Tag: fashion

March is Women’s History Month, a time to reflect on the contributions of incredible women to all aspects of life.  It’s a time to show appreciation and respect for the women who made history through their courage, style, and refusal to accept the limitations placed on them by society and the times they lived in.  When I think of influential women who helped shape their worlds, three names instantly come to mind:  Coco Chanel, Elsie de Wolfe, and Sister Parish.  These women changed the world of design and fashion and I truly admire all they accomplished.  Each of them is an icon, a forecaster whose designs still work today.

Coco Chanel was an inspiration for women in era when the world was all about men.  Born Gabrielle Chanel in the Loire Valley of France in 1883, she grew up impoverished with a strict convent education.  Her early life inspired her to take her own direction, first on the stage (where she earned the nickname Coco) and then as a milliner.  Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913, selling hats and garments.  Her practical designs led to a devoted clientele which boomed as people flocked to Paris at the start of WWI.  Her ideas of how women should look, act, and dress had a profound effect on her designs, letting women leave corsets behind and take on more active pursuits.  The enduring popularity and success of the Chanel brand is a direct result of Coco’s ability to package and market her own personal style and freer attitudes.  Coco Chanel navigated through difficult times as well, including the closure of her salon during WWII.  In the early 1950’s and at an advanced age compared to her contemporary designers, Coco reentered the world of fashion design, updating her style while staying true to her own classic approach.  Even after her death in 1971, her name and brand continue to be associated with haute couture design as well as an inspiration to the world of fashion.

It would be difficult to think of a woman who did more for the world of interior design than Elsie de Wolfe.  Born in America around 1865, she became an interior designer when such a thing didn’t yet exist, especially for women.  At that time, interiors were put together by upholsterers and architects.  Elsie succeeded in transforming dark Victorian interiors into light, stylish homes featuring practicality and fresh colors.  American homes were introduced to sophisticated, vibrant, and comfortable style for the first time.  What I find most surprising about Elsie de Wolfe’s design career is that she didn’t start designing until she was 40 years old.  Prior to that, she was an actress and society figure who became interested in design while staging plays.  She studied the French lifestyle and approach to art, entertainment, food, and fashion and used that influence in her designs.  Her clients included the likes of Anne Vanderbilt and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.  According to The New Yorker, “Interior design as a profession was invented by Elsie de Wolfe.”  She was truly a pioneer!

Dorothy May Kinnicutt grew up the only girl in a family with five children, leading to her lifelong nickname of Sister.  In 1930 she married Henry Parish and opened her decorating firm in suburban New Jersey in 1933.  Up to that point, she had designed the interiors for her family’s country home, several neighbors’ homes, and a nearby restaurant.  She was credited with ushering in the American country style of the 1960s.  When she hired Albert Hadley, the pair became a design legend.  Parish is perhaps best known for her designs in the Kennedy White House as well as the influence she had on an entire generation of New York designers.  Parish herself said, “As a child, I discovered the happy feelings that familiar things can bring — an old apple tree, a favorite garden, the smell of a fresh-clipped hedge, simply knowing that when you round the corner, nothing will be changed, nothing will be gone. I try to instill the lucky part of my life in each house that I do. Some think a decorator should change a house. I try to give permanence to a house, to bring out the experiences, the memories, the feelings that make it a home.”

It’s hard to quantify the influence of women on today’s world of fashion and design, but these giants of design made themselves into household names and have inspired generations of girls to follow their own dreams without compromise.