Sherapop's Blog
13 years ago - 03/11/2013
I fell head over heels with Lanvin Arpège...
Pictures
4 Comments
Gold 13 years ago
Very true, it's the question of "how far would you go to achive certain goals" and the question of endless compromise and constraints women had to come to terms with (and still have to come to terms with). Coco's case is very complex, I agree, but she strikes me as a woman who would have done everything to survive and as someone who was an outstanding opportunist.
Sherapop 13 years ago
Thank you my dear friends! Yes, the Coco-Nazi story is pretty unbelievable. It's one thing to have stayed in Paris, and another one to live in the Ritz with a Nazi officer as one's lover. The rash of new movies, all of which appear to have been underwritten by the Chanel company--at least based on their potential for promoting Chanel no 5--has not helped to get the sordid word out about Gabrielle. The most unbelievable to my mind is "Coco avant Chanel", which paints her as some sort of angelic creature, even as she serves as the live-in concubine of a wealthy benefactor. I'll probably review that film at the salon at some point, but not because I think that it reveals much about Chanel so much as the conditions of women at the time. Clearly, there were impediments to success. How far did a woman have to compromise--sell her soul--in order to succeed? That is the question raised by the incredibly complex case of Coco Chanel, it seems to me...
Cryptic 13 years ago
That was like a beautiful gift. Besos!
Gold 13 years ago
Diane1953, I agree with you and with Sherapop, of course, on Chanel No.5. Gabrielle collaborated with the Nazis, that's true... this fact always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, too, but I try to evaluate her perfumes without taking into account that she simpy was an opportunist and that she is not in the least as admirable as all the positive propaganda about her suggests. Ater John Galliano left Dior because of his indecent behaviour in a Parisian café, all his fragrances became less and less expensive and can be bought at a bargain price on the internet at the moment. It's fascinating that Chanel's infatuation with a leading Nazi officer never influenced the profit of the company. Probably people just don't know... or just don't care...
