I did see that Chanel "movie". But I'm not sure of that whole Poiret and Chanel meeting at a beach resort during the war. I'll have to check if the Chanel biog I recall reading that Chanel was one of the designers that didn't remain in Paris during the war, has ever made it back to my local public library--last time I went back to consult it, it was lost.
While Chanel gets most, if not all of the historical credit for the real invention of casual clothes and the "little black dress", I recall that at least one biographer pointed out(probably that same lost book), that Chanel's supposedly revolutionary simple look really evolved from her own time in a convent--the simple basic uniforms and her own working class background(every woman had or wanted a basic black dress for Sundays and best wear as a mark of respectability and social standing). A black dress was a wardrobe basic long before Chanel was even born and a given as part of a bridal trousseau. Shop girls in both Paris and England wore modest black dresses, usually in silk or a silk blend as a required uniform, and an expensive uniform it could be, as the cheaper silks these workers could afford often shredded under the stress of wear and the strong mordants in black dyes, necessitating skilled mending and frequent replacement. I've also seen pictures of young British women and some of the earliest female silent film stars, before and during WWI, wearing the shorter skirts, lots of tweed and wool and sweaters, well before Chanel debuted in fashion magazines. If anything, Chanel was the first designer strongly influenced by what we call "street wear" today, I think. Cindy Abel -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Penny Ladnier Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 2:57 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] Fashion Designers and WW1 Cindy, Thank you for mentioning Vogue. I have a bound volume of Vogue July-Sept. 1919. I forgot I had it. I pulled it out and I had bookmarked all the designers from then. There are several. I will record them tonight. I am documenting the designers, illustrators, fashion photographers, and milliners from 1890s-1920s on an Excel spreadsheets. One day it will go online. This is not a reliable source, put in the Chanel movie, Chanel and Poiret was at a beach resort during the war. That was when she turned from milliner to dress designer. Can anyone confirm this? I really have not been a fan of Chanel, so I haven't studied her. The only things I have studied is the rivalry between Chanel and Patou and their marketing strategies. Penny Ladnier Owner, The Costume Gallery Websites www.costumegallery.com 11 websites of fashion, textiles, costume history _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
