The Chanel Jacket - by guest blogger Maya Young

  By Maya Young - Age 12

           Coco Chanel is a name people have come to know, and wear. Her simplistic and sophisticated designs have cast a spell on us and changed the world. One of her most iconic design is the Chanel jacket, an impeccably tailored, collarless, tweed jacket. Little did Coco Chanel know that this would be just one of her timeless trends that can be worn forever. 

 

           What indeed may you find in the Chanel jacket? Versatility. The beauty of the style is how easily you can dress it up, and dress it down, while still creating an effortless look. The jacket can make a woman look refined, cultured, and yet mysterious as well. It can also transform into a more soft and romantic style as well. However the jacket also brings a slouchy suave appeal to it.  Above all it can say “ I won’t bother you so don’t bother me.”

What may seem like a regular article of clothing for us, was a daringly different and unique for the time period it was originally created. Society wasn’t quite used to women balancing the masculine and feminine look, as the designer advocates the jacket as, “ a way of dressing that was masculine in its unruffled dignity, while remaining true to its creator’s idea of femininity.” In those days nobody would have thought that this sporty look in women could ever be perceived as elegant. But this was all part of Coco’s brilliance, this jacket became a powerhouse of modern fashion.

The jacket itself has a boxy shape, cinched waist, silk lining, pockets, and a chain to weight it down. This isn’t just a chic and stylish jacket, but a sequence of events, that requires continuous fitting, to reveal a flawlessly tailored product. Coco Chanel herself was a perfectionist, willing to rework fit, armholes, and even going as far as putting chains on the hemlines of her jackets so that they would hang correctly. Those making the jacket included only the finest materials, and the craftsmanship that you can only find with the most skilled seamstresses.

 

The Chanel jacket will remain a forever classic. It’s as if Coco Chanel wasn’t just designing for her time period, but as if she were predicting into the future. Even after years of Karl Lagerfeld reinventing the jacket, is it still a trendy look for our generation? Yes! If this can look absolutely stunning on Joan Smalls by tieing the sleeves together to create a bustier and skirt, then this is definitely a piece of clothing that every woman should want in their closet.

 note: This is first in a series of blog posts on the Chanel Jacket.  We'll be making one as well and showing the progress along the way.....