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Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History Hardcover – September 30, 2014
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Advance praise for Mademoiselle
“This is the definitive biography of Chanel. It is also the life of one of the most successful world conquerors who has ever imposed her will on a vast subject population. It is gripping, astute, and elegantly written. And if it leaves you leery of ever wearing a Chanel jacket, or carrying a Chanel bag, you will understand where the desire for it came from.”—Judith Thurman, author of the National Book Award–winning Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller
“In this magisterial, affecting portrait, Rhonda K. Garelick traces Chanel’s history as a woman and as a designer and in doing so illuminates the troubling contradictions of twentieth-century Europe. Her book is a masterwork of original research and psychological nuance, remarkable in combining insight into her subject with insight into modernity entire. It’s a Jamesian portrait of the curious mix of sadness and sadism that loneliness can hatch. It is also a deeply moving exploration of a damaged, unhappy genius striving vainly for an elusive wholeness, and, by sheer force of will and vision, remaking the world’s notion of elegance in her own image.”—Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award–winning The Noonday Demon
“A stylish book about style, based on meticulous research and a deep understanding of French culture. Rhonda Garelick tells this extraordinary story with just the right blend of sympathy and judgment, in an utterly readable account.”—Peter Brooks, author of Reading for the Plot and Henry James Goes to Paris
“Garelick expertly illuminates the forces that created one of the world’s most iconic brands. Mademoiselle is a fascinating account of the grit as well as the glamour behind the rise of Coco Chanel.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana and A World on Fire
“Garelick explores the world of Coco Chanel in intimate—and intricate—detail, revealing the life and times of the woman she astutely describes as ‘understanding how the right labels can govern desire.’ This is a must-have book for followers of fashion and social history devotees alike.”—Lindy Woodhead, author of War Paint and Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge
“Definitive . . . Cultural biographer Garelick . . . offers a fine psychological portrait of the poor orphaned girl [who] succeeded smashingly on her own terms.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Delivers a probing, well-researched and insightful biography of this familiar but endlessly surprising figure.”—Publishers Weekly
“This is the definitive biography of Chanel. It is also the life of one of the most successful world conquerors who has ever imposed her will on a vast subject population. It is gripping, astute, and elegantly written. And if it leaves you leery of ever wearing a Chanel jacket, or carrying a Chanel bag, you will understand where the desire for it came from.”—Judith Thurman, author of the National Book Award–winning Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller
“In this magisterial, affecting portrait, Rhonda K. Garelick traces Chanel’s history as a woman and as a designer and in doing so illuminates the troubling contradictions of twentieth-century Europe. Her book is a masterwork of original research and psychological nuance, remarkable in combining insight into her subject with insight into modernity entire. It’s a Jamesian portrait of the curious mix of sadness and sadism that loneliness can hatch. It is also a deeply moving exploration of a damaged, unhappy genius striving vainly for an elusive wholeness, and, by sheer force of will and vision, remaking the world’s notion of elegance in her own image.”—Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award–winning The Noonday Demon
“A stylish book about style, based on meticulous research and a deep understanding of French culture. Rhonda Garelick tells this extraordinary story with just the right blend of sympathy and judgment, in an utterly readable account.”—Peter Brooks, author of Reading for the Plot and Henry James Goes to Paris
“Garelick expertly illuminates the forces that created one of the world’s most iconic brands. Mademoiselle is a fascinating account of the grit as well as the glamour behind the rise of Coco Chanel.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana and A World on Fire
“Garelick explores the world of Coco Chanel in intimate—and intricate—detail, revealing the life and times of the woman she astutely describes as ‘understanding how the right labels can govern desire.’ This is a must-have book for followers of fashion and social history devotees alike.”—Lindy Woodhead, author of War Paint and Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge
“Definitive . . . Cultural biographer Garelick . . . offers a fine psychological portrait of the poor orphaned girl [who] succeeded smashingly on her own terms.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Delivers a probing, well-researched and insightful biography of this familiar but endlessly surprising figure.”—Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Rhonda K. Garelick writes on fashion, performance, art, and cultural politics. Her books include Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle, Electric Salome: Loie Fuller’s Performance of Modernism, and, as co-editor, Fabulous Harlequin: ORLAN and the Patchwork Self. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, New York Newsday, International Herald Tribune, and The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as in numerous journals and museum catalogs in the United States and Europe. She is a Guggenheim fellow and has also received awards from the Getty Research Institute, the Dedalus Foundation, the American Association of University Women, the Whiting Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Garelick received her B.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature and French from Yale University.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
Gaele
TOP 500 REVIEWER on September 30, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
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A riveting and engaging biography of one of the 20th century’s preeminent fashion icons, Rhonda K. Garelick brings us the biography of Coco Chanel, a rags-to-riches story about one of the most carefully contrived personas ever.
Born into the lowest class, with few to no options for climbing the social ladder, her image reworking started very young. Her struggles for legitimacy, her discounting or paying off relatives who may discount her new ‘background’ and her rather prickly personality all would have failed with someone less talented and skilled. But the young Gabrielle, soon to blossom as Coco Chanel, would use her single-minded determination and her eye for the avant garde style that would become the hallmark of her clothing designs, she was soon the toast of the young and fashionable Parisiennes, then later became a name to covet and aspire to.
From her drastic rewriting of her own history, through her many lovers in search of a marriage to a titled man, Chanel was completely loyal to two things: herself and her designs. An anti-semite, she was in legion with the Nazi philosophy, even involving herself with an SS officer as part of a clandestine ‘surrender and capitulate’ meeting with Churchill and the Britons.
