The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman

( 45 )

Overview

Delving into the long, extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of book, exploring Chanel’s philosophy on a range of universal themes—from style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.

Born in 1883 in a poorhouse in southern France to unmarried parents, Chanel was raised in a convent after her mother died when she was six and her father abandoned her. The nuns taught ...

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Lecciones de vida de Coco Chanel: Enseñanzas de vida de la mujer más elegante del mundo

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More About This Book

Overview

Delving into the long, extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of book, exploring Chanel’s philosophy on a range of universal themes—from style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.

Born in 1883 in a poorhouse in southern France to unmarried parents, Chanel was raised in a convent after her mother died when she was six and her father abandoned her. The nuns taught her to sew, and while working as a café singer in the early 1900s she began designing hats for fun. Her lovers included a wealthy English industrialist, who helped her set up her own millinery shop and steered his society friends her way.

Chanel grew up to be the woman who not only gave us the little black dress and boxy jackets, but also popularized pants for women and easy, practical clothes that allowed women a chic freedom they’d never known before. In her strong-headed, elegant, opinionated, passionate, entirely French way, Coco Chanel helped bring women into the modern era. She was the only fashion icon to be named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century.

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel is a captivating, offbeat look at style, celebrity, and self-invention—all held together with Karbo’s droll Chanel-style commentary and culled from an examination of Chanel’s difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood, passionate love affairs, career choices, habits, eccentricities, and personal philosophies. Weaving Chanel’s life story into chapter themes that subtly convey life lessons, and with Chesley McLaren’s charming illustrations, it will leave the reader utterly entranced with, and inspired by, Chanel’s amazing individuality, confidence, and determination.

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Editorial Reviews

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"Fashion is architecture; it is a matter of proportions.... In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.... Fashion fades, only style remains the same.... Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door... Fashion is made to become unfashionable...." It is impossible to talk about the invention of Haute Couture without invoking the name and achievements of Coco Chanel (1883-1971). Karen Karbo's The Gospel According to Coco Chanel presents the essence of the French style legend's life philosophy in Chanel's own pithy, elegant words. Now in paperback and NOOKbook.

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780762764150
  • Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
  • Publication date: 3/1/2011
  • Pages: 256
  • Sales rank: 494,101
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 7.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Karen Karbo

Karen Karbo is the author of three novels, all of which were named New York Times Notable Books; and four nonfiction books, including How to Hepburn. Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, Elle, and Vogue, and on salon.com. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Chesley McLaren, known as “The French Illustrator in New York” for her Francophile style, has also worked as a Fifth Avenue fashion designer.

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Read an Excerpt

Delving into the long, extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of book, exploring Chanel’s philosophy on a range of universal themes—from style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.
Born in 1883 in a poorhouse in southern France to unmarried parents, Chanel was raised in a convent after her mother died when she was six and her father abandoned her. The nuns taught her to sew, and while working as a café singer in the early 1900s she began designing hats for fun. Her lovers included a wealthy English industrialist, who helped her set up her own millinery shop and steered his society friends her way.
Chanel grew up to be the woman who not only gave us the little black dress and boxy jackets, but also popularized pants for women and easy, practical clothes that allowed women a chic freedom they’d never known before. In her strong-headed, elegant, opinionated, passionate, entirely French way, Coco Chanel helped bring women into the modern era. She was the only fashion icon to be named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century.
The Gospel According to Coco Chanel is a captivating, offbeat look at style, celebrity, and self-invention—all held together with Karbo’s droll Chanel-style commentary and culled from an examination of Chanel’s difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood, passionate love affairs, career choices, habits, eccentricities, and personal philosophies. Weaving Chanel’s life story into chapter themes that subtly convey life lessons, and with Chesley McLaren’s charming illustrations, it will leave the reader utterly entranced with, and inspired by, Chanel’s amazing individuality, confidence, and determination.

Read More Show Less

Table of Contents

1 On Style 1

2 On Self-Invention 25

3 On Fearlessness 43

4 On Surviving Passion 61

5 On Embracing the Moment 79

6 On Success 93

7 On Cultivating Arch Rivals 111

8 On Money 133

9 On Femininity 155

10 On Time 175

11 On Living Life on Your Own Terms 193

12 On Elegance: The Gospel According to Coco Chanel 221

Acknowledgments 227

About the Author 231

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3
( 45 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(11)

4 Star

(8)

3 Star

(10)

2 Star

(8)

1 Star

(8)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 45 Customer Reviews

  • Posted February 20, 2010

    A Gospel Worth Reading!

    Coco Chanel is a fascinating woman -- smart, talented, enigmatic, French, fearless--so there is little to dissuade one from delving into such a life story. I think Karen Karbo does it well with her dry smarmy wit. It does ramble a bit, but the rambling kept my attention. I would highly recommend it! I'm glad I own it; I'll reread again in a year or two!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted January 2, 2010

    Are you a Chanel fan? Doesn't matter!

    Chanel fan or not this history/fun book tells you all you want to know and more about the rise of this legend in the fashion world. As a women of a certain age that bumped her head against the glass ceiling many times it was fun to read about how Coco pushed ahead where no female had gone before. Her nerve and iron will made me wince and smile all at the same time. As a Paris lover it was also great to read about places I have been...the shop where you are snubed...the streets I have walked on.

    Karen...after reading this I feel I can call her that...added her own twists and comments at just the right places. Thank you for an enjoyable read.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted October 12, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

    Great book & makes you look at life differently. Coco Chanel's life is outlined and split up into life lessons. My mom read this book as well and we both loved it. I recommend this inspiring book, especially if your into fashion.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted July 18, 2011

    Fun and Pretty

    This is such a truthful book written in a fun and easy style! Enjoyable stories and pretty pictures kept me interested...

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 11, 2011

    Honest Chanel

    Karbo give us all the goods on Chanel - the good, the bad and the ugly. With an unbiased approach, she chronicles Chanel's life and philosophies. Thanks, Karbo, for noting the differences between Coco's "Chanel" and Lagerfeld's "Chanel."

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted October 5, 2012

    Wonderful!

    Karbo is a brilliant writer and has produced a incredibly relatable exploration of Coco Chanel's life.

    Bravo!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 29, 2012

    H

    Leafdapple rushes in and examines leg, she grabs moss and dips it into a nearby puddle, she than washes away the blood from the gash in her leg. She quickly chews marygold into a paste, and carefully applies it to her leg. Then she grabs nearby cobwebs and puts it over the wound. Leafdsapple sits back and waits, her whiskers twitching and her dark blue eyes dart from the shecat leg, to other cats around her....
    ~Leafdapple, Thunderclan's medicine cat

    1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted September 17, 2011

    Regret Wasting the Money

    This book was an impulse buy. I got it home and was so anxious about reading it, until I found myself reading more about Karen Karbo, than life lessons, and Chanel. I do not care about her career, her income, why she can't afford the fake Chanel things on ebay... I care about Chanel.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 18, 2012

    Gleamingstar to cat

    IM NOT LYING!!!!! GRAMMERLIGHT IS A SPY!!!!!

    0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 19, 2010

    Not soo Much

    Could not get into this book at ALL!!

    0 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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    Posted January 28, 2010

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    Posted June 25, 2011

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    Posted December 29, 2009

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    Posted November 22, 2009

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    Posted January 13, 2010

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    Posted September 21, 2009

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    Posted March 20, 2011

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    Posted September 15, 2009

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    Posted November 28, 2009

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