Holt, Alexia (1997) Reviewing Chanel: a Catalogue Raisonné and Critical Survey of the Dress Designs by Chanel Published in British and French Vogue, 1916-1929
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Holt, Alexia (1997) Reviewing Chanel: a catalogue raisonné and critical survey of the dress designs by Chanel published in British and French Vogue, 1916-1929. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5391/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Reviewing Chanel A Catalogue Raisonne and Critical Survey of the Dress Designs by Chanel Published in British and French Vogue, 1916-1929 Alexia Holt Department of the History of Art, University of Glasgow, October 1997 Doctor of Philosophy Volume One of Two S" - A' Abstract Foundedon the premise that the existing literature on Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel does not give a comprehensive, balanced and objective survey of the dress designs produced by the house from 1916-1929,the thesis 'Reviewing Chanel' provides a catalogue raisonnd of the designs shown in British and French Vogue during this period. This representativesample of Chanel's work facilitates the very necessary and overdue re-assesmentof Chanel's early career and contribution to twentieth century fashion. Part One of the Introduction includes a review of the existing literature on Chanel and explains the rationale behind the production of a catalogueof the dress designs reproducedin British and French Vogue. Part Two servesas the introduction to the twenty-eight essayswhich outline the principal developmentsin each of the dress design collections presentedby the housebetween 1916-1929.Each essayprovides an analytical summary of the key themes and developments of the collection and Chanel's relates work to that of the other leading housesin Paris during this period. i Contents Abstract Contents Acknowledgments v Introduction I PartOne: A Review of the Literatureon Chanel 2 A Reviewof the Literatureon Chanel 3 The Original and Final ResearchProjects 8 The Criteria Governingthe Selectionof Datesfor the Original and Final ResearchProjects 9 The Catalogue:The PublishedDesigns in the Existing Literature on Chanel 11 The Absenceof Both a HouseArchive and a ComprehensiveCollection of Surviving DressDesigns by Chanel 13 14 The Identification of ContemporarySources The Criteria Governingthe Selectionof British and French Vogue 15 Contentsand Organizationof the Catalogue 23 Notes and References 27 PartTwo: The Houseof Chanelin Context 34 HauteCouture: 1900-1914 34 TheWar Years 39 A NewGeneration 40 The Foundingof the Houseof Chanel:1910-1918 41 The Organizationof HauteCouture: 1918-1929 43 Patternsof Production:The Seasonsand their Collections 44 Publicity 48 TheBoom Years 49 The Houseof Chanel:1919-1929 50 The Summariesof the DressDesign Collections of Chanel,1916-1929 55 Notesand References 56 H Summaries of the Dress Design Collections by Chanel, 1916-1929 64 February 1916 The Waywardnessof Fashionand the War Crinoline 65 August 1916 The PatrioticChemise 72 February 1917 The Barrel Holds Sway 78 August 1916 The StraightLine is Triumphant 85 February 1918 The Three S's: Straight,Scant and Simple 92 August 1918 Paris Statesher Optimism in Terms of Clothes 99 February 1919 Victory Models and the Reconstructionof Fashion 105 August 1919 Post-WarDelirium and FashionEclecticism 114 February 1920 The Call for Restraint 121 August 1920 The'Freakish Mode'Gives Way 129 February 1921 Economyand the Art of Simplicity 137 August 1921 HauteCouture and the GovernmentalDecree 145 February 1922 The Height of the RussianPhase 152 August 1922 The End of the Chemise 162 February 1923 Uniformity and the GarqonneLook 169 August 1923 ConcealedFullness and the Dancing Dress 177 February 1924 Trimming: The Last Refugeof the Feeble-Minded 184 August 1924 The Tube-like SilhouetteContinues 191 February 1925 Simple Simplicity is No Longer Supreme 200 August 1925 The Animated Fashionof the Flare 209 February 1926 The 'Masculine'Versus the'Feminine' 218 August 1926 The Reign of Reason 226 February 1927 The Kinoptic Silhouette 233 August 1927 The Mode of the Broken Line 241 February 1928 The Death of Uniformity 249 August 1928 The Day of Democracyin Dress is Past 257 February 1929 The New Mode is a ComplicatedMatter 264 August 1929 The Story of a Mode Which Has Finally Changed 272 Conclusion 281 Bibliography 291 ifi Appendices 296 Captionsto the DressDesigns by Chanelas Reproduced in British and French Vogue,1916-1929 297 II. (a) Biographiesof the Women NamedWearing Dress Designsby Chanelas Illustrated or Photographedin 388 British and French Vogue,1916 - 1929 11.