Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Blog Entry # 4.6- Personal Research (A)

1. Name of Notable Person: Coco Chanel
2. Web Addresses of all Sources (copy and paste)




3. Biographical Information
a. Date of Birth and Death
Born on August 19, 1883 and Coco Chanel died on January 10, 1971, at her apartment in the Hotel Ritz.

b. Place of Birth and Death (or current residence):
 Born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France Coco Chanel died on January 10, 1971, in her apartment in France Coco in the Hotel Ritz.
c. Family (e.g. parents, siblings, spouse, children)
Coco was never married. Coco mother Jeanne Devolle died when Gabrielle "Coco" was only 12. Her father Albert Chanel was traveling salesman.
d. Education


e. Occupation
After her mother died her father sent her to an orphanage and she was raised by nuns. She became a choir singer and then she became a club singer and that’s when she got her nick name “coco”. Around the age of 20, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan who offered to help her start a millinery business in Paris. She soon left him for one of his even wealthier friends, Arthur “Boy” Capel. Both men were instrumental in Chanel’s first fashion venture.     



4. Two-three Quotes (either about the person of from the person)
“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”
“There have been several Duchesses of Westminster—but there is only one Chanel!”
“ In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

5. Significant contribution(s) to World History
She made a fashion industry that is well known all around the world for all sex and in those stores they sell perfumes, clothing, bags, accessories, and shoes.

6. Ten terms related to the person
1.       “Coco Chanel”
2.      France
3.      mother died
4.      Orphanage.
5.      interested in fashion
6.      world wide industry
7.      performed in clubs
8.      little black dress
9.      Independent
10.   Fashion designer

7. Timeline of at least five important dates in the person’s life                            
·         Born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France.
·         Opening her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910, Chanel started out selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began making clothes.
·         In the 1920s, Chanel took her thriving business to new heights. She launched her first perfume, Chanel No. 5, which was the first to feature a designer’s name. Perfume “is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion. . . . That heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure,” Chanel once explained.
·         In 1925, she introduced the now legendary Chanel suit with collarless jacket and well-fitted skirt
·         Romance for Chanel began in the 1920s. She met the wealthy duke of Westminster aboard his yacht around 1923, and the two started a decades-long relationship. In response to his marriage proposal, she reportedly said “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster—but there is only one Chanel!”
·         In 1969, Chanel’s fascinating life story became the basis for the Broadway musical Coco starring Katharine Hepburn as the legendary designer
·         Coco Chanel died on January 10, 1971, at her apartment in the Hotel Ritz. She never married, having once said “I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” Hundreds crowded together at the Church of the Madeleine to bid farewell to the fashion icon.