Eliza Starbuck and Coco Chanel Celebrate 128 Years of Style with The Little Black Dress

1 CommentWednesday • August 18, 2010 • by Zoë Schlanger

It’s Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s Birthday. And the Bright Young Things would like to pay tribute to her. So for one week only, starting on her birthday, Thursday, August 19th, we’re offering our little black dress to all for $150.

To celebrate, I thought I’d give her a ring. She doesn’t get out much these days, and most people seem to think she’s dead, but like Tupac and Elvis, she’s virtually immortal. She stays in and generally avoids society with the exception of only the closest of friends. She also has a rule to never celebrate birthdays, but I somehow convinced her to let me over for low key afternoon tea and some reminiscing about her 128 years of impeccable style. Naturally, I wanted to pick her brain on style, fashion, love, and her life philosophy. Her answers were uncannily current for someone who stays at home all the time. And once you get her going, she’s hard to stop. By the end of the visit we were playing dress up in her closet and posing for the camera. You should have seen her impersonation of today’s runway models! She had me cracking up while she coached me on how to pose for the camera to avoid regrettably bad angles for my face. She said knowing how to pose is a key skill to have if you are planning on being any sort of legend. Apparently no one gets famous if they don’t photograph well. Shortly after that Coco and I tried to vogue, but in the end I think we just looked rather smirky. I suppose we let our vanity get the best of us. However, I think we may have uncovered one of the greatest mysteries of the fashion world; why everyone in fashion photos always looks so catty. Chin insecurity… Read on>>