Thursday, December 10, 2009

Topic Ten: Coco Chanel as a Fashion Designer

Discussion Topic Ten (2009/12/7~12/14):

Discussion Topics:
What qualities in Coco Chanel do you think have helped to mark her out as an outstanding fashion designer for women's clothing and accessories in her times? 




A few remarks about Coco Chanel:


 As a female fashion designer in her time, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883~1971)presented her particular vision for how a woman should dress herself for her own comfort.





Simplicity is her trademark,  Under the comfortable garment, the beauty of a woman's body is naturally revealed.
























Functionalism is stressed.
The strict differentiation between male and female sports wears was discarded for the sake of women's comfort as well as functional concern.





Chanel adopted inexpensive fabrics,  originally used in male workers' clothing, in her designs of women's casual wears as well as working clothes.




Chanel guided her fashion design company for 20 years and created a style that could be passed on from one generation to the next.

Born to a poor family and raised in an orphanage, Chanel made herself a cultural icon in the twentieth century.























Source for the Photos cited above:


For general information, please visit:

To view Coco's apartment in Paris, please link to:



58 comments:

  1. Coco was true to her own opinions about how a woman should feel under the clothing she had put on. She also had a free spirit to try new materials for women's clothes. Most of all, she was determined to be successful. Her determination was amazing!

    ~by Vinia

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  3. I think the most important quality in Coco Chanel is that she considers women’s clothing as a way to express women themselves instead of satisfying men.

    In Chanel’s time, the whole society was controlled by men; men usually decided what women should wear, even a popular designer was a male.

    Chanel has strong courage to express what she thought women should wear even though most of people didn’t agree and support her in her early time.

    96540328 Erita

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  4. I think the reason why she became so famous is becaue she was so bold that she had the dare to challenge curretn fashion trends. She setted new trends that no one had ever done. She made lots of breakthroughs concerning fashion design. This makes her what she is now.

    95540450 Annie Chang

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  5. She has the qualities of generous. She doesn't afraid of expressing her thought and like to look for the challenge. She has the different ways of doing everything because she like something unique. Although in her time she may seems to be a strange person, she insist on her own mind to do everything.


    96540348-Alexa

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  6. Simplicity sometimes is the upmost style. And i think CoCo Chanel's the representative of it. However rebellious she was, she's the one who had the vision and was so powerful predict and lead the fashion trend! She's indeed a successful woman. She's created her own legend!

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  7. I think Coco Channel's persistence of fashion makes her a successful designer. She is so aggressive that she seizes each opportunity. She understands what women want and what trend exists in. Coco Channel devotes herself to her business. At the time, people just thought that women should be obedient to men. I admire Coco Channel's faith and courage. Coco Channel's success reflects the fact that once people making up their minds to achieve their goals, it is possible for them to success. 96540326 Ronne

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  8. To me, I think the key to her success is her strong faith and determination. She is a very confident woman who always trust her instincts and follow her heart. She trust herself and believe in her own unique talent. And once she made up her mind on doing something, she never quit! She is willing to take challenges and conquer all the difficulties. I think only the one like Coco Chanel can lead the fashion trend since fashion is not something to be discovered; instead, fashion is something to be created! And creation requires tremendous courage to try and experiment, and most importantly, the sense of self affirmation.

    by Eva 95540460

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  9. I think she knows what she wants. Many people don’t know what they want to do in the future; they just follow others. Take university students now for an example; most university students are thinking about whether they are going to go to graduate school or not. And they can be categorized into two groups. One is that they know the purpose of spending two more years in graduate school and then they decide to go to graduate school. The other is that they don’t know the reason why they go to graduate school. They decide to go to graduate school because their peers are going to do so. Also, some university students still don’t know what they are going to do for living, so they just study two more years. From the movie, I can see that Coco is not like university students now. She knows what she wants clearly. She chooses not to stay in the church and goes out to find a job. Although she does have financial problems, she insists to do the best quality handmade hat. She keeps her faith. Also, she sticks with what she wants and becomes succeed finally.

    96540329 Sharon

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  10. I think the reason that she is so popular and successful for many years is that Coco Chanel breaks through tradition. She does what she wants, and she designs comfortable clothes for women. Coco Chanel's clothes and accessaries are of very high quality, so the nobility love her products very much.

