Looking for Coco

Looking for Coco

Monday, 20 August 2018

Jane has long since lusted after the delights of Deauville, the beaches, the race track, the beautiful people and more importantly, the style of Coco Chanel... so she persuades Beryl to pack her trusty Globetrotter. In go the charity shop pearls, cheap stripy jumpers and over-priced sunglasses for a trip to the Hotel Barriere, where not only the great Coco but many other famous faces have hung their boaters. 

Blouse Mint Velvet £77, trousers M&S £35, bag Lulu Guinness £275 (vintage)
(The handle fell off by the time they got home, great buy, Jane, says Beryl)

Jane and Beryl head for la plage weighed down with cheese and bread for a (cheap) sumptuous picnic. Those around them are quaffing champagne and being brought trifles on silver platters. Ahh, well, you can take the girls out of Andover, but you can't take Andover out of the girls...

Hobbs dress £7, espadrilles  Phase Eight £59, Laura Ashley bag £45 (sale),
 necklace charity shop pearls £8, sunglasses Chanel £320

Beryl likes a bit of Chanel style, but would have to admit that some things work better than others: who would pay over £300 for a pair of Chanel sunglasses? Oops, Beryl's husband did... Coco Chanel loved black, but Beryl thinks that navy is kinder to her ageing phizog. This dress by Hobbs is the finest little whisper of linen and silk and cost a full £7 from a charity shop. When pinching style points from Gabrielle, Beryl thinks that it lies in simplicity and a good cut. 

T-shirt M&S £19.50, skirt Massimo Dutti 80 Euros,
shoes Ella B £125, necklace M&S £15 

Beryl is chatting up French men as usual, but has failed to wear her glasses and notice that this one is a photograph of a dead artist. Beryl wondered why she wasn't getting anywhere, but then she is used to men with no pulse. Chanel style turns out to be remarkably easy to wear; simple shapes, no patterns; lob in a few stripes and Pierre is your uncle, as they say, here in France. 

Beryl gets the Chanel look here, by digging a Paul Costello jacket out of a charity shop for a fiver. She is jealous of the dog, but Jane would not let her bring her new Airedale Arthur on the grounds that he might chew the sunglasses. 

Shirt M&S £27.50, jumper H&M £1 charity shop, trousers Moutaki £62

Jane's take on the whole Chanel thing is in her love of wide fluid trousers and stripes, which adds up to a healthy dose of androgyny. Here, Jane is weathering a force 10 gale which was about to descend to get the Chanel look of wandering the boardwalks of lovely Deauville. And there is absolutely no need to covet Chanel through expensive rose-tinted glasses as Jane found this jumper on the £1 rail in a charity shop in Penzance.

Top Chanel style tip: wear too many pearls! Although Jane feels a bit weighed down here, and a bit silly...

Bag Mint Velvet

Boater £25, top Alice McCall, trousers Moutaki £62 (sale). shoes Jigsaw £68 (sale)

Luckily, the race season seems to be upon them, so Jane and Beryl hot foot it down to the track with hope in their hearts for a few winners. Beryl takes a fancy to Wishing Ruby in the second race, while Jane goes for a grey, Forenoon Chic (never back a grey, says Beryl ominously). Jane may be looking happy here, but this was short-lived as her donkey romped home last while Beryl's took the top spot. She won a thrilling 30 centimes on her 2 Euro stake. 

Dress Hobbs £149, Espadrilles Phase Eight £59, bag Laura Ashley £45 (sale)
Preloved Scarf Hermes £1.50, Preloved hat £5

The gloating winner is pictured here with her steed. This dress could also win prizes and works well for formal but not stuffy moments. Chanel was a very modern woman who liked those she dressed to be comfortable as well as stylish in her clothing.