jacky riegler's List: Chanel project

• offered the wearer a feeling of hidden luxury rather than ostentation are just two examples of how her taste and sense of style overlap with today's fashion.
• in fact, she consistently spoke of femininity rather than of feminism
• the 1920s and the '50s. She not only appropriated styles, fabrics and articles of clothing that were worn by men but also, beginning with how she dressed herself, appropriated sports clothes as part of the language of fashion.
• so she rejected them and made her own, using, say, the sports jackets and ties that were everyday male attire around the racetrack, where she was climbing her first social ladders.

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• first on the stage, where she acquired the nickname "Coco," and then as a milliner.
• Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913, followed by another in the resort town of Deauville
• The fabric draped well and suited Chanel's designs, which were simple, practical, and often inspired by men's wear, especially the uniforms prevalent when World War I broke out in 1914.
• 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.
• Her own slim boyish figure and cropped hair became an ideal, as did her tanned skin, active lifestyle, and financial independence.
• her favorite color palette, shades of beige, black, and white
• nown for a relentless drive for perfection, whether in design or fit, and strong opinions in all matters of taste, Chanel backed her clothing with the authority of her personal conviction.
• Vogue likened Chanel's "little black dress" to the Ford, alluding to its almost universal popularity as a fashion basic. In fact, the concept of the dress suitable for day and evening did become both a staple for Chanel throughout subsequent seasons and a classic piece of twentieth-century women's wear
• Evening ensembles followed the long slim line for which the designer was known, but also incorporated tulle, lace, and decorative elements that soften and romanticize the overall look of the garment
• Chanel found she could not idly stand by and observe the early success of Christian Dior, whose "New Look" prevailed in the postwar period. While many admired Dior's celebration of femininity, with full skirts and nipped-in waists, Chanel felt his designs were neither modern nor suitable for the liberated women who had survived another war by taking on active roles in society.
• Within three seasons, Chanel was enjoying newfound respect. She updated her classic looks, reworking the classic tweed designs until wealthy women and celebrities returned to the showroom in droves.

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