Life's Lessons for Women April 2013: Coco Chanel

Well, mes amies, it's taken me a little longer than I had hoped but I am confident that you'll feel it was as worth it as I do. I'm so excited to announce our new journey to feeling beautiful by learning from successful women who have already forged the path ahead of us. And, as my loves of vintage fashion and all things french are so strong, I had to start of with Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, herself. What an amazing woman. What a path she blazed at a time when women had very few rights and very few comforts ... especially in the way of dressing. I don't know about you, but the thought of being trussed up like a Christmas turkey every day in order to wear my clothes, and then to try to get in and out of my vehicle with said clothes, while still breathing, is absolutely mind-boggling. I created the above graphic to get us started. Please feel free to download and print it out or save to your computer as a wallpaper. Many thanks to Karen at the Graphics Fairy for the beautiful french frame that I used in the background.

I know you all have a very busy life, so today's post will just be an introduction. But, if you do have time, please following this link HERE to a great, but not long, bio of her. It's in written or video form, and really quite lovely!

What is even more amazing about this woman, is that she was born in 1883 and lived until 1971, yet she still inspires fashion to this very day. Over the course of this next month, I'll be sharing little snippets of what made this woman so memorable. And, I hope it will inspire you to believe and know that you are memorable. You carry within you, all that she had. We're going to learn from her success, her mistakes, and her witty words of wisdom. It's going to Coco Heaven!! So hop on board, girls ... let's take this crazy ride!!

Before I close ... I have what I've been asked for, and promised, for quite some time to share with you ... a TUTORIAL!!!!! I know many of you think that you are not crafty. Many women think that you either have "it" whatever "it" is, that can magically make you creative, or you don't. Well, I don't believe that for a minute. I have found the most wonderful crafter who has hopped on board and will be taking this trip with us ... all the way. Her name is Tevis, and she will be offering 2 tutorials every month.

For those of you who are intimidated by crafts, there is Paper Crafting 101, which will be offered the first (1) week of every month. For those of you who are crafty, but want to learn something new, different, and maybe a little challenging, we will be offering Paper Crafting 2.0 (offered the 3rd week of every month). Each month the craft will correspond with the icon from whom we will be learning from. So, this month's craft is inspired by Coco.



This picture was taken when she was younger, but if you notice the bracelet she has on ... it could be just as popular today. So, you can click HERE to go to our tutorial page and meet Tevis. Or, you can click on the Paper Crafting 101 button at the top of the page.

Also, be sure and join either my facebook page, or my twitter as I will be sharing little bits of wisdom over the next month regarding Coco. If you're not a huge Facebook fan, but love Twitter, that's the way to go. If you don't tweet, but like to check in on Facebook, then that's best. Of course, you can join all of my buttons and just have a complete Chanel fest if you'd like. Anyway you want to ... come join us as we learn from one of the top 30 women listed as Women Who Changed the World!!

Bonjour Mes Amies ... I hope you enjoy draping yourselves with Coco's pearls this month.

Lorraine

"I WANT LUXURY!"

Over the past several months, as I've been investigating and researching vintage couture, I have been increasingly aware of how relevant many of the designs are, still to this day. It is mind boggling how truly beautiful and proportionate style can maintain its beauty, throughout the ages. And, as my mind tends to wander from one idea to the next ... I started asking myself ... why do we become so attracted to fleeting styles, when often they aren't something that we could see ourselves in 5, 10, or 20 years from now. I mean, I hope I'm not the only one who looks back at her school or younger pictures and thinks ... "What was I thinking?" And, I have to admit, many a time my mother would say she couldn't understand my fashion choices ... to which I thought she just didn't understand what was "au courant." And, as much as I hate to admit it, she was right!

So, my mind bounced to the next thought ... why do we accept less than the best when we look to fashion? Many would say, well, I can't afford this, or I can't afford that. But, one thing my grandmother did teach me was that you don't have to have a lot of clothes, if the clothes you have are right for you. Once again, they fit your proportions well, they are made with good fabrics, and are well cared for. But, we tend to live in a very consumer driven society where the seasons and fashions change at the drop of a hat (pun intended). And, many of us feel that we have to have the latest, even if the latest isn't really what works for us!