    96540337 Amanda

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  11. Having watching this move, Coco before Chanel, I think she had very good sense and talent in clothing. Chanel always designed the clothing simple, comfortable, and revealing. Unlike most designers in Europe, she kept the woman inside the clothes at the center of her creations. She said ", I gave women a sense of freedom; I gave them back their bodies: bodies that were drenched in sweat, due to fashion's finery, lace, corsets, underclothes, padding." Chanel was famous for popularizing practical clothes, including pants for women, little black dresses, and box-like collarless jackets with bias edging and brass buttons. In my opinion, she didn’t stick to the traditional norm while she tried to something different and something which was indeed needed. This definitely made her success into an outstanding fashion designer.

    96540313 Joy Chuang

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  12. What makes Coco a splendid and successful designer is her vision, her insist, and her strong faith. She believes in what she believes, and will never give in easily to others. What she insists in women should have their own freedom also makes her outstanding. Nothing can fluctuates Coco's strong faith. Instead, she becomes even stronger whenever encountering difficulties. It's not easy for one to insist his/her opinions when the time is hard and no one seems accepts. But Coco did. Her perseverance
    convinces everybody that she is right. I also admire her style and her ideas toward design-- simplicity and functionalism. Simple but elegant. And I agree with what she describes--we women wear for entertaining ourselves rather than satisfying men.

    96540344 Ann

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  13. I think what makes Coco Chanel a perfect fashion designer is her insistence. She insists on what is right in her mind. Like in the movie, when the war broke out, she knew that glorious clothes were not suitable in that situation. She decided to use jersey to make comfortable clothes for women. Although many people considered this use of material is not appropriate, she insisted on using it and finally won many women’s hearts. She never forgot the original purpose of her career. I learned one thing from her, that is, always remind myself of my original purpose when I feel like giving up.

    96540306 Alan

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  14. I admire Coco Chanel’s spectacular viewpoint and her insistence to change. She is a person who can speak out her opinion and make it into action. She seeks her dream without giving up. If she didn’t have the courage to take those challenges, there won‘t be a Chanel company and the recent fashion world.

    96540343 Carol

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  15. Her belief and life experiences have made Coco Chanel an outstanding fashion designer. Like most of women, Coco Chanel lost herself while she was in love with the Duke. However, after defeated by all the difficulties she encountered, Coco Chanel didn’t give up. Although Coco Chanel has already lost her sister and her lover who are considered to be her two treasures, she didn’t give in. Instead, she finally found the strength to carry on her life. Coco Chanel’s design aims to display the intrinsic strength of women; hence, in most of Coco’s design she put a lot of emphasis on individuality. She thinks women’s characteristics should not be restrained. “Without the man, women still can be independent as well” this is possibly what Coco Chanel wants to tell all women though her design at that time. Perhaps, for Coco, “Chanel” the brand is the only evidence that prove her love with Capel. She wants the brand to last just as her eternal love for Capel.

    96540345 Angela, Hu

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  16. I think she had penetrative observation, and she knew that what women wanted and what make them comfortable. So, she designed a brand “Chanel” which was very famous and popular around the world. Because she had different ideas and thoughts from others in her time, her works were not accepted easily. However, she had confidence in her works, and kept going although there were difficulties. Her brand has been so successful in past and now because of her insistence and strong.

    96540323 Gladys

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  17. Coco Chanel processes what every painter and designer should have, the determination. Many designers confront with difficulties to let people understand their thoughts not to mention to sell their works, such as Van Gogh. But the most amazing thing is that despite the difficulties they face, Coco Chanel or Van Gogh, they have the determination to accomplish it.

    96540318 Sunny

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  18. I think Coco Chanel had strong confidence in herself. She expressed her opinions directly and was not restricted to the social conventions. She thought that women should wear comfortable clothes instead of beautiful but uncomfortable clothes, and she always collocated some adornments to the clothes; letting the cloth style still in fashion. Moreover, when she faced difficulties, she didn’t cry for her misfortune, instead, she would pluck up her spirits and solve the problems right away. I think this is the main reason why she can became the successful fashion designer for women’s clothing and accessories in her times.

    96540315 Betty

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  19. I think that it is determination that makes her become an outstanding fashion designer. At that time, most of the female didn't have the courage to pursue what they want, but Coco Chanel did. She was willing to face any difficulties. Her elegant and simple design of the clothes and accessories attract the people all over the world.
    96540317 Jocelyn Chen

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  20. 96540319 Emily
    Her different point of view is different with others, and it makes her have unusually sense of fashion. However, at the first, her design was not accepted widely, though; some people say her design was good and unique. I think the most important qualities she had is that she never gave up when she encountering difficulties. And also, in her life, many people helped her, such as Boy. In her life, people helped her, and she never gave up. I think that why she can be an outstanding designer in the world and make it worldwide.