(b) Index to Biographiesof the Women NamedWearing DressDesigns by Chanel as Illustrated or Photographed 419 in British and French Vogue,1916 - 1929 III. Synoptic Table of DressDesigns by Chanelas Reproducedin British and French Vogue,1916-1929 421 IV. Copies of ChanelDesigns as Reproducedin British Vogue 423 iv Acknowledgments I would particularly like to thank my supervisor,Eleanor Gregh, of the History of Art Department,University of Glasgow, for her considerablesupport and assistance with this project, and Juliet Kinchin, of GlasgowSchool of Art, for her invaluable help and advice. I would also like to thank Wronique De Pardieuand Pierre Buntz of the houseof Chanel, Paris, and the following organisationsand individuals: Annie Barberaand the staff of the Musde de la Mode et du Costume,Palais Galliera, Paris Veronique Belloir and the staff of the Museedes Arts de la Mode, Paris The Bibliotheque Forney, Paris Trevor Grahamand the staff of Glasgow University Media Servicesand PhotographicUnit The History of Art Department,University of Glasgow The House of Chanel,London The Mitchell Library, Glasgow Florence Muller, Nadine Gasc and the staff of the Union Frangaisedes Arts du Costume The National Library of Scotland,Edinburgh The NewspaperDivision, The British Library, Colindale, London Dennita Sewell, Collection Associate,The CostumeInstitute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Sotheby's (Collectors' Department),London Spink and Son Ltd., London The Victoria and Albert Museum Emily Bates Ross Birrell CatherineCrawford Moyra Hope SusanMcLay Dr. Elizabeth Moignard V Introduction Part One A Review of the Literatureon Chanel Introductio Part One A Review of the Literature on Chanel Valerie Steelebegins her 1992 essay Chanel In Contextwith the comment:'Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel is the most famous woman in the history of fashion, and one might " legitimatelywonder whether there is anythingnew to be said about her. In 1997,with at leastfourteen publications on the designeralready in print, it would seemthat Steele has a point. However,central to Steele'sessay and to this work on Chanel,is the belief that previousstudies of the designerare unsatisfactory. fame The extensiveand continually growing library on Chanelreflects the international 2 and statusof both the designerand the presentday house. The range of published focus but materialincludes biographies and monographs- the main of this survey - also numerousessays, articles, sales catalogues,a video documentaryand one title aimed at the juvenile market.3 The majority of the more substantialpublications are written in the form of straight biography: ClaudeBaillen's Chanel Solitaire of 1971; Marcel Haedrich's Coco Chanel: Her Life, Her Secrets of 1972; Pierre Galante's Mademoiselle Chanel of 1973; Edmonde Charles-Roux's L'IrriguRre of 1974 (publishedin English in 1976 as Chanel); Paul Morand's L'Allure de Chanel of 1976; EdmondeCharles-Roux's Chanel and Her World of 1979 (published in English in 1981); FrancisKennett's Coco: The Life and Lovesof Gabrielle Chanel of 1989; Axel Madsen'sCoco Chanel: A Biography and Lilou Marquand's Chanel Ma Dit, both of 1990.The majority of thesebooks, which followed Chanel'sdeath in January 1971 in rapid succession,were written by authors who, like Paul Morand, had either known Chanelpersonally or who, like Pierre Galanteand Marcel Haedrich,were professional journalists who had interviewedher at length. Such testamentsare invaluableas they provide numerous insights into Chanel's private life and career. The story of the designer'slong, glamorouslife is understandablynewsworthy and certainly the fide of Francis Kennett'spublication indicatesthe level to which the more recentbiographers havecontinued to concernthemselves with all aspectsof her life. Axel Madsen begins his biography with 'She made things up', and thus further explains the literary fascinationwith the designer:not only was she 'the illegitimate daughter of itinerant market traders...born in a poorhousehospice', and thus suitable for a rags to riches 3 angle,but shemade every effort to concealthe true facts of her origins! The principal intention behind Madsen'sbook was, as the blurb states,to 'negotiateChanel's smoke screens'.The desire to revealthe,, truth behind Chanel'soften romanticizedversions of her own pasthas been central to many of the more biographicaltexts. The monographsinclude Jean Leymarie's Chanel of 1987; Alice Mackrell's Coco Chanel of 1992; Amy de la Haye and Shelley Tobin's Chanel: The Couturiere at Work of 1994; and Franqois Baudot's Chanel of 1996. The