Coco Chanel
"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
“You can be gorgeous at thirty, charmimg at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.”
“I wanted to give a woman comfortable clothes that would flow with her body. A woman is closest to being naked when she is well-dressed.”
--Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel, born Gabrielle "Coco" Bonheur Chanel, is the founder of the well-known Chanel brand. She was a French fashion designer that "liberated" women from the constraints of the corset and popularized sporty, casual and chic post-WWI-era fashion for women.
On this site, I often talk about liberation -- liberation from the constraints of an unhappy marriage, liberation from societal expectations, and so on -- but I love the very tactile liberation Coco Chanel brought to women through fashion.
And, she is a very early example of a successful businesswoman, which paved the way for many after her. I mean, who hasn't heard of her signature scent Chanel No. 5?
Although Coco Chanel has been painted as a somewhat controversial character at times throughout history, there is no denying her long-lasting influence on fashion and the women's movement.
To read more about the inspirational women from this series, check out the following posts: Simone de Beauvoir, Margaret Sanger, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Kathyn Bigelow, Abigail Adams, Sheryl Sandberg, Ethel Arrowsmith and my Grandma Pat.
And, as always, if there's an inspirational woman in your life that you'd like to write about for this series, please don't hesitate to reach out via my Contact Page.
Photo: Wikipedia