Saturday 24 September 2011

Chanel in Beverly Hills




Up on the rooftop at the Chanel boutique in Beverly Hills yesterday afternoon, where the sky was blue and the conversation intriguing. There I met the Costume Council from the Los Angeles Museum of Art, and we talked about Coco Chanel's visit to Hollywood in 1931, and a vault where her original black dress is still kept in another Californian archive. Guess where I want to go next? Phone calls were made on my behalf, so here's hoping.
I also asked these wonderfully well-connected women to see if they could find out what happened to the long-lost Chanel costumes that were designed for Gloria Swanson in Tonight or Never; those, and Chanel's other couture originals commissioned by Samuel Goldwyn for his Hollywood productions in the early 30s.
You never know, a little sprinkling of old-school Hollywood magic may fall from the sky before I go...
PS. More to come about the conversation with Liz Goldwyn at Soho House on Thursday evening.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would be wonderful to see those gowns and even better to acquire them!

Justine Picardie said...

Hoping they'll turn up, like the lost ruby red slippers...

Jo said...

This is what dreams are made of! You are very lucky and I, I am very jealous!

P.S. This weeks 'Closet Thinker' seems to have brightened up the week ahead, it’s going to be bright in my wardrobe and apparently we are getting some dazzling weather nationwide as well.

Francesca Giusti said...

love <3
It's my favorite brand!!!
pass to my blog and follow :)
http://francescagiusti.blogspot.com/

Justine Picardie said...

Jo: I've just looked up the bbc weather forecast, and was amazed to see that temperatures will be rising. Glad to hear that closet thinker will brighten your wardrobe! I've been wearing my purple Gap cords in the US, and the red ones from Reiss.
Francesca: thanks for the comment. There is a kind of Chanel magic, isn't there?

m said...

Dear Justine Picardie,
I’ve been trying to contact you since i’ve read some of your writings about Coco Chanel, but i haven’t find any email addresses or phone numers, so i’ve decided to write you a comment, i hope you’ll read and answer me. Im a 21-year-old girl from Budapest, Hungary. I’ve read your article in the Harper’s Bazaar 2011 August about Gabrielle Chanel. I was totally amazed. I guess i am one of the biggest fans of Coco - her life, her identity, her creations, the power she had inside and the hard and wonderful world she created herself. I’m learning to be a fashion designer, and i hope, i’ll have enough power in me, as much as she had. She is my idol(anyway i don’t really have idols), and i’m planning to write my final thesis(this year) about her life, especially her creations which became iconic(like the bag 2.55, chanel no.5, the camelia, the little black dress, etc.) and what ispired her to design them. In Hungary we don’t have as many books of fashion or Chanel as you have in the UK, USA or in France. I’ve read many books about her, about the brand CHANEL, and i collect the articles, photos, books and other things connected to her life. But i don’t think that i know enough. I’d like to know more and more. I’m sure about that you know many-many things and you are the one, who could answer my questions or tell me about her(or maybe Karl Lagerfeld could:)) I guess you’re so busy, but i hope that you’ll have a little time to answer me if it’s possible. Please, help me!

Yours faithfully,

Mirtill Gelléri

mirtillgelleri@gmail.com
Budapest, HU

Camile said...

Mrs.Picardie -
Hi! I am currently doing a History Day project on Coco Chanel and i was wondering if i could interview you for it. My email is cnbraeger@yahoo.com so if you could email me letting me know if that would work for you that would be great! thanks so much!

- Camile Braeger