Chanel: A Woman of her Own
by Axel Madsen
List Price:
Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $16.01 (70%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Axel MadsenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-09-15
ISBN: 0805016392
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Chanel: A Woman of her Own
Book Review: Chanel Bio is everything it should be.
Summary: 5 Stars
I found it strange that some readers gave negative or highly critical reviews of this biography. Someone even commented on the difficulty in reading the French names! It's a little late to change Chanel's nationality and thank God! This biography is successful on a number of levels but primarily two: it recounts the fascinating life, in great detail, of the late Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel and it puts her professional contribution to the world in context. On a personal level, her life-story reads as a Dickens novel. Her's is a truly "rags-to-riches" story. Chanel was a woman who created a life and a legend against the odds. She was one of those rare and stunning creatures rising from practically nothing to become a household name. Her family was destitute. Her father abandoned her at an orphanage. Her attempts in music and theatre came to nothing. Her sewing skills were atrocious! Only after a young gentleman named Balsan recognized her talent through her unconventional beauty did her true potential begin to emerge. Chanel knew all of the greatest people of her age: Stravinsky, Cocteau, Dali, Misia Sert, and the Duke of Westminster, among others. Many of these people she knew intimately. How tragic that even after these acquaintances and global successes as a designer, Chanel never really found success in love. Professionally, the impact of her designs are still with us today and influencing generations of new designers and artists. From a perspective of fashion, Chanel almost single-handedly pulled the 19th century world into the modern age by pulling women out of corsets and sliding them into pants. The "little black dress" and classic Chanel suit are not only articles of clothing, they are timeless works of art. Madsen has succeeded in writing a biography that does not fall short as other books on Chanel have in the past. His biography begins BEFORE her birth and continues on AFTER her death. He explores her roots and discusses the ongoing impact of her life, while filling in all the opulent details in between. If you want to know who Chanel was and why she is still so important today, pick up this book. Now if they would only do a feature film treatment!
Summary of Chanel: A Woman of her Own
Alex Madsen brings to life Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, the queen of fashion who revolutionized women's styles forever.
Graphic Design Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Graphic Design Books
Rendering Fashion, Fabric and Prints with Adobe Illustratorby M. Kathleen Colussy, Steve Greenberg
Prentice Hall; Published: 2006-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $59.98
Price in other shops:
Inside Fashion Design, 5th Editionby Sharon Lee Tate, Mona S. Edwards
Prentice Hall; Published: 2003-08-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $59.95
Price in other shops:
Graphic Design: Vision, Process Productby Louis Ocepek
Prentice Hall; Published: 2002-12-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.75
Price in other shops:
Designer's Guide to Print Productionby Kayanna Pace
Prentice Hall; Published: 2001-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.36
Price in other shops:
Instructor's Manual Set for All Wordperfect 5.1 Texts: Text and 5 1/ 4" IBM Data Diskby Gonzalez
McGraw Hill Higher Education; Published: 1991-05-01; Paperback; Book
Talking with Artistsby Pat Cummings
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; Published: 1992-03-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.35
Price in other shops:
American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to the Beast Withinby Barbara Bader
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1976-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $112.12
Art of the Hobbitby J R R Tolkien
Harpercollins; Published: 2011-10-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $30.03
Comics (Learn to Draw)by John Byrne
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-03; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Printmaking: History and Processby Donald Saff, Deli Sacilotto
Wadsworth Publishing; Published: 1978-01-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $99.25
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinskyby Chris Greenhalgh
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2009-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.10
Price in other shops:
Different Like Cocoby Elizabeth Matthews
Candlewick; Published: 2007-02-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.38
Price in other shops:
Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret Warby Hal Vaughan
Knopf; Published: 2011-08-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops:
Chanel: The Couturiere at Workby Amy de la Haye, Shelley Tobin
Overlook TP; Published: 1995-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops:
Coco Before ChanelSony; Release date: 2010-02-16; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Womanby Karen Karbo
skirt!; Published: 2009-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.70
Price in other shops:
Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Lifeby Justine Picardie
It Books; Published: 2010-09-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.16
Price in other shops:
The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Womanby Karen Karbo
skirt!; Published: 2011-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.91
Price in other shops:
Chanel and Her Worldby Edmonde Charles-Roux
Vendome Press; Published: 2005-03-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $31.41
Price in other shops:
Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Lifeby Justine Picardie
It Books; Published: 2011-08-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.20
Price in other shops: