out & about

Image from Jak & Jil

Isn't it great to see this coming back? I used to love this look (I was a teenager then), could I pull it off again? It seems to be more chic now. With high-wasted pants, a jacket, a statement necklace? But hmmm, I am still doubtful if it would suite me again. Have you tried it?

chanel hats


By Benoit Peverelli
Chanel Press Office
Chanel Haute Couture 2012
Via Grazia.it

Chanels' first business venture which began at the now legendary 21 Rue Cambon location was to sell hats to the wealthy nobles and elite upper class. Her style became known after she began buying straw boater hats and decorating them in a simpler manner than current fashion dictated. Chanel hats were worn by actress Gabrielle Dorziat in the play Bel Ami, presented by Theatre du Vaudeville in 1912.
Lovely to see how her legacy is still much a part of the couture line.

hello monday


(image via unknown)

Good morning and welcome to another wonderful edition of ever so exciting 'Monday'.
After a lovely weekend, with bitterballen and Louboutins on Friday, airport pick-up, Vogue magazines and orange ballerina's (yes! I finally have them) on Saturday and a champange Sunday with family and friends on the boat, it is only natural that Monday is good as well! :)
I hope you had a fabulous weekend too.  


Enjoy your week.
xx

"In order to be irreplacable one must always be different"
- Coco Chanel-

coco chanel

Photo from here

Last night two wonderful friends of mine hosted an evening of Chanel, showing the wonderful movie Coco avant Chanel. They requested I give a little introdcution before the movie and I decided to share it today with all of you.

In 1910 Gabrielle Chanel opened her first shop on the Rue Cambon in Paris, which today still represents the symbol of elegance and fashion. Throughout her professional life she was known for her innate sense of style and has remained, through many generations an icon of all things chic. Her legacy runs deep into our lives. Open your closet and you shall find some trail of Chanel; whether it is the little black dress, the a-line skirt, a chic jacket or that perfect cashmere cardigan; it came from Chanel.

We do not only acknowledge Chanel as the fashion icon, we are here to celebrate the achievement of a women, who in a gone-by era did the impressive; she created an empire in a male dominated world in the early nineteen-hundreds. Born into an impoverished family and left abandoned at an orphanage, she worked her way to the top and stood headstrong against the world and in 1919 she was rich enough to pay back both her investors, all the while buying her first mansion.

Chanel said fashion fades, only style remains. And style is elegance. And elegance is refusal. When she spoke of elegance, she spoke of luxury. Chanel insisted that luxury should remain invisible, it must be felt she said. Luxury is not the opposite of poverty, it is the opposite of vulgarity. Luxury is the opposite of status. It is the ability to live by being yourself. It is the freedom to refuse to live by habit. Luxury is liberty. Luxury is elegance.

Though I am completely fascinated with the life, the legacy and the style of Coco Chanel, the only Chanel item I own is the #5 Perfume. However, it seems I am not alone as only 200 women in the world maintain a Chanel haute couture wardrobe. So whether is a classic Chanel of a Lagerfeld-Chanel you have in your closet, know that you carry around a historic sense of style. (and yes…the perfume counts as well).

As her life is presented before you this evening, remember that it is not the fashion that fascinates us, it is the style and style comes from within, it is an attitude. Appreciate what you have, how you look and be proud of the person that lies within. Exuberate style, be elegant.

Tonight we shall meet the Gabrielle before the fame, before the exuberance of luxury, before the success, we shall see the Coco before she became the Chanel.

Have wonderful evening, enjoy the movie and appreciate the life of an extraordinary woman.