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  21. Talent, of course, is one of the main reasons that made Coco so successful.She is gifted in clothing design. She could sense the trend, and she knew what people need and what kind of fabric is suitable for women.
    Another reason lies on her background. Having been abandoned by her father and experienced the death of beloved mother made her an independent girl since chlidhood, which also made her fortitude and never give up.
    Moreover, many people had helped her, such as her beloved Boy. They helped her no matter in financially or in spiritually. With their support, Coco successfully created her own fashion world.
    95540333 Katie

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  22. as a woman in her time, coco was courageous more than enough to spell out her feelings. she spoke out the needs hid inside every woman. i think her unbeatable position in fasion history attributes to her courage.

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  23. The insistance, the vision are her ways to build a huge fashion emperor!! She holds a different point of view and insist on her dream.

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  24. I think the high sense of self-respect, independence and determination are the main qualities to mark her out as an outstanding fashion designer for women's clothing and accessories. Also, she likes to challenge creations and face numerous difficulties in her life, and it is the important spirit to explore the business. As a woman, these personalities might help her life career; somehow, she has too much pride that she would loose her love from true love. Man cannot accept his wife(lover) strenuous than him.
    96540307 Millia

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  25. In my opinion, the reason why Coco Chanel could be so outstanding was because of her independence and courage. She refused to depend on the men. Instead, she believed that she has the ability to be independent. She dared not to try was not afraid of breaking rules. She broke many stereotypes of women. At that time, people thought women should wear big hats and heavy dresses; however, Coco Chanel didn't think so. She designed the small hats which would be more convenient for women to wear. She also used jercey to design sports wears which were much more comfortable for women to wear. Besides, since the clothes were made by jercey, which was a cheap material, not only rich people, but also the poor people were affordable of the prices.
    96540339 Amy

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  26. One of qualities that CoCo Chanel has is courage. She is so brave to challenge the time she live. To create a new way that women can do for themsleves.
    In my point of view, I think I don't have that courage to change things I'm dislike. That's why CoCo Chanel can become an outstanding fashion designer.
    96540324 Erin

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  27. I Think that the courage to insist in what she believe to be truth to how she really feel is the qualities to help mark her out as a outstanding fashion designer.

    although i don't understand fashion, i think how to comprimise between social value and personal value is also very important.

    by Eric

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  28. I'm 96540310 Lester. I think, just like other celebrities, Chanel never gives up the belief which she's eager to prove to everyone. In short, seize onto the belief and prove it.

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  29. She persists in her thought, although some people consider she is stubborn, she just believe in, and never gives up. Her determination amazes me; this is what I can’t present; she is so brave to make the decision.


    96540327 Daisy

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  30. She knew what she wanted and bravely pursued it. She had strong determination so nothing could move her. I hope I can be so persistent as Coco Chanel, then nothing can beat me.
    96540331 Josie

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  31. I think it is her insistance that led to her success. Even though she failed some of the time, there were always someone came for help. From the film we can know that, whta she she really intended do would finally succeed. So it is important to have strong faith, real action and somehow a little good luck. Maybe in someday, there will be another legend.
    96540341 Ella

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  32. Coco’s persistence, creativity, and unique taste, and her concern on female altogether are the key elements to her outstanding performance in fashion design. Being a legendary woman, coco had all the qualities, which contribute to her success, stated above.
    Firstly, coco continually realizes her aesthetic theory throughout her life, even when the World War II broke up. Her persistence on sharing her design ideology to the public not only wins her last battle with her agent but keep her company runs well in her lifetime. Besides, Coco’s unique yet appealing taste on hand-made hats wins women’s hearts at her age. Her success in doing business on hats did contribute to her confidence in managing her design industry. The core of her theory is to free women’s body and reveal the perfect shapes of women’s bodies, which idea is well received by women with self-consciousness.

    By 96540333 Jennifer

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  33. Coco Chanel was an extraordinary and special woman at that time. She didn't like to constraint on the troditional rules. She like to wear men clothes and take out the bodice that women must wore to show their beauty. Coco Chanel was fond of camellia, so she made the flower the classic logo for her brand. With her avant-garde for fashion trade, coco chanel not only become a brand but also a guide for fashoion every seasons.
    96540334 Paula

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  34. Persisting to making comfortable clothing instead of disguising her own design as a fashion one is Coco Chanel’s most successful part. Coco Chanel claims that women should wear comfortable garment so that their own beauty will reveal naturally. She also uses cheap materials to in her design of clothing, and this kind of clothing is popular at that time. The major quality that Coco Chanel has is her observation toward fashion and her customer’s demand. She always designs comfort garment for women instead of satisfying men’s view point about what they like women to wear. Also, Coco Chanel’s preservative toward her design business makes her succeed in women’s clothing and accessories. Finally, her brand Chanel leads to a important role in modern society.

