Word: cocos
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Ostrich-Boa Hats. Born outside Paris in 1883, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (never called anything but Coco for "Little Pet") was orphaned at six and raised in the desolate province of Auvergne by two aunts. From them, she learned that little girls should sew, sit up straight and speak politely; for sewing, a skill that forever eluded her. Coco substituted horseback riding. From Etienne Balsan, a millionaire cavalry officer who brought her to Paris at 16, Coco acquired the habits and tastes of the wealthy. She liked them-all but the ladies' predilection for ostrich-boa-draped hats. To provide...
...started with several hats and "one dress, but a tasteful dress." added sweaters, and within five years had made Maison Chanel a fashion house to reckon with. Coco introduced the tricot sailor frock and the pullover sweater, unearthed wool jersey from its longtime service as underwear fabric and put it to use in soft, clinging dresses. She ushered in gypsy skirts, embroidered silk blouses and accompanying shawls. Even then, Chanel clothes were as high-priced as any Paris couturier's; but only Chanel delighted in having her styles copied -and made accessible at low cost to millions...
...There is time for work. And time for love," said Coco Chanel. "That leaves no other time." In the '20s, Chanel filled her off-hours with Arthur ("Boy") Capel, a wealthy English polo player whose lavish gifts of jewels served as the keystones of Coco's astonishing collection, and whose blazer -lent to the designer on a chilly day at the polo grounds-became the source of her famous box jacket. From the Duke of Westminster. Chanel's most renowned amour, came more jewels; these she had copied, setting off the costume-jewelry vogue. With a personal...
...Coco sprang no surprises, only refinements on what was her classic look: the short, straight, collarless jacket, the slightly flaring skirt, and hems that never budged from mid-knee length. Wearing the broad-brimmed Breton hat that was her hallmark, her scissors hanging from a ribbon around her neck, and her four fingers held firmly together in spite of severe arthritis, she would feel for defects. Working directly on the model, she often picked a dress apart with the point of her scissors, complaining that it was unwearable. Her fashion empire, at her death, brought in over $160 million...
...best-dressed women, not of the year but of the century: Princess Grace Queen Fabiola, Marlene Dietrich Ingrid Bergman, all the Rothschilds' and most of the Rockefellers. A musical version of her life, enhanced by Katharine Hepburn but stripped of most of the real drama, put Coco on Broadway. She was on a first-name basis with people too famous to need first names: Cocteau, Colette, Diaghilev, Dali, Picasso. Yet at the time of her death, the woman Picasso termed "the most sensible m the world" had a Paris wardrobe consisting of only three outfits...