User talk:Arkiefrmdagrammm

Coco Chanel; Bibliography
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, known as “Coco” Chanel was a fashion designer in the 20’s, she started the Chanel clothing line. She was born August 19th, 1983 and passed away on January 10th,1971. Coco was born in Saumur, France. She did not have a great childhood, she grew up in poverty and her mother passed away when she was 12. Her father, Albert Chanel, was a street vendor who peddled work clothes and undergarments for a living. He couldn’t take care of Coco and her 5 siblings so he had to put them in the convent of Aubazine in Central France. Her time in Aubazine wasn’t the greatest, she had a tough time because it was a really demanding place, but the 6 years she stayed there she had learned a few things such as sewing, which had lead to her job as a seamstress. She soon left and joined a boarding house for Catholic girls in the town of Moulins. She was a singer before she pursued her designing career, in her free time she would sing at a bar in Moulins, she got the nickname Coco because of these two famous songs she sang, "Ko Ko Ri Ko", and "Qui qu'a vu Coco" local soldiers would refer to her as Coco and the name carried on. When Coco used to sing her prefered genre would usually be jazz. The evolution of jazz music had a large intake on the “flapper” community in the ‘roaring twenties’. Fashionable young women who only cared for enjoying themselves and breaking the regular standards of how women are taught to behave were known as flappers, they took part in what would be considered rebellious, risky behaviour doing things that aren’t considered ladylike. For example these women would drink, smoke, go to clubs and do anything to show they aren’t ordinary. They did this to express their desires and beliefs for freedom and gender equality. Flappers were empowering women who believed it was time for change and Coco Chanel was one of them. Coco Chanel is an icon in women empowerment. She changed the way women think of themselves and how they are perceived. Back then women were seen as weak and incapable of handling the same duties as men. Women were only supposed to stay at home, take care of the kids and cook and clean. Coco believed and knew she was capable otherwise. She wanted to break the old beauty standards of women having to be uncomfortable to look good, she hated the stifling “corseted silhouette” trend and believed that to look good, you must feel good. She introduced the Chanel suit and little black dress, changing the comfort standards of fashion among women. She made the casual sporty chic look not only acceptable but also highly fashionable. As Chanel once said,“luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”. In 1906 She went to the town of Vinchy and tried to pursue a career as a stage performer then soon realized it wasn’t quite her cup of tea, design was. She opened her first clothing store on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910 with her lover Arthur Capel, he was a very fashionable man and that helped influence the conception of the “Chanel” look. She was best known for the first perfume she realeased, “Chanel No.5”, the fragrance was created by Ernest Beaux, a French-Russian chemist and perfumer. As said by her, the perfumes bottle would be "pure transparency ...an invisible bottle." It is believed that the design of the bottle was inspired by the rectangular beveled lines of the Charvet toiletry bottles, which, outfitted in a leather traveling case, were favored by Arthur. Coco continued opening boutiques across france as her designer career was very successful. By 1919, she was registered as a couturiere and established her maison de couture at 31 rue Cambon. She had the whole building of 31 rue Cambon in one of the most fashionable districts of Paris. By 1935 Coco had employed over four thousand people in her business, but in the late 30’s her business took a downfall as she had gained competition from other famous designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, by the time of WW1 Chanel had to close her shops due to too much sales loss. Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was a major game changer in the women’s movement towards gender equality, enabling women to re-define their perceptions of possibility and re-define society’s perceptions of women’s possibilities. With a rough start to her journey, being an orphan, one could question if those struggles she faced cultivated her independent and relentless character, undoubtedly inspiring future generations to come. Without her rebellious and free thinking she would not have become the gem she was, her unique and entrepreneurial nature lead her down a path of self evolution that I respect and admire. She was successful because she was herself. She never allowed anyone to define who, how and what she was. Arkiefrmdagrammm (talk) 00:38, 18 January 2018 (UTC)RK