Chanel Resort 2013

Je Me Souviens...

Palace of Versailles Gardens
http://www.luxuo.com/hotel/france-versailles-palace-luxury-hotel.html

Hmmmmmm, it's probably one of my biggest fashion dreams of all time to go to a Chanel show. When I see Chanel runway shows on TV it's never just a walk up and down the cat walk kind of thing, it's a performance. It's like watching a play and going to the theatre. One runway show in particular that comes to mind is the Chanel Cruise 2009 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhMMAUIb2CQ&feature=related, Even someone uninterested in the fashion would be captivated by this performance, because it is just that, a performance.

The setting for this years Chanel Resort was nothing less than 'Majestic'. The scene was set, and when Lagerfeld yelled 'action', it started to roll. 
I have grown up reading of princess' and fairy tales just like any other young girl, but for me it was always more intriguing to learn about the real women behind the tiaras. For this reason I read everything from historical fiction when I was younger, to full biographies on Eleanor of Aquitaine. Period costumes were one of the big intrigues of reading these books. Fashion, in the 18th century was never dictated by what people were wearing on the street. It was the aristocracy that influenced every move in fashion. From Marie Antoinette to Queen Victoria, royalty and period clothes will always go hand-in-hand.


Lagerfeld understands this, and the connection of royal life at the court and fashion. This show had all the pomp and ceremony of a real court style event. There were fountains and luxurious fabric tents, and of course it was set in the most ostentatious of settings, The Palace of Versailles. 


I admire Lagerfeld for bringing a style on the brink of obscurity back into style. It takes a lot of creativity to take something, originally styled for the drastically changing world of 20's, into present day relevancy. Throughout all this Lagerfeld has produced his own style which steers a little more towards a regal look, than the toned down practical style of Coco Chanel's original vision. 

Fit and Flare Style
http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9265963/Chanel-Resort-2013-King-Karls-seriously-frivolous-Versailles-rhapsody.html

The Marie Antoinette aspect of this collection seemed somehow ill fitting for what Chanel stands for. Chanel fought long and hard to liberate women of the cages that were once worn universally. She would not rest, when, after the war Dior took the world by storm with his 'new look', she got back up and fought hard for women until her dying day. All this makes me wonder at the shape and figure of some of the dresses presented at the Cruise. To be perfectly honest the venue and some of the dresses remind me more of Dior than Chanel, and considering that Dior was the closest that can come to be a fashion enemy for Chanel, I think it's a little peculiar.

Royal Blue (Denim Actually)
Not my personal favourites, but an interesting concept
http://eatsleepdenim.com/blog/denim-review/denim-on-the-runway-chanel-resort-2013/

I did, however, really like the collection (I happen to be a huge fan of Dior as well.) The one thing that brought some of the outfits together to give it that Chanel feel was the classic tweed jacket which no collection can go without. The Royal Blue used was a beautiful shade and very fitting. Oddly enough some of my favourite outfits had more of a fit and flare style rather than a traditional Chanel silhouette. 

Classic Chanel Suit with a Twist
http://www.fashionologie.com/Chanel-Resort-2013-Runway-Versailles-Pictures-23099451?page=0,0,48

Another Fit and Flare
http://www.highsnobette.com/news/2012/05/16/chanel-runway-resort-2013/chanelresort2013-a/

Well, maybe one day my dream of attending a Chanel fashion show will materialize, if and when I break it big, and I will feel like a princess in my own right... the queen of couture has a nice ring to it ;) 








* This is a link to the 2013 Chanel Cruise
http://www.chanel.com/fashion/9#9