So, I've decided I'm going to go through my closet and ask myself the question ... "Will I wear this 5 years from now?" If the answer is no, then what the heck is it doing in my closet? I've allowed myself to be influenced by a fashion blip on the fashion timeline, and I don't want to do that anymore.

Once my son (who was 9 at the time) asked for a CD player for his very own. Now, this is the child who broke every one else's CD player in the house. So, I told him he could either save up his money to get one, or, he could use an old one that only played the radio and casettes. He was immediately irate and emphatically yelled "I don't want that ... I WANT LUXURY." Needless to say, I had the hardest time not cracking up!!

But, now I find myself thinking (in caps) I WANT LUXURY!! That doesn't mean that I want the most expensive or fanciest clothes or accessories. But, I want ones that fit right, I want ones that feel wonderful to the touch, I want ones that make me feel beautiful!

So, in keeping with that thought, I created today's "Freebie Friday" with just this idea in mind. I hope you enjoy!!

As always, this is for personal use, and not to be mass produced in any manner. However, you may always refer people to my blog for them to save their own copy. To save, click on the picture, and then right click to save to your computer.

And now, here comes my challenge ... check your closet and ask yourself the same questions! You're beautiful and worth having luxury!!

Have a wonderful weekend mes amies!!

Bonsoir,

Lorraine

Welcome Mes Amies to my Oo La La Blog.

"Life is a garden. It is an opportunity. You can grow weeds, you can grow roses; it all depends on you."

I'm so excited to start this wonderful journey with you. I have decided to try to finally conquer the image or beauty insecurities that seem to plague many women in our society, and along the way, hopefully help other women come to terms with their own beauty. To start off, I wanted to share the above quote and gorgeous picture with you. I thought the butterfly appropos because they are such delicate objects of beauty - dancing their way through life, but they have to go through so much in order to get to that state. And frankly, let's face it, they start out as caterpillars, while inifinitely exciting for little boys to squish in their pockets, not terribly inspirational for the eyes.

In my lifetime, I have mostly felt like a caterpillar. I believe I know some of the reasons why, but I definitely know that I want to search out more and get rid of those weedy thoughts. I want my thoughts to be filled with roses, to refer back to the above quote. Why, now, when I'm in my late 40's would I grow (and no, that's not a typo) through this? Well, probably because I am a stage 3 breast cancer survivor and from 2007 through 2010 I spent most of my time just trying to physically survive. The past couple of years I have been bordering on the brink between the fear of living, the fear of dying, and the ultimate determination to live each day that I have to the best of my ability ... filled with happiness and hope. Also, I know that I'm alive still for a purpose. I want that purpose to be the means to inspire every woman that I come into contact with, to feel good about herself - to feel beautiful - to feel unique and essential in her own sphere of existence.

And while I'm writing that, I'm realizing ... why is it that we as women have such a difficult time seeing the best in other women? We do not, as a whole, often compliment someone verbally, but we can spend an inordinate amount of time mentally picking apart their faults? What is so wrong with acknowledging another's beauty? It doesn't diminish our own. In fact, perhaps if we can see and acknowledge the beauty in other women, maybe it would be easier for us to feel confident enough to acknowledge our own.

Okay, so that will be my first experiment and challenge to you. I'm going to keep a small journal in my purse and when I see another woman and have the opportunity to compliment her, on whatever I possibly can, I'm going to write down my thoughts and feelings about the interaction. What is the other woman's reaction? How does it make me feel about myself and my own self-esteem? Does it add or subtract. I'll let you know how it works out. And, I'd love to hear your comments as well. What happens when you do the same?

To close my first "epic" post, I'd like to leave the following quote and beautiful picture for you (and I) to ponder:

"Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical." - Sophia Loren