Coco Chanel

Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was born on August 19th, 1883, and revolutionized the fashion world. Even now, after her death on January 10, 1971, Coco Chanel is still viewed as a pioneer in the fashion industry, having completely changed the way people think about women and women's clothing. Today, the French label - previously known as the 'House of Chanel', and now simply as 'Chanel' - is one of the most respected of the haute couture variety, its logo gracing the pages of magazines and the clothing of many a fashion-conscious woman.

Chanel began her label in the 1920's, at a time when women's clothing was still stiff and uncomfortable. Seeing the potential of an unexplored niche, Coco quickly devised clothing that was as comfortable as it was stylish. In her own words, "simplicity is elegance," and elegant is exactly what the Chanel label is.

Chanel is responsible for today's "little black dress", having developed the idea early on in her career. Because of its simplicity and color, a black dress is suitable for both day and evening wear, depending on how it is accessorized. When these dresses first debued, they were strapless, backless and they shocked the public. Quickly, however, the world came to love both the dress and its designer, propelling Coco Chanel straight to the top of the fashion world.

Another unique innovation in style, something we can credit to Chanel herself, is the everpopular two-tone sling back. In search of something that would lengthen the leg, be flattering upon the foot and be stylish all at the same time, she thought of this creative solution - black at the toe, and tan around the foot. Today, a popular variation of this design is worn in many different colours, and we have Coco Chanel to thank for this break in the fashion world.

The infamous Chanel 'suit', elegantly consisting of a knee-length skirt, together with a short, box-like jacket, changed the way women were seen in the workplace, by giving them a sophisticated yet sensual appeal. This suit is still alive today, and of course, as popular as ever.

Revolutionising the way women are viewed, Coco Chanel played a key role in the development of the 1920's flappers, a new generation of young women who wore shorter skirts, listened to jazz music, bobbed their hair, wore lots of makeup and had a casual additude about all things taboo of that time period. Chanel's clothing was the basis of this look, everything from the looser fits to the shorter hemlines contributing.

Unknown, Coco Chanel. (2008). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved March 16, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel

Unknown, (2008). Discover Chanel. Retrieved March 16, 2008, from Chanel.com Web site: http://www.chanel.com/nav/html/direct_page.php? page=inside&zone_lang=EN-CA

And this time I'm doing something different. I've taken a picture of every single clothing item I own, apart from my PJ's and such, and I'm going to put them all in a binder. Within this binder there are different sections (dresses, pants, skirts, tops, etc). So why, you ask, is this going to be useful? Allow me to explain. Whenever I get dressed in the morning, I always go through every single piece to find something. And it usually all ends up on the floor because I don't have the time to hang it up again. But if I have a catelogue that I can look through to choose my outfit, doesn't that really simplify my situation? I should think so!

So that's what I've been doing thus far during my spring break. I'm probably going to hit Superstore and Old Navy today, too. Superstore has Joe Fresh, and I love Joe like a cat loves Fancy Feast. And Old Navy just has wicked sales. I mean crazy. I've gotten a lovely pair of high-waisted, wide leg jeans for $5.00. Not even kidding, my friends. If time permits, I may pop into Goodwill for some thrifting too, but we'll see.

I have a shopping problem.

Now, I'm not saying I'm not vain. I think we all are to some extent, because most people do care about how they are viewed. Logically, you could consider anyone that regularly brushes their hair vain. They're making an effort to look well-kempt. Anyone who applies mascara in the morning is vain, because they're taking time to make themselves look good.

However, when people have 300 meaningless pictures they took of themselves on whatever networking site, that is actually quite conceited. Don't get me wrong. I love Hulda's 365 project. It shows personal growth and depth, looking at the different ways one can portray one's self, and is just generally creative. But now there are quite a few people already duplicating Hulda's idea, and I hate to break it to you, but just because you own a camera doesn't mean you are a photographer.

Continuing on with this idea. I love how most of today's youth is very driven. But what I don't understand is that everyone is only interested in self-promotion. Self-promotion of what, exactly? Not everyone is a born model/photographer/singer/actress, but sadly, many people consider themselves such. Talking about how great you are is not what people are interested in reading.

The internet is capable of housing so many creative and unique things. Buzznet itself is one of these things. Other examples are StyleMob, Youtube, DIYscene, DeviantArt, and so much more. People can blog about the things they care about. People can listen to really quality music. You can do so much that's inspiring and motivated, and not at all self-centered. And just by typing something unique and pressing a button, the whole world can read what you have to say.

It doesn't have to be about who can get the most comments or views or friends. It's about what people post, and why it's important.

Pay it forward.

Both of these are excellent examples of what would have become the basis for a social movement, if everyone just had a little bit more faith in themselves and other people. Saving the world isn't as hard as it seems if you take baby steps.

My friend found this website, www.freerice.com, where you play a word game, and every question you answer correctly, they will donate 10 grains of rice to people in need. You can see how it really adds up. I mean, One word, 10 grains. 10 words, 100 grains. It's super quick, and also fun and educational. So if your bored, be productive instead of wasting time, and check out www.freerice.com.