FAB FINDS FRIDAY: CHANEL

Warning; this post is dripping with Chanel, brace yourself for lusting.

What do you do when you can't sleep?  I pin, and pin, and pin, and pin. It was about 2 AM one night last week and someone had pinned some items from the Chanel Ready to Wear 2016 Spring Collection.  Did it matter that spring 2016 is behind us?  Not one bit as Chanel is the epitome of timeless style. After all, who in history, besides Coco Chanel, could design a handbag, The Classic 59 to be exact, that would still be as popular today as it was in 1959 ???  I couldn't help be reminded of what a Chanel lover I am. That being said, I do have a little story, I know, shocking :).... 

One upon a time, I was a fashion design student at FIT in NY. It was 1980 something and I had my Chanel.... obsession.. Thought I was going to say bag didn't you? No, just obsession...

I was hooked on everything Chanel back then, not that I could afford any of it but a girl can dream right? I wore Chanel No. 5 and bought my share of boxy tweedy Chanelish type jackets I'd find at Lohman's to wear with my jeans and long multiple strands of pearls on black turtle necks pinned on the side with vintage brooches I'd buy on the streets of New York. I'd scour vintage and re-sale shops on the weekends hunting and hoping that someone had donated something Chanel (by accident). And one day, as luck would have it, I found an actual Chanel head band. Now again, it was the 80's and my hair was curly, frizzy and huge and in order for a head band to stay on it, it would have had to be made of steel.  Of all things, not a bag, jacket or hat I scored this headband. Years later I would have a daughter and proudly bestow it upon her head like a crown. 

Although those days are long gone, I'm still a sucker for a good tweedy boxy jacket and one of these days I will buy The Classic 59.  However, I did end up with a different Chanel bag, probably the ugliest one ever made, it comes with a story, naturally. I posted it a few years back you can read it here.

For now let's just swoon...

CHANEL

 

photos via Vogue.com

TODAY IN THE CLOSET:

Once upon a time there was a very stylish women.  Her name was Jane. She was 88 on August 15, 2013 when she lost the last of her many battles with cancer. In the 1940's she was a jazz singer with the Benny Goodman orchestra and later recorded with Desi Arnez and entertained the troops with Bob Hope and Irving Berlin. When I met her, through work in 2010, she was known for her aggressive personality and for being a bit of a nut case. We got along just fine :)  When most women her age are wearing orthopedic shoes Jane was wearing Prada Oxfords, she was the epitome of style. In fact I've never known a women in this age group to be more stylish, not in life or in Vogue!  And what was so inspiring is that through her health battles and her daily trips for chemo she was always dressed to the nines. Heck, how many of us have a cold and don't even want to get out of our sweats!?!

Jane went to chemo in suits, strings of pearls, full make-up and the cutest little page boy wig I ever did see. On one arm was always a stunning handbag, on the other her fluffy white dog. She was an inspiration to the saying 'when you look good you feel good'.  If cancer was going to take her she was going in style, and that she did.

It was no secret I coveted her handbag collection so when her husband said she would have wanted me to have one and invited me into her closet to choose, well, you can imagine my mixed emotions.  The sadness of this women's beautiful things just left to be sold off seemed so wrong to me and the excitement I felt in my thought bubble 'could I dare pick the Chanel!?!'

I picked the Chanel. I have dreams of owning my own Chanel classic 59 some day and to be perfectly honest this style Chanel is not one I would have ever chosen but who am I to look a gift Chanel horse in the mouth?  So with sweet memories of it's original owner I will wear it proudly and with style.

TODAY IN THE CLOSET:

Welcome to Fab Finds Friday! ~ If you're looking for something to add to your fall wardrobe that's edgy and current try something quilted. And we're not talking about your Grandmas quilting!

BINGE by julieshops featuring a pocket skirt

BUDGET by julieshops featuring a spiked moto jacket

TODAY IN THE CLOSET:

Here we are, circa late 1960 something, in Central Park. That's me with my sister Laurie, I've got the hair accessory, she's got the purse. Back then, on the east coast, we called it a pocketbook, or I called it a pocketbook-a, according to my mother.  On the west coast we call it a purse, when I write about it I use the word handbag, as that's the universal fashion term. But whatever you call it, it has always been and always will be my favorite accessory. There is nothing like a great handbag to take anything you're wearing from drabulous to fabulous.  You can tell so much about a women's style by the look and condition of the handbag she is carrying.

I can't write a post about handbags without mentioning my all time favorite (and still coveting) classic quilted Chanel, known in the industry as the Chanel 2.55 after the month and the year it was introduced. The fascinating fact, that you may not know, is that Coco Chanel created this iconic design 16 years after she retired and at the fabulous age of 71! Yup, she had just about been written off by most of the industry (if you can imagine that!) and stopped designing in 1939. Then, in 1955, 16 years later, she turned the fashion world upside down by creating the first ever handbag to have a chain shoulder strap freeing women's hands from holding their handbag for the rest of time.

This week I scored this great fab find while browsing the new Marshalls at The Beverly Connection. I Love Kate Spade and it was love at first site for this over sized bright Orange bag less than half it's original retail price! I grabbed it like an addict after a fix!

If you have a fab find you'd like to share please post it on the From Drabulous to Fabulous Facebook page here.

TODAY OUTSIDE THE CLOSET:

There are 2 ways you can utilize a gift card, buy something for just the amount on the card or get something you’ve been wanting that you haven’t been able to afford and add to the card. Well, in the case of Barneys New York and my lovely $100 gift card I decided to stick to option one. Those of you familiar with Barneys know that there’s pretty much nothing you can buy under $100. In fact I worked part time in Barneys New York very briefly in college, I quit to take a job at Macy’s because what good is an employee discount if you can’t afford the clothes!?!  So option one would be a challenge.

With my cohort in shopping crime, (aka The Teen Fashion Police), in tow we headed off to Barneys New York, Beverly Hills. We began at the beautiful and chic roof top café. We had a gorgeous view of the Hollywood Hills, and it took me by surprise when I was handed the menu for Barney Greengrass. (a NYC Deli est.1908!)  Liking the juxtaposition, and not one to pass up an opportunity to connect with my NY Jewish roots or a good bowl of Matzo Ball soup, I ordered like a NY’er, just about the last things I expected to eat there. And it was delish.

Knowing my plan to stay within my gift card budget, but still enjoy the splurge, we headed to the makeup counters. I spy Chanel!  Ahh Ha are you feeling it? Although we were just looking for lipstick the Chanel rep wanted to give us each a ‘complete face’. Oh twist my arm! I love expensive makeup but I also love my Maybelline Great Lash so I knew what I would and wouldn’t splurge on. I’m proud to say that we did not go over the $100 on the card, but we did spend it all, and as you might guess it didn’t go very far at the Chanel counter but it was an awfully fun treat and after all, we’re worth it!

Don't Forget to Treat Yourself!

xoxo

Julie