    Commented by Frank 96540314

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  35. Coco Chanel was very intelligent, confidence, creative, comfort and talent. The mainly quality, comfort and optimal proportions to make body look sexy without undressing it were very important to her. She wanted for women to move in their clothes without loosing their beauty and attractiveness for her and those who are like her. She dislike women wear dresses for men. Her creativity was using those materials that other people didn’t think bout using them and she was very confidence about it. All of those qualities helped her to be successful in her life.

    Kezhan 96540350

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  36. I think the essential spirit of Coco Chanel is to encourage women to live on in their own ways, not for others. CoCo’s design on the clothes or accessories created new fashion trend at that time as her works are designed according to people’s different needs. It could reflect that women could have their own choices to wear what they like, not just for pleasing men. Her design is still a famous fashion guide in the world. This brand not only opened up CoCo’s her life in a new stage, but also brought women charms and confidences.
    by 96540321 Julia

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  37. Coco Chanel was resolute. She truly knew what she wanted and had her own way of expressing her extraordinary ideas into artwork. Also, she had her own insights toward the element of what made fashion and beautiful. Even though others may not agree with her taste, she still stuck to herself. This characteristic had helped to establish her own special taste and made the iconic signature in her work as well as the success in the fashion field. Her success lay in her determination for what she wanted to do. For example, her own business in making hats was not so prospective at first. And yet, she never intended to give up.
    For me, fashion, or more exactly the taste, is having your own creative and unique idea, it's actually very subjective. Coco thought it important that woman dress herself for her own comfort, dress simply to make the woman’s body being naturally revealed, and she adopted fabrics originally used in male workers' clothing in her designs of women's casual wears and working clothes. These ideas may seem to be too crazy for the majority of people in that time to accept, but there was sure some people that will appreciate her work.
    She didn’t try to cater to the public's taste through imitating or copying other people's ideas and mix with them in order to receive universal appreciation, which will only make the work awkward--neither her style nor others. Nor did she follow other designers who used the normal fabric to make the outfit and tailor to the customer’s favor. Instead, she stuck to herself, being versatile and playing enjoyably her ideas into various creations, and that was the way of her success. I think this is very important for a designer although sometimes it requires patience for the time when people start to approve your idea and appreciate your work.

    95540456 Charlene

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  38. I think the reason way Coco Chanel is so successful is that she want a career that offers a challenge. She mixed up the male and female clothes and created different fashion. She believed what she did, and bravely broke the tradition.

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  39. No matter herself or brand of Chanel can bring fashion and position for women. Besides, her confident and brave can affect women’s thought and mind. She always does something she wants to do once she decided, as well as she breaks through tradition; thus, she could success. According to her example, we can know that her vision, her insist, and her strong faith are the reasons which she becomes a successful designer. 96540305 Cherry

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  40. She goes her unique way, I think that’s why. She had the courage to think different from others. She is a fashion design icon with persistence, extraordinary observation and the most important one creativity. She “created” her own clothes and other accessories but not duplicated others’ ideas. I think that what made her so outstanding. She brought what people want, afterward, people want what she brings.
    96540320 Annon

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  41. The main reason why Coco Chanel leads herself in a top fashion designer’s lives is persistence and passion. In my opinion, no matter what of job, the two qualities are very important. Coco Chanel found her interest in women clothing, and she insisted to do the job in her all lives. Although she encountered many difficulties in her younger age, she never give up, trying her best to fulfill the dream.
    -
    96540325 Angela

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  42. I think her creativity, gifted talent toward fahsion, persistence and dignity as a woman gave Coco Chanel a unique perspective to display her ideas in the fahsion world.
    And also she was every clever to find any opportunity to transmit her ideas in high class society. But most of all, she was extremely proud and sure of her own design, and its her belief toward woman dignity that put her design to a higher level!

    by anita 95540458

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  43. Coco Chanel took the challenge and mixed the male and female trend together, she knew exactly what she was doing, back in the old days, women need to be obedient under men's commands, but Chanel took a different path and made her own legend. i admire people like her, people who dares to break through tradition can always make herself an idol among all other people, i hope i could be like her one day, doing my future career with courage, and without fear.

