Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel: Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel

19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971

Coco Chanel. Timeless, chic to the very core. Everyone knows Coco Chanel - the pioneer of female (and also male) fashion. I certainly knew about her, but not enough. So during my lesson (!) I decided to explore about Coco, really find out about her, knowing why she is so popular even until this date and more importantly why her quotes make such an impact on people's (okay then mine) lives.

So I searched Wikipedia, haha I know thats funny to read but it was the only website I could think of as of the time.. And wow did I learn alot, like how she was born in the poorhouse, her mother dying when Coco was still at such a tender age, her dad leaving 5 siblings to cater for themselves, or even more importantly that her name is infact Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, something I certainly did not know about! I'm sure people reading this will think "blah! old news.." but I wont bother lying.. all I knew about Chanel was their fondess for quilted leather, their iconic chain bags, and popular perfumes (and other's or course!). But finding out such history.. well it was shocking and a bit saddening at first, but then I now read how she made a name for herself courting not just rich men but affluent rich men - a motive that made her rise to fashion power!

I was continuing my research and even found out she dated a Nazi, something shocking but what amazed me is how she was completely unfazed when parasians started to hate her, what did she do? She made herself bigger of course, and what better than making yourself famous within good old America?
Now people who know me well knows that when I want to learn about something I find as much information as I possibly can until I am fully satisfied; Im not fully satisfied just yet, so Im still learning.. Anywho I found out that she created the famous Chanel 2.55. It turns out she decided to make a purse/bag because she was tired of losing her things when out, and knew women all over the world felt the same. So she carefully designed a bag that would be the most known bag in much of the world, and what is more special is that the design of the bag is just quite simple. I havent got the Chanel 2.55 myself, but I do borrow my mothers who has about five (I borrow most of my mothers things!) and after seeing the original Chanel 2.55 I do covet after it..

The Chanel 2.55 was named "2.55" because of its date: Feburary 1955. The original bag had the Mademoiselle lock (it was called the mademoiselle lock as Coco never married). Also the chain is different as it is designed with a full gold chain instead of the newer version that are interwined with leather. The chain was used as Coco grew up in an convnent orphanage as a similar chain was used to tie around the children's caretakers to carry keys. The front flap pocket has been said that it was used to hide her many love letters from the man she was seeing! The lining which was reddish brown represents the uniform the children wore at the orphanage. The idea behind this famous bag is quite sad as it represents Coco's hard childhood. Very sad :( lol but really it doesnt suprise me how she later lived a flamboyant lifestyle; who wouldn't if they grew up in hard conditions and had the chance to rectify it? The 2.55 has been re-designed in so many different leathers, styles and sizes, it was Karl Lagerfield who designed the double cc during the 80's when he bacame the sole designer.

I have always loved the house of Chanel and I have now even gained more respect for the fashion-house which is why I decided to write a post on it. There is a few films based on Coco's life but they're in French, and even though I spent 6-7 years learning the language all I know fluently is 1-20 so unfortunately I cant watch it :( ..

Balmania!

This season, Balmania has been captivating me and many others in the fashion world.The 80s are back! and... Balmain's spring 09 collection has magnificently revived the trends of one of the most fashionable eras. The highlights of the collection include military style coats with his signature massive shoulder pads, bandage dresses, deconstructed acid-wash jeans and killer studded stilletos, which all the models confidently strutted down the catwalk in. I absolutely adore the deep green sequined dress with you guessed it, massive shoulder pads. The dress is so luxurious, and utterly fabulous. The killer heels add an edge to the dress and illustrate the versatility of the label. Rather than most labels which focus on a certain look, Balmain's spring 09 collection encompasses a range of juxtaposing looks from the masculine blazer worn with dark trousers to the ultra feminine white bandage dress. I salute you Balmain, for bringing the 80s back in an unforgettable way!

YSL Tribute.. Shoes after my Heart!

1st August 1936 - 1st June 2008

I love YSL! I remember when I was little playing dressing up in my mothers extensive designer.. stuff. And I will amways remember this YSL gold belt, absolutley lush! So when I heard that Yves Saint Laurent died last year during the summer, I was quite literally devestated. Then those tribute shoes came out, and I swear all the celebrites had a pair! I think that they were getting as popular as the Chanel quilted/chain bag, but this was a good thing, the tribute platforms are just superb, they make your feet sexy, and not all shoes can perform such thing (apart from Louboutins of course). Ive seen them everywhere and in different colours looking simply amazing!

The first time I saw a pair was on Mary-Kate Olsen. I can remember the outfit vividly. Tight leather trousers, oversized grey t-shirt and those shoes, I think both the sisters love them as much as I do because they're always seen in them!

The funniest thing of all is that the style of the shoes is not extra-ordinary, infact quite simple looking, but thinking about great pieces of fashion are usually never OTT, i.e. Hermes Birkin, Louboutins, clasic Chanel bags..

I was just going through the street style section in the ELLE website and I saw someone wearing them in eletric blue and my love for them just doubled again. The reason for this is that I usually see the shoes in patent black or natural brown, so it was a nice suprise to see it in a nice fun colour. To be honest I actually dont know why I havent bagged myself a pair.. or where they limited edition? Hmm.. I should know this lol. But if they aren't, then a pair will be coming very close to me soon..

- images from NYDailynews ©

Street Style!

Okay is it just me, but dont you just love reading ELLE and Grazia (those are the only two magazines I read) and flicking right to the street style pages?! No..? Well for me I really do, I've even gone as far as to going on the website and just going straight to street style. I've noticed that ELLE mainly show off-duty models and what they wear which is nice; because I'm so used to seeing them on the catwalk. Its even better on the ELLE site because they feature street style in the most fashionable cities in the world.. Paris, London, Milan, New York.. ooh! I dont even know which place I admire more or better still where would I love to live (I know I live in London but shh!). I think it would have to be in New York though, because of its urban-ness, The City, and great food! I love this part of fashion so much because you sorta learn peoples cultures through their dressing, some styles I've seen has shocked others but I admire them because they're being.. indivdual! Also I find that they are great tips, and usually when I'm dithering on what to wear, I go straight to the street style pages! So I've decided that every month i will feature street style on this blog to make it truely different and unique! But for today I'm going to post pictures of styles that I've seen and truely adore!
If anyone finds street styles that they love send us the link please! :)

p.s. I'm at my sixth form now, so I'll put the pictures up later on today when I get home.