13A Reading Reflection

For my reading reflection, I read about Coco Chanel. While this book was quite insightful on the ways of entrepreneurship, I have realized that you have to have a certain kind of personality and charisma to do exactly what she did, especially during the time period that she started her business. Coco Chanel had a less than ideal childhood, growing up in the impoverished countryside of France. She didn't speak French too well and started learning when she was almost as adult. She couldn't read French too well either which is odd considering the country she lived in and the fact that it must have been extremely difficult for her to be able to do things whilst not being able to speak the main dialect of the country. Through difficulties, she persevered which is something I admired the most about her. From becoming a seamstress and a singer-actress combination shortly after she turned 18, she built her business from the ground up, literally. She started trends in fashion that she probably didn't recognize as being a big deal but they were. She wore pants and vests for horseback riding and while she was a jockey for a short time. This was the first known fashion controversy she presented with. I am not to in touch with the fashion world, I usually buy all my clothes at thrift stores so reading about someone so iconic and knowing little about them was strange. I also admired her unconventional journey - from complete and utter poverty to the ultimate glamor in such a short time period. She was rebellious in her style of clothing and it was something that pushed boundaries for fashion in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

One of the things I least admired about Coco Chanel's journey was the dependence she had on some men when starting her fashion journey. As someone who prides herself on being an independent woman, especially in a male-dominated society and career path, for me I felt like it put a bad taste in your mouth when it came to the freedom and independence she lacked. I also have to remind myself that this is during a time when women didn't even wear pants and was over 100 years ago. Like many entrepreneurs, Chanel faced adversity and failure. When she was taking out loans for her fashion line introduction, she has to have a co-signer which had to be a man during that time. I could see the problems this caused between her and her backer at the time. She also struggled with her sexuality during this time, and at the end of the book she identifies herself as bisexual, probably a term that was never used during her lifetime. With drug habits coming and going along with German soldier lovers and trust-fund baby beaus, I know she must've struggle against societal pressures.

As stated in the book by Lisa Chaney, "As one of the pioneers of modern womanhood, Chanel personified one of its greatest dilemmas: fame and fortune versus emotional fulfillment". This was one of the competencies that Chanel dealt with. Either be famous for her advancement in the fashion world or lack the emotional capacity to establish a long lasting relationship with anyone. This put a strain on her lifestyle choices, hence the drug use throughout her life. She was able to deal with this power struggle and it worked to her advantage.

This book was not the easier to read. With lingo and words that were probably translated from French to English make parts of the story confusing. I also don't know what some of the words meant at all. The writing itself was difficult to interpret which was something I am not the biggest fan of while reading. If I could ask Chanel two questions, they would be "What were you most excited about when starting your fashion line?" and "If you were not running Chanel, what would you being doing with your life?". This was a good story to read because I knew so little about the development of Chanel or even what is was created from. Chanel is definitely a legacy brand that will live on for a very long time.