Currently Reading: The Gospel According to Coco Chanel

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

"Life lessons from the world's most elegant woman." That's the phrase on the front of the book, The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, by Karen Karbo. And it is so true. She tells the history of Chanel, how she came from nothing and became the world's most famous fashion designer. She describes Chanel’s traits, the workaholic mentality, Chanel’s view on love, and the way she would do whatever she needed to even if some people thought she was a b*@%#. She describes the importance of believing in you, no matter what anyone thinks. And the most important lesson, to me, so far... elegance comes from within. Even if you are not of the top 1% of the top 1%, as she puts it, and can't own a wardrobe of 100% Chanel, you can still emulate her style. 

In addition to all the important lessons the book holds, which I have to say I can definitely learn a thing or two from Chanel, Karen Karbo also obsesses over buying a Chanel jacket. She doesn’t feel as if she can write about Chanel's life if she doesn't own a single piece of Chanel, but every time she gets close to buying one on ebay she chickens out. She debates looking for a Chanel-Chanel jacket or a Lagerfeld-Chanel jacket (one of the designers who took over after Chanel), but when she begins her search for the Chanel-Chanel jacket, she is basically told “good luck” and that, even if she could find one, it would be the difference of buying a real Picasso painting verses a print in the museum store. So far in the book she has not purchased anything Chanel (Lagerfeld or other), and I’m not sure she will, but I like the struggle, and the desire. She is every girl dealing with practicality verses the need for beautiful high fashion. 

 

The author is very witty; she literally makes me laugh out loud during a few of the chapters/paragraphs. It makes me feel like she is my most humorous friend and we just happen to be having a conversation about Chanel, and the ways in which we can be more like her. I’m really enjoying this book so far.