Women History Paper Coco Chanel
Vivian Kuo
HUM 110 Online
Oct 10, 2012
Women History Paper- Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is always of the time in which you live. It is not something standing alone. But the grand problem, the most important problem, is to rejeuvenate women. To make women look young. Then their outlook changes. They feel more joyous (Bio.com, 1993).” I want to write on Coco Chanel particularly because of her everlasting contributions to the women and men's fashion industry in our patriarchal society. Without her contributions, women will not be able to have as much freedom in fashion, attitudes, and in body expressions.
Coco Chanel was one of the very first woman to inspire the women’s fashion industry throughout her life and until now in the twentieth century. Coco Chanel was born in August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Coco’s mother died few years after her birth and since her father worked as a peddler and had little money to raise her, she was put in an orphanage (Bio.com, 1993). Coco was taught by nuns in the orphanage to sew, which was a skill that brought her to fashion. At age 23, Coco started her career as a singer and got the name Coco as a stage name, which she later is known as (Bio.com, 1993). In 1910, Coco met two men and had relationships with both. Both men helped Coco started her fashion career by offering monetary assistance. Finally in 1913, “Coco opened her first shop in Paris selling hats (Bio.com, 1993)” and later added two stores selling clothes. Though Coco first started her shop in 1913, around the time when the World War I broke and all the fashion were focused on men and uniforms, Coco wanted to took pride as a woman designing for other women, so she designed women’s clothes inspired by men’s wear. She wanted to give women of her time a chance to have personal attitudes and styles buying and wearing high quality yet affordable clothes in a patriarchal society. Fortunately, Coco’s own lifestyle was able to
HUM 110 Online
Oct 10, 2012
Women History Paper- Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is always of the time in which you live. It is not something standing alone. But the grand problem, the most important problem, is to rejeuvenate women. To make women look young. Then their outlook changes. They feel more joyous (Bio.com, 1993).” I want to write on Coco Chanel particularly because of her everlasting contributions to the women and men's fashion industry in our patriarchal society. Without her contributions, women will not be able to have as much freedom in fashion, attitudes, and in body expressions.
Coco Chanel was one of the very first woman to inspire the women’s fashion industry throughout her life and until now in the twentieth century. Coco Chanel was born in August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Coco’s mother died few years after her birth and since her father worked as a peddler and had little money to raise her, she was put in an orphanage (Bio.com, 1993). Coco was taught by nuns in the orphanage to sew, which was a skill that brought her to fashion. At age 23, Coco started her career as a singer and got the name Coco as a stage name, which she later is known as (Bio.com, 1993). In 1910, Coco met two men and had relationships with both. Both men helped Coco started her fashion career by offering monetary assistance. Finally in 1913, “Coco opened her first shop in Paris selling hats (Bio.com, 1993)” and later added two stores selling clothes. Though Coco first started her shop in 1913, around the time when the World War I broke and all the fashion were focused on men and uniforms, Coco wanted to took pride as a woman designing for other women, so she designed women’s clothes inspired by men’s wear. She wanted to give women of her time a chance to have personal attitudes and styles buying and wearing high quality yet affordable clothes in a patriarchal society. Fortunately, Coco’s own lifestyle was able to