Posts Tagged ‘Coco Chanel’

If you’re in the fashion business, people are already bugging you about your Halloween costume, expecting a great deal from you. Last year, we attended the Halloween party of stylists Negar Ali (who just tied the knot this weekend, with all kinds of fashionable guests) and Lysa Cooper, and these ladies were so detail-chic, we felt absolutely underdone and under-planned. After all, if you dress people for a living, or you write about fashion, chances are, on Halloween night, you don’t want anything to do with dressing up. Some of us dress up every single day of our lives! It can take hours put on your fashionista costume.  

It opened in France in April of 2009, just a few months ago – and we’re not totally sure hwen “Coco Before Chanel,” a feature length French biopic on our favorite iconic designer, will open in the US – our bet is this fall. But it’s the Chanel film we’ve all waited to see – because – guess what? It was made in France (as opposed to the Lifetime tv version with Shirley MacLaine), and stars Audrey Tatou – a wonderful French actress with a true likeness to the great Coco Gabrielle Chanel. It was directed by a French tv and film director – also a woman – Anne Fontaine. The Variety reviews of it are quite good, and if you’re going to Paris or the South of France this summer, you can catch it before it arrives on our shores. The sets, and of course, costumes, look magnficent – and Allesandro Nivola plays Arthur “Boy” Capell, one of the loves of Coco’s life – and he’s divine.

So forget the Demi Moore version that was supposedly in development – she’s too busy with Ashton. Look for this Chanel bio, even the poster’s chic.
You can watch the trailer now here or just go on the website IMDB and scout out the film.

Sometimes, Golden Globe nominees and presenters who have big presence on the red carpet simply get BAD ADVICE. And, unfortunately for them – THEY TAKE IT. It’s not easy when a Greek chorus full of people: one’s publicist, manager, best friend, husband, boyfriend, child, stylist, hair person and makeup person are ALL telling an actress, “YOU LOOK AMAZING!!” Not only that, jewelers are trying to get their jewelry worn, while hairdressers want to have their hairdo’s stand out – and the end result is – misguided. The total look just doesn’t cohere. Here are ladies whose hair style doesn’t go with their dress – it’s all just TOO much, and they need to learn that great Coco Chanel FASHION RULE, which is: LOOK IN THE MIRROR BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE – AND TAKE ONE THING OFF!!

 

EVA MENDES IN CHRISTIAN DIOR

 

MILEY CYRUS IN MARCHESA

 

DEBRA MESSING IN VERA WANG

 

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve heard all about it – the worst holiday season at retail in a hundred years. Well, not at Decades II it ain’t. On Wednesday night this week, Christos Garkinos and his team hosted their fifth annual vintage Chanel shopping event. Coco Chanel would be ever so pleased to hear about this – she’s still SO popular. Christos shops for many months to find the killer tweed jackets, hats, shoes, blouses, dresses, and of course, the famous quilted chain bags. Well, on Wednesday night, people shopped like they were in Target or Walmart. One intense Chanel addict bought 40 pieces in under an hour. One woman arrived at the Melrose Avenue store at 4:15pm – when the doors for the event were to open at 6:30pm. She was given a chair – and declared that last year, she missed her favorite items – and was not taking the chance again.

 

The first item to go was the famed Chanel Moon Boots – which were also the first item to go last year, both pairs sold to Hollywood stylists. No one seemed to leave the event – it just got more and more crowed. Even “Dirty Sexy Money” actress Jill Clayburgh and her stylist got in on the action – as did L.A. based designer Pegah Anvarian and movie producer Derek Anderson. The costume jewelry flew off the shelves – and by the way, there are still pieces for sale – jackets, bags, plaid newsboy caps (that one’s for me), shoes – the works. And you can console yourself with the knowledge that the prices are at least two thirds less than in the Chanel store or a department store.

 

“Project Runway” might be stalled somewhere between between Bravo and Lifetime networks for next season  – but that isn’t keeping Nina Garcia down. The former Elle Magazine Fashion Director is now installed at Marie Claire Magazine in her new job, after abruptly leaving Elle this summer – and helping Marie Claire develop their own fashion reality show called, “Running in Heels.” She will continue to appear on “Project Runway” as a judge, and she’s now touring the country, promoting her new book, “The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own”.

 

And this Friday October 10, she’ll make an L.A. stop: at Saks Fifth Avenue on Wilshire in Beverly Hills, from 2PM to 5PM. She’ll be meeting and greeting fellow fashion enthusiasts in the shoe department (where else?) – and a little birdie told us, Michael Kors will show up to show his support for his fellow judge. Meanwhile, “The One Hundred” was illustrated by famed fashion illustrator and artist Ruben Toledo, and features quotes from Coco Chanel, Mae West and Diane Vreeland. For any woman who wants to master the art of shopping – and dressing perfectly – the book is a must have. And you can get close enough to Nina to check out that amazing hair color she has – that’s what NY fashion insider status gets you! – Merle Ginsberg

She is the chic queen of St. Germaine, and she invented the look of the left bank of Paris that became famous all over the world. Sonia Rykiel, with her crinkled rust colored leontine mane of hair and stark black clothes, is the Coco Chanel of her time – making black and white striped sailor tops with black trousers a must-have look for ladies, and making all kinds of knitwear – particularly her famous striped sweaters – de riguer for chic women.

