chanel in 1906.
Living with Coco Chanel: The homes and landscapes that shaped the designer
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Bohemian ParisIf there was one time and place that defined Coco Chanel, it was Paris in the 1920s, that exciting, frivolous era, known in France as les années folles. After the First World War, the city became a mecca for the beautiful and the talented looking to forget the horrors they had experienced. Coco was the fashion vanguard of the era, capturing the mood of the time and shaping the way women dressed. ‘I was working towards a new society,’ Coco said. ‘Up until then they had been clothes designed for women who were useless and idle, women whose lady’s maids had to pass them their stockings; I now had customers who were busy women; a busy woman needs to feel comfortable in her clothes. You need to be able to roll up your sleeves.’ |
Rue CambonTowards the end of 1918, Coco Chanel signed a lease for 31 rue Cambon, where she registered for the first time in Paris as a couturière rather than a milliner. The building was set over five floors and it featured a boutique, a workroom, a salon for high-profile clients and Chanel’s own private apartment with three rooms – a hall, living room and dining room. Later on she would add a mirrored bathroom. Scented with Chanel N°.5 and traces of cigarette smoke, it would be a gathering place for the most influential people in Paris, all keen to experience Chanel and her style. |
Riviera ChicFrom its position looking out over the green, rocky coastline of the northernmost Côte D’Azur, with the glittering, moneyed Monte Carlo in the distance to the west, the Italian border to the east, and the foothills of the Alps as a backdrop, La Pausa was Coco Chanel’s magnificent French Riviera sanctuary, located in Roquebrune Cap-Martin. With its painted shutters and terracotta roof tiles baking in the sun, it was an idyllic retreat that looked out towards the endless horizon. Chanel created the villa from the ground up, holding within its design the secrets of her childhood in Aubazine. |
Beautifully illustrated, the book features designs, drawings, archive imagery and contemporary photography to provide an insight into Chanel’s life
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Chanel’s jersey suits with loose belted jackets were much sought after during the First World War, as illustrated in magazine Les Elegances Parisiennes in March 1917. |
A 1929 Vogue illustration depicting Chanel’s sports ensembles, which defined her British look of that period. |
The autumn 1938 collection featured colourful, gypsy-inspired designs, as featured in Marie Claire, 23 September 1938. |
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