Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel pictured with Étienne Balsan (center)
Chanel had been living at Château de Royallieu owned by a nobleman, and her part-time lover, Étienne Balsan (pictured above at her side).
Photo around 1909
I chose this image because it shows that Chanel with Etienne Balsan, who Chanel was a mistress to and her also wearing polo pants were unusual during this time for women.
My first topic choice is how the men in Chanel’s life, influenced her style and how those relationship and betrayals led her to success as a designer. Chanel’s early years as a demimondaine are important to note since, they enabled her to enter a higher social realm. She invented her own personal style, based on the attire of her male protectors—clothings that represented the masculine power & aristocratic independence that she craved .In process, she destroyed many of the traditions of feminine fashion, while forcing high society to accept her as a power in her own right. I think by getting with a wealthy man, this allowed her access to create her own personal style, by the influence of her male protectors and also forcing acceptance from higher society because of her current status by being with a wealthy man. She desired independency and masculinity so she reflected that in clothing. I don’t think she liked depending on wealthy guys but had to, to climb up in society’s status and out of poverty, and she reflected that through her dress & clothing.
Chanel, day dress, 1927, illustrated as an example
of the “The Elegant simplicity in favor at Chanel,”
in Femina
I chose this image because elegance for Chanel was the rejection of anything extraneous. She also rejected sartorial decoration, because it was associated with feminine sexuality. Her philosophy of style was similar to modernist aesthetic that emphasized minimalism & exaltation of form. For this topic, I want to focus on how and the development of Chanel’s simple, functional, modern style, for example, the idea of dandyism from the poet Charles Baudelaire was an influence on Chanel, was a way to redefine femininity and by rebelling from male and female styles that was based on masculinity(eroticisms).