Dictatorial and wholly unsympathetic to any concerns but those in line with her often changeable personal interests, her only true ‘friend’ was Boy Capel. A fan of her millinery creations and supporter of her talents when hats were all she made, Capel was the one person that clearly saw the human side, if not really knowing her story. I cannot say that I found a woman who was particularly likable, even if I could admire her determination: but I only could find myself asking if she ever truly found happiness.Read more ›
Born into the lowest class, with few to no options for climbing the social ladder, her image reworking started very young. Her struggles for legitimacy, her discounting or paying off relatives who may discount her new ‘background’ and her rather prickly personality all would have failed with someone less talented and skilled. But the young Gabrielle, soon to blossom as Coco Chanel, would use her single-minded determination and her eye for the avant garde style that would become the hallmark of her clothing designs, she was soon the toast of the young and fashionable Parisiennes, then later became a name to covet and aspire to.
From her drastic rewriting of her own history, through her many lovers in search of a marriage to a titled man, Chanel was completely loyal to two things: herself and her designs. An anti-semite, she was in legion with the Nazi philosophy, even involving herself with an SS officer as part of a clandestine ‘surrender and capitulate’ meeting with Churchill and the Britons.
Dictatorial and wholly unsympathetic to any concerns but those in line with her often changeable personal interests, her only true ‘friend’ was Boy Capel. A fan of her millinery creations and supporter of her talents when hats were all she made, Capel was the one person that clearly saw the human side, if not really knowing her story. I cannot say that I found a woman who was particularly likable, even if I could admire her determination: but I only could find myself asking if she ever truly found happiness.Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By
Dr. E
VINE VOICE on September 30, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
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*The basis for review purposes here is an "Advanced Copy" from the publisher. So, know that my review is based on a curled-up door-stop sans illustrations (except for an occasional stock-photograph). Since its dissemination, this text may have been intensely edited. Therefore, my experience may differ from yours.*
Foremost, I have this nagging sense that if the author closely revised the text with an eye on concision, it could be distilled to about two-hundred pithy pages. Instead, this monstrosity is over five-hundred massive, rambling pages (including an extensive bibliography and an onslaught of notes). Additionally, the tone is somewhat perplexing. There are moments that could be compelling, sumptuous, or intriguing ... but these seem to fall victim to overuse of idiomatic phrases and cliches. For me, this bordered on unbearable. Over the past month and half, I have returned to this text at least ten times. Each time, I considered trudging through fifty more pages to be a minor victory.
The text does succeed in placing Coco Chanel in a historical context, no doubt. (And, for better or worse). I just it were wrought with a lighter hand.
Foremost, I have this nagging sense that if the author closely revised the text with an eye on concision, it could be distilled to about two-hundred pithy pages. Instead, this monstrosity is over five-hundred massive, rambling pages (including an extensive bibliography and an onslaught of notes). Additionally, the tone is somewhat perplexing. There are moments that could be compelling, sumptuous, or intriguing ... but these seem to fall victim to overuse of idiomatic phrases and cliches. For me, this bordered on unbearable. Over the past month and half, I have returned to this text at least ten times. Each time, I considered trudging through fifty more pages to be a minor victory.
The text does succeed in placing Coco Chanel in a historical context, no doubt. (And, for better or worse). I just it were wrought with a lighter hand.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
Nancy Famolari
VINE VOICE on October 3, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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Gabrielle Channel, nicknamed Coco, was a remarkable woman. In childhood she was deserted by her family. Her mother died and her father, and itinerant paddler, showed no interest in caring for his children. Likewise, her grandparents didn't take the children, so she grew up in a Catholic orphanage. Feeling abandoned by her family left a lifelong mark on Channel. She wanted desperately to be part of a family and more than that part of the elite. This desire led her into affairs with powerful titled men, like the Duke of Westminster. It also brought her into collaboration with the Nazis in a desire to be part of an elite organization.
The book was very well written. The history was presented in context of how it affected Channel and her fashion empire. I found some of the most interesting parts dealt with the relationship between Coco's view of fashion and how it fit the era in which she worked. This was particularly true during WWI and later after WWII when her clothing attracted an American market.
The pictures in the text are a plus. You are able to see what the Channel fashions looked like as well as her lovers and friends. I found the book both informative and enjoyable. I highly recommend it if you are interested in fashion, or in the psychology of a highly successful woman.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
The book was very well written. The history was presented in context of how it affected Channel and her fashion empire. I found some of the most interesting parts dealt with the relationship between Coco's view of fashion and how it fit the era in which she worked. This was particularly true during WWI and later after WWII when her clothing attracted an American market.
The pictures in the text are a plus. You are able to see what the Channel fashions looked like as well as her lovers and friends. I found the book both informative and enjoyable. I highly recommend it if you are interested in fashion, or in the psychology of a highly successful woman.
I reviewed this book for Net Galley.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By
JB Nolet
on October 5, 2014
Format: Hardcover
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I thought I knew this story; as they say, 'I saw the movie...' But I didn't know the half of it. Reading on, I found myself staying up later and later, dying to know what Coco would do next. I was particularly struck by Garelick's meticulous research -- her apt contextualizing of historical events and convincing use of new information about Gabrielle Chanel's friends, to show how they affected the haute-couture designer's constantly-evolving, increasingly mercurial persona. The last third of the book makes for disturbing reading. We watch Chanel as her dynamic charisma becomes manic grandiosity and she slips into sadistic madness without, apparently, losing her innate creative genius. She may not have been lovable (though many loved her) but Coco Chanel is an utterly unforgettable character -- the perfect heroine for a vampire movie. Without revealing any of the book's dramatic surprises, let me particularly recommend the passage where she spends several hours alone with the corpse of her ambivalently-loved friend Misia Natanson-Edwards-Sert. One thought -- I read the book on my paper-white Kindle, which cannot do justice to its many illustrations. The images are important to understanding the character, who in her own way was a visual artist. If you can, buy the physical book.
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