I just started reading "Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life" by Justine Picardie. This book is about the incredibly influential, legendary, trend-setting, Gabrielle Chanel, better known as Coco Chanel. This book talks about how the orphan from a poor-house in France became the most influential, most powerful, and most revolutionizing person in fashion. This book discusses Chanel's childhood, possible influences, her incredible home and jewels, her rise and fall in fashion, her love life, and her lies. Aside from her massive fame in fashion, Chanel was also known for telling different stories about her childhood, never allowing people to know what the truth was and whether or not she was lying. Chanel's past was discovered through documents and records, but the entire truth could never be discovered, thanks to Chanel's many stories and lies. Claiming she lived in an upper-class home, Chanel actually grew up in a poor-house then lived in an orphanage. Why would anyone want to hide their past?
A big problem Coco Chanel had, was that she never wanted to reveal her poverty-filled past. I think this was because Chanel had so quickly sky-rocketed to fame and she may have been worried her not very wealthy past would bring down her and her label. In the stories Chanel would tell about her life, she would talk about how her father was an upper-middle class traveling businessman who left her to live with her three aunts in a very elegant, large house. This was definitely not the case in her childhood. Chanel's boyfriends were all very wealthy and powerful men and she also may have felt the need to talk about her "wealthy" past in order to keep them, as explained in the book.
This is definitely a problem in our world now, not just Coco Chanel's. many lie about their past just to keep up an image of themselves that they have created, and are worried about their past destroying it. I have also read many books in which people try to destroy their past, worrying it will interfere with the person they have become, and the image of themselves that they have created for people.
In conclusion, many in the world try to hide their past worrying that it will interfere with who they have become. Coco Chanel for example, did her very best to hide her past from her lovers, clients, and collegues to keep up with the image she had created for herself.
This sounds like an interesting book, and I thought that what you said about Chanel hiding her past was good, and sort of sad for her that she would feel the need to do that. Good post!
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