The Gospel

After seeing "The September Issue" the girls and I dropped by the local bookstore to browse (what can I say? I am quite the party girl). This little gem of a book caught my eye and after reading the first couple of pages I bought it.

It was definitely worth the money. It is not a book on style. Its half history, half self-help, and a dash of the author's own life. It is mainly an engaging history of Gabrielle Chanel, aka Coco Chanel's, life and her legend. The author Karen Karbo also talks about lessons taken from Chanel's life in an colloquial and entertaining style.

One of these lessons is Chanel's philosophy that time either be spent on work or love, and if it falls into neither of these categories it is not worth doing (so much for volunteering at that bake sale!).

Another lesson is the importance of independence. She was not afraid to speak her mind and realized the importance of supporting herself. Even when her lovers offered to support her she insisted on being able to claim her success her own.

Lastly the most interesting lesson was even though she was known for her austerity, her boyish figure and looks, as well as her hot tempered ambition she believed that "there is nothing masculine about me". Her interpretation of femininity is something that is certainly unique to the French, but is an interesting and a valuable lesson to those here in the states.

Yes you can be ambitious, smart, athletic, and combative, but also consider yourself romantic and feminine. You can put your pearls on the shelf next to your boxing gloves. Every diamond has hundreds of facets, and every woman should as well.