Coco Chanel (Gabrielle) born on August 19, 1883 (a Leo, go figures just like my mother and I) in the small city of Saumur, Loire Valley, France. When she was 12 years old, her mother died from TB and father had to leave shortly after to raise money for her 5 siblings and herself. Chanel spent six years at an orphanage in Roman Catholic monastery of Aubazine where she learned the trade of being a seamstress. She then left the orphanage at 18 and became a cabaret singer at night and day job at a tailoring shop. She failed as a singer and traveled to Paris. Slowly with determination and ambition began her life of a well known designer.
Despite her personal life of being a mistress to get to where she is today, she gives me insight and motivates me. While most women she was surrounded by in Paris wore corsets to emphasize waist and breast, she refused. She never cared to look like anyone else and had a fine taste of class. Chanel was critical of women wearing too much silverware, meringue hats or fancy designed dresses which made them looked like she was in a pastry shop every time she saw them. She always wanted to wear something opposite of what everyone wore which at the time was an elegant black dress which wasn't common at all. Never did care for obnoxious men who liked the "typical" looking women in that era. Chanel liked men who weren't embarrassed to be by her side when she was in sluggish clothes. The level headed, strong, ambitious and confident person she was is what made her the "Coco Chanel".
Famous quotes by the wonderful Gabrielle:
“Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
“"The best color in the whole world, is the one that looks good, on you!”
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