    Michelle 96540451

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  44. In my opinion, Coco Chanel’s sheer persistence in her career made her an outstanding fashion designer. She had faith in her visions and made best use of her talent in fashion designs. She broke down social barriers in terms of fashion and built them around her career. She wanted women to be true to themselves (to be just themselves) and stand by their own dreams instead of only pleasing men. She also wanted to explore new things including using clothing materials.

    Bahyan 96540352

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  45. I think she has the quality of faith and insistence. Because of both qualities make her to passionate her career. Although the society is bias against her design, she doesn’t give up rather than being willingly to do what she wants and to show how she likes. 96540304 四英三 Steven

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  46. Resolute, confidence,indomitable and bold to love. These are the main factors that she can be such a great designer of all time.

    95540326 Gary

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  47. The gifted talent of her definitely gives her better chance to outstand in the fashion world in her times. However, just like most fellow classmates has mentioned, she dares to breakthrough and to be who she is, and she evokes others through her designing that women should not just do things out of satisfying men. In spite of the rumors of her, her determination and edgy designing do make her name famous till now which is amazing.

    By Jimmy 96540340

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  48. 96540342 Grace

    I think Coco makes great success in fashion field is because she has a unique viewpoint of beauty and a personality of not being forgetable. She looks things differently from others,that's why she can always make great creation of fashion. She makes people believe what beauty really is and how to present themselves amazingly in front of others. Moreover,she has an ability to make people cannot forget who she is. She really has a style and tries to be outstanding from average people, I do believe that these are the reasons why Coco and her fashion genre are so popular.

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  49. Talented, I think. In my opinion, Coco is born to be a designer. She always has lots of ideas about what she is going to create. Her outstanding sense of fashion is another reason why Coco’s designs are always welcomed by females. She is also very confident in herself. What’s more, she is so brave that she is willing to try as many new things as she can. To sum up the reasons above, no wonder Coco would be such a great designer, or you can say, she is a legend.

    96540335 Cindy

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  50. Her innovation to break the rules of women’s clothing had helped her out. She was not afraid of other people’s criticism and was not concerned about what people thought of her. She did what she thought was right. Her courage had helped her in operating her business. As a woman, she understood the defects of a traditional dress. She deigned the clothes based on people’s needs, so people feel comfortable when wearing the clothes designed by her.

    96540303 Ivy

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  51. I think the major reason of Coco’s success cannot exclude her relationship with her two boyfriends. Though she works hard and never gives up on trying to make herself recognized, her boyfriends (especially Boy) help her a lot. There were too many sad examples of ambitious artists who wish to make it big but failed. The lucky ones may get noticed after their death and have their talent approved by the world, but most of them just lived in depression and poverty. I think a strong economy support (by celebrity particularly) is of vital importance to artists who want to succeed, whether they start out in an age of young or old. “With your talent and my money,” Boy had said this to Coco for times in the movie. Let’s just face it, without his support, no matter how good Coco was or how persistent she might be, she possibly could not make it (or she might jsut barely make it in her senior years).

    Melissa Wong 95540455

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  52. I think it's obvious that the spirit of Coco Chanel marks her out as an outstanding fashion designer for women's clothing. Her spirit is her faith in whatever she did. She faced the difficulites bravely and went through them in the end. She always believed her own judgment and tried hard to made her dream came true. The most important factor of her success is that she knew exactly what she or women wanted. Although her idea was kind of unacceptable at that time in the beginning, she did not give up and finally made it. Her spirit is worth to learn!! As a woman, we should be independent and pursue whatever we want.

    96540322 Jasmine

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  53. Of course, first of all, she becomes an outstanding fashion designer because of her talent. Second, I think the orphanage always plays an important role in her life. It is the orphanage makes her independent, or to say to have individual thought. She can live without the help from men. She has her own thought and won’t be affected by any others. Even if she faces some difficulties, she won’t give up. She won’t be confined to the ordinary people. Everyone thinks that women should be graceful and needs to wear bodice to show their beauty, but she doesn’t think so. She thinks simplicity, comfort, and function are what really matters. She can think outside the box. That is the reason why she can create a different style. That is the reason why she can succeed.

    96540332 Mark

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  54. Her thought was out of the ordinary. She didn't care others' judgements, and was always full of self-confidence. That's why she is unique.

    93540313 Tina

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  55. I admire the spirit of Coco Chanel very much. She is a person who never slacks off in her goal. She always marches towards final target with determination and courage. She is brave enough to have a try. She can catch each opportunity to show her own idea so that she can succeed in the end.

    By 96540347 Lisa

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