February 16: On This Day in World History … briefly
Cocohe was credited in the post-World War I era with liberating women from the constraints of the 'corseted silhouette' and popularising a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style.
1923: Coco kills the corset
Women rejoice – the corset is dead!
That was the clear message of the new haute couture collection shown in Paris by the ‘High Priestess of Style’ Coco Chanel. Coco’s ‘New Woman of the Twenties’ would have no truck with fussy fashions still lingering from the previous century.
Gone forever are corsets, ruffles and cloying drapes, giving way to bobbed hair, low heels, shorter skirts and sweaters … and freedom.
Coco Chanel opened a milliner’s shop in Paris in 1909 and five years later added clothes to her line. She saw fashion as architecture – all a matter of proportions. Her new clothes were classic, simple and chaste, with an austere, youthful look.
She was also the founder and namesake of the Chanel brand.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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