BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Coco Chanel

 
 
Tryphena Absent
13:10 / 25.09.07
I was reading a fashion blog the other day and there were a list of Chanel quotes:

"Elegance is refusal"

"The more feminine a woman the stronger she is"

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable"

"Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity"

"A woman has the age she deserves"

"My friends, there are no friends"

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud"

I was wondering what people make of these? I can't quite form an opinion, for instance the point about "luxury" is that it falls into the wider context of Chanel's attitudes to ready to wear clothing. So what do you think of them? Anything sit particularly wrong or right with you?
 
 
Olulabelle
21:05 / 25.09.07
She sounds like a very rich woman who has no idea about the real world since she's never had to live in it. She also appears to think that wealth makes her perfectly entitled to be rude about those less fortunate than herself.

Perhaps I am being uncharitable. I suppose that saying a woman has the face she deserves does not necessarily directly refer to the use of face creams and the like, although it seems more likely to mean a face that has been looked after in the beauticians sense of the word than to mean that a woman who is constantly sad and cross woman will end up with a sad and cross face.

I suppose that several of her quotes are quite ambiguous and I see what you mean about that. I suppose women do have feminie power. But I do object to the idea that luxury is the opposite of vulgarity, because it implies if you can't afford luxury you are therefore vulgar.
 
 
HCE
06:01 / 26.09.07
Possibly she meant that true luxury does not come from wealth, for the wealthy can often be vulgar. Perhaps she thinks luxury involves elegance rather than wealth. I'd like to see what she thinks of as an example of "impoverished luxury" however. I have a feeling it involves spending your last francs on a little pastel suit to wear while you starve. This is pure speculation on my part, however.
 
 
Saturn's nod
10:26 / 26.09.07
Julia Cameron (author of 'The Artist's Way') strongly encourages a little authentic luxury. She talks about simple things: fresh flowers; a new set of bed linen; good quality socks.

I dislike 'vulgar' as a word because the way is sounds in my head is as if pronounced by someone who hates and despises something which is probably entirely harmless. I think I associate it with fairly unexamined class-based hatred.

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud"
I love that one, because I aspire to doing so and recognise cowardice in my failure to.
 
  
Add Your Reply