The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023 - Issue 34

biteexhibition 012 Marilyn Monroe applying Chanel N°5, photograph by Ed Feingersh, 1955, New York. © Ed Feingersh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 013 Marion Morehouse, wearing a black crepe romain bolero dress with fringed and paillette embroidered skirt by Chanel. Published in Vogue US, 1926. Edward Steichen/Condé Nast/Shutterstuck pealed to the ‘bachelor girl’ or la garçonne, the name given to the androgynous style of the women in the 1920s, character- ised by short hemlines and short hair. Dresses and jackets like the polka dot piece in a rich red print- ed silk from the Spring-Summer 1930 collection appealed to Chanel’s design sensibility. “Polka dots appear again on all fab- rics, and the crepe satin with tiny dots will certainly be a great success,” noted Vogue in January 1929. “There is something new even in the most familiar motifs.” The designer continued her intricate print pattern in a 1929 dress and coat made from wool canvas and printed silk chiffon. Flowers also featured in her style, such as the peach and white dress in printed silk chiffon from Spring-Summer 1930 with delicate petal and leaf motifs, carefully cut and scalloped, and meticulously applied around the neckline, waist and hems of the tiered skirt. Gabrielle lining an accompanying coat with the same fabric as the dress was an early sustainability ethos. She reused this technique throughout her career, notably in her iconic post-war suits for women. The cotton velvet coat in Chanel red from Autumn-Winter 1929 is exceptional, with a rollover collar and tiered sleeves. I also liked the purple and white wool-tweed overcoat with a deep purple silk lining and matching tweed skirt from Au- tumn-Winter 1933. Its winged gauntlets tapered into turned- back cuffs, and the specially dyed buttons attached to the cuff. The orange dress in wool jersey with buttons from the neck to the waist and embroidered lines was also attractive. We’re introduced to British Chanel Ltd, which Gabrielle estab- lished in 1932. Her designs were modelled by society women such as debutante Lady Pamela Smith, the Countess de La Malaise and Princess Dmitri at a show held at 39 Grosvenor Square, one of the Duke of Westminster’s properties. A video captures the show with Miss Hilary Charles wearing a white cotton dress in red and black enhanced by Hawaiian garlands and Princess Dmitri donning a red and white striped calico beach suit with a matching hat. The signature Chanel red leather coat with a wool lining and a red checkered skirt offered stylish warmth for winter sports. It was designed with cleverly concealed deep pockets in the woven leather panelling, which decorated the lower half of the garment. In October 1925, the New York Times noted the mer- its of a wool-lined leather coat for motoring and suggested that “the late golfer will find comfort in a red leather coat smartly belted.” American Vogue likened a Gabrielle crepe de Chine design they called the Chanel ‘Ford’ to the black model-T car of which Henry Ford sold 15 million models. The simple long-sleeved knee-length black dresses of the 1920s came in various designs, prompting the little black dress moniker, which remained a staple in Chanel’s crepe, jersey and satin collections. Another dress in silk crepe georgette features sparkling sequins punctu- ated with horizontal strips of diagonally placed jet beads. Movement was a fundamental principle of Chanel’s style. When the displayed sensational silk crepe, tulle and lace dress was worn, its strands of glass bead embroidery caught the light. Swirling embellishments were created using a tambour hook. The embroiderer worked from a design drawn on the reverse side and punched the hook through the fabric stretched over a frame, catching and securing the single beads in a continuous chain-like stitch. Chanel perfumes are chronicled, from the Grand Duke Dmi- tri Pavlovich of Russia introducing Gabrielle to Russian-born French perfumer Ernest Beaux, creating her line of perfumes including the world’s best-selling Chanel Nº5, introducing her make-up range, Marilyn Monroe pictured applying Chanel Nº5 at the Ambassador Hotel in New York, launching her first men’s fragrance Pour Monsieur and creating Nº19, the number taken from her birthday on 19 August, a year before she died. Her 1930s evening wear inspired by lingerie subtly accentuated the female form created with surprising purity, harmonising proportions and materials to achieve alluring silhouettes. The lightweight, streamlined dresses in hues of soft pink and pale