Gabrielle's Inspiration

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Gabrielle.  Her dad was a bit of a bum and when her mom got sick and passed away, she ended up at an orphanage run by nuns.  She grew up to be one of the most famous people in all of fashion and rarely talked about this time in her childhood.  But her art reflected this place in ways I never knew.

This little girl grew up and reinvented herself as Coco Chanel.  Her coveted CC logo sure resembles the stained glass windows in that medieval abbey.  Nuns sure wore a lot of black and white.  And the chains and pearls she was so fond of have a lot in common with rosary necklaces.  The excerpt I read from Justine Picardie's new book Chanel: Her Life, reminded me that inspiration can come from anywhere, even if you don't want to talk about it.