Tuesday 13 March 2018

"Coco Chanel: Pearls, Perfume and the Little Black Dress" by Susan Goldman Rubin (Abrams Young Readers)

As C's interest in Fashion Design grows, she's beginning to want to know more about the ground-breaking figures who cut their own path through a massively unforgiving - and at one time largely male dominated industry...
Coco Chanel was, without a doubt, one such figure - coming from extremely poor and humble roots to establish a colossal fashion and perfume empire that is still hugely influential and well respected even today.

Coco's life story is detailed in the fantastic "Coco Chanel: Pearls, Perfume and the Little Black Dress" book by Susan Goldman Rubin.

Beginning with the difficult years Chanel spent in an orphanage, Goldman Rubin traces Coco’s development as a designer and demonstrates how her determination to be independent helped her gain worldwide recognition. 


Focussing on the obstacles Chanel faced as a financially independent woman in an era when women were expected to marry, the book is extremely timely and important - showing just how much of a struggle women faced when trying to establish themselves in just about any industry. 

Chanel's body of pioneering work is unprecedented, turning the fashion world on its head with iconic designs, a multitude of 'firsts' and of course her wildly successful perfume empire. 

She was incredibly strong willed, some might even say unpleasantly so but she was extremely determined and driven, knew exactly what she wanted to achieve and went out and achieved it with aplomb. 

Her personal life was beset by tragedy, lost love and hardship but through this she has become one of the most widely recognised women of the 20th Century, and a woman that girls like C will love reading about. 

This is a fantastic book, full of facts and amazing anecdotes with a brilliant bibliography and plenty of information where to go next to find out more about this incredible woman. 

"Coco Chanel: Pearls, Perfume and The Little Black Dress" by Susan Goldman Rubin is out today, published by Abrams Young Readers (kindly supplied for review).