Isle N°5

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." The preeminent words of Coco Chanel that often find their way around the Tumblr-sphere, usually with black and white landscape backgrounds. Or more annoyingly, with pictures of ripped jeans and converse, that would probably leave Coco with a serious case of nausea. I'm not here to write a whole post on the aggregations that tumblr style quotes often cause me though (and trust me I could), I'm here to talk about the lady behind that quote. More specifically, I'm here to talk about the legacy she has left behind in the form of Chanel the fashion brand. 

I was recently sitting and contemplating Chanel, a feeling I'm sure most fashion lovers will understand. Whilst doing so I thought about the key concept that Coco wanted to encapsulate within her clothes and came to the conclusion that it was most probably class. Black bouclé jackets are example enough of such a desire in my opinion. Then my thought process flashed forward to 2014. Trainers and knitted orange jumpsuits. Tweed covered sunglasses and cellophane wrapped handbags. Class?

Don't get me wrong ladies, Karl Lagerfeld is a genius. An angel placed among us mere mortals by the fashion gods. And, the whole concept behind the AW14 show is pretty spectacular. Allowing the audience to roam the isles of Chanel Shopping Centre before the show began, stacked high with "Tweed Soda" and various other supermarket essentials mixed with high fashion insanity. It's safe to say I wish I could have been there. Yet, the clothes didn't quite tick a box for me. The ever present commandment sent upon Chanel from day one - class - did not seem to be fulfilled. 

In previous seasons, AW13 for example, the colour palette or the cut of outfits have at least alluded to the Chanel moto, whereas the most recent just doesn't. One of the only recognisable elements apart from those interlocking Cs was tweed, and even that was featured on chunky running trainers. Can you imagine Coco being happy with chunky running trainers? Honestly, can you envision Miss Monroe wearing nothing but "a pair of chunky running trainers"? It's almost a laughable thought. So, regardless of the fact that some of the clothing was dreamy - although some of it simply wasn't - I can't help but be a little disappointed at the sudden loss of Chanel-isms. 

On top of that, some of the clothes simply weren't that nice. Don't hate me. I'm just not the kind of person to mindlessly fall in love with clothes due to the name on the label. In this case, I'm quite proud of that aspect of my fashion personality because I'm not sure I could forgive myself for lusting after those knee skimming trainer boot things. Not pleasant at all, in my opinion. Still, I do love those trainers (controversial, I know) and the pale pink leather gloves that made an appearance on Cara's stylish hands. 

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe it's time for a change and a shake up as provided by Mr Lagerfeld. But maybe I feel obligated under the influence of Coco Chanel - The legend, the loved - to maintain her main principle of class and so obliterate the hole covered leggings and painful array of colours. 

What do you think of the collection as a whole?
Bethany Paige X