Men Have Their Way, But Women Have Their Wiles

Ari Brugh's dress has my attention!

A girl, Gabrielle was born France in August of 1883. Her father abandoned the family when she was 10 years old and her mother died of tuberculosis two years later. Gabby went to a Catholic orphanage until she was forced to leave on her 18th birthday. On that day, she dropped her father’s surname and used her mother’s – Devolle.

To make ends meet, she got a job as a cabaret singer and got the stage name “Coco” – which was short form of ‘cocotte’ – French for ‘a kept woman’. She would soon learn to and earn that title for life.

One of her quotes in life was, “Once you know men are children, you know everything.”

When she lost her job as a singer, she took a job in a combination textile mill and tailoring shop. There she applied her wiles on the owner’s son E. Balsan, and future heir of the business. Soon she was no longer sewing, but designing hats for her adulterous boyfriend.

She moved into an apartment he furnished for her, as he lavishly showered her with gifts and jewelry. But in 1909, she began an affair with one of Balsan’s best and even richer friend, Captain Arthur Capel.

Capel soon financed Coco’s own hat boutique, and continued to do so nine years after marrying another aristocratic woman.

She said at the time, “I don’t know why women want any of the things men have when one of the things women have is men.”

Coco dated some of the most influential men of her time, but she never married. The reason may be found in her answer, when asked why she did not marry the Duke of Westminster she said,

“There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Coco.”

When a famous French actress wore one of Coco’s hats on stage and another at a modeling show, her business took off.

In 1924, Coco made a partnership with two brothers who owed a perfume factory. They felt they needed a woman’s point of view to expand their business.

Coco said at the time, “A woman who wears no perfume has no future.”

Her fame as a hat designer had grown, but the market for hats was declining. So she expanded her designs to dresses and shoes. She said at the time,

“Don’t spend time beating on a wall trying to turn it into a door.”

In 1931, while vacationing in Monte Carlo, she met Samuel Goldwyn. Coco was dating Sam’s friend, the Grand Duke of the Russian Empire at the time. Sam was impressed with Coco and made her an unbelievable offer. He would pay her the sum of $1 million dollars ($75 million in today’s money) to come to Hollywood twice a year to design dresses for his MGM stars.

Coco had told him, “Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no dress, there is no woman.”

But ultimately it was her perfume line that made her the most famous and wealthy despite everyone telling her she would fail.

She said, “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know failure is inevitable.”

On their 5th attempt, the perfume was perfected – and she decided to put away the past and named it with her father's last name – Chanel.

She thought that - Chanel #5 - was the best name of the ideas she came up with. She said at the time,

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself out loud.”

Now you know the rest of the story.