 

Rykiel has always espoused a unique look: very feminine, very artsy, very individualized. Her models have often worn big floppy hats or berets, and she made the soft flowing black suit a uniforn of Parisian women. No, her name’s never been as big as Dior or Armani or Versace – but Madame Rykiel has always danced to the sound of her own drummer. Her knitwear has always sold well, and in the last decade, both her studded handbags and great shoes have done well at international retail – as have her perfumes.

 

At her 40th anniversary show in Paris this week, she scored a total triumph with her largest number amount of pieces ever.

 

 

 

Ruffled blouses in yellows and oranges and fuscias, shown with black silk pencil skirts – striped see-through dresses – striped and tiered gowns in violet and blush pink – and afterwards, her daughter Nathalie presented her with a surprise: a small collection of “Sonia like looks” by major designers, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela, Narciso Rodriguez, Ralph Lauren, Missoni, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, Armani and Valentino. 

 

 

The audience, which include Jean Paul Gaultier, tossed flowers onto the runway, and the models – in berets or top hats – danced down the runway with total joyful abandon.

 

Rykiel gave an interview to WWD this week and said some fabulous things – not unusual for Madame.. Here are some highlights that inspire us here at Fashionrules.com:

 

SONIA RYKIEL ON HER FORTY YEARS IN FASHION:

 

ON HOW SHE STARTED HER CAREER IN 1968: “I was supposed to be a mother, like my mother, who didn’t work. Then I wanted a maternity dress and I couldn’t find anything I liked. Everything was abominable. So I made one. Then I made a pullover. Elle put it on the cover. Then WWD elected me the queen of knitwear.

 

ON ALTERNATE CAREERS SHE COULD HAVE HAD: “I could have been a writer – which I am. I could have been an actress – which I am. I could have been a sculptor or an artist.

 

ON FINDING SUCCESS EASILY: “I didn’t listen to anyone, because I didn’t know anything. People loved me or hated me. Those who loved me, loved me a lot. The others, I didn’t bother with them very much.”

 

ON WHOM SHE WANTED TO DRESS: “I’ve never been interested in dressing one woman. What’s interested me was to have a philosophy. I wanted to dress women who wanted to look at themselves. To stand out. To be women who were not part of the crowd. A woman who fights and advances.”

 

ON WHAT INSPIRES HER: “I’m inspired by words. The first word I put on a sweater was ‘sensuous’ because WWD elected me one of the most sensuous women in the world. We sold so many of those sweaters. Writing on a sweater is so beautiful.”

         

Can you imagine how many actresses have wanted to play the legendary and iconic Coco Chanel? Mira Sorvino nearly got the gig in a mini-series that never saw the light of day. Demi Moore tried to develop a movie about Mademoiselle Coco, but it never got off the ground.. Katharine Hepburn played her in the 1969 musical on Broadway, and got a Tony nomination. Juliette Binoche and Audrey Tatou have taken meetings. But finally, Mademoiselle Coco IS, in fact, coming to the small screen – on September 13th, Saturday night, at 8pm in a three hour original movie for Lifetime television (the future home of “Project Runway.”) “Coco Chanel” stars MacLaine as the older Coco, reminiscing about her long career – and Czechoslovakian young brunette actress Barbara Bobulova, who’s worked mostly in Italian and French television, as the young Coco. whose lovers helped her raise the financing to open clothing shops after her mother had died when she was 6, and the young Gabrille Chanel was raised by aunts and nuns (who taught her sewing). It was her stint as a cabaret singer that set Coco up to be in a position to meet the rich men who eventually financed her and allowed her to become the diva designer she was destined to be.

Lifetime’s website – Mylifetime.com – has a number of nifty Chanel tie-ins: for instance, you can enter a contest on there to win a two thousand dollar Chanel quilted bag (which Mademoiselle created in 1956, not long after her big money maker, Chanel No, 5 perfume. And there’s a timeline of her achievements and creations, and a history of stars who’ve worn Chanel on the red carpet, and highlights from varied great Chanel collections.

Shirley MacLaine is actually interviewed, and she admits that Audrey Hepburn – with whom she starred in the film “The Children’s Hour,” told her she should play Coco Chanel 47 years ago. “I disagreed,” MacLaine admits, “because Chanel was little and scrunched-over and very short. And Audrey said, “No, the spirit of the woman matches your spirit.” I found Coco to be everything between generous and rude. I didn’t know what Audrey meant [about matching spirits]. But it turns out she was right. I couldn’t wear Chanel suits and pearls and hats during the day now. I don’

t have that kind of lifestyle, but her clothes were meant more to express her personality. Remember, she was an orphan. She was poverty-stricken. She was always afraid that it would happen to her again, and her need to stay a woman in charge is what was behind these clothes. I DID wear Chanel knockoffs when I was in my twenties and thirties- but now my personal taste runs more to plain, simple lines. But I actually did attend a Chanel collection once, in my twenties or thirties. I could even have met her. But seems to me, if I had met her, I would have remembered it.”

Meanwhile, MacLaine has one more living person she’d like to portray – Georgia O’Keefe – and says she’s working on it. In the meantime, when you look at her photos as CC from the movie – with her bob darkened and pearls and black jackets – she does seem to have captured the spirit of the woman.