Coco Chanel Reflection

Reading more about Coco Chanel (Gabrielle Chanel) expanded my knowledge on wear certain fashion trend came from. I was surprised that trends like casual dressing stemmed from her accomplishments as a fashion entrepreneur. I was even more surprised that sunbathing and sportswear came from her career as a designer. 

I admired her accomplishments the most because of her scope of ideas. She built an empire around classic and modern fashion; creating the transhistorical style. Coco Chanel confounded her style based around her life and what each aspect of her life meant to her which expressed a lifestyle of fantasies. 

I did not admire how she created a system for style of women that reflected a classification system. Chanel looked at women's' fashion, for some, as a dependence on their bodies and a way of survival. I believe she had thus something to do with the inequality that has risen amongst women based on what clothes they wear. I do not believe that women should be looked at through their clothing choices as a sign of status.

While Chanel was creating her iconic status, reform of the early twentieth century was underway. Therefore, women did not have as much power or as many rights as we do not. The 1920s was a time for women to express their character through their style, thus they began to raise their hemlines and unwind their corsets. This put pressure on her from society, especially men, who viewed fit women as those who expressed modesty and respect. She bolstered social change and was "working toward a new society." She had to overcome the idea that her brand was creating a subjective look of youth. She also created a way of fashion designs that expressed different outlooks on the true meanings of certain dressings for specific actions. This was difficult for society to accept because it didn't seem right to express things not as they truly were - specific to the time. 

Coco Chanel expressed an ability to look at society and what it entails and then make clothing that would fit a lifestyle - such as clothes for working women. She exhibited a strong political and economical view point that was mirrored throughout her career, making her an icon. The look she created "centered not on the distance between bespoke and mass-produced, but on the alchemy of valuation, transforming fake pearls and machine-woven jerseys into luxury commodities." Therefore, as I mentioned before that she set a scale of distinction amongst classifications for women, Chanel saw a sort of craftsmanship in the way fashion played a part of a market society.

I was confused with the views of the author, Lisa Chaney. Although Coco Chanel is a legendary icon in fashion, the author views her career path as a modern, unconventional, enemy of tradition. Chaney sees Chanel's radical vision in a way that may confuse readers as to what Chanel's journey really was all about. Did it stem from political gain? or was it based on her associations, regardless of their good or bad nature? 

I would ask Coco Chanel if she still viewed women's' dress as a true representation of their status economically. I want to know why she viewed fashion in this way because I often dress in character to how I feel about myself in the clothes I wear, I would not want the wrong representation of myself to be given to the minds of others, but I want to always stay true to my style as well. 

I also want to know how she would feel about where her brand and where the overall fashion industry has gone. Fashion has changed tremendously over the years and since she created a few specific trends, I wonder how she feels about the new way of fashion - in relation to the raunchy direction it went.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I believe Coco Chanels' opinion of hard work is based on the influence one creates with their business plans. Therefore, she would say that hard work is expressed by how consumers overall impression of the business. I definitely share her opinion because your products and services are only as good as your customer satisfaction.