RCS 225 Coco Before Chanel Movie Paper PDF

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Dr. Lim. This was where we had to watch a movie and then write about it. We had to answer questions and write a summary. ...

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1 RCS 225 Coco Before Chanel Movie Paper Summary: Cultural/Historical Background The movie Coco Before Chanel was produced during a time period when women were objectified. This movie showed that, to fit in during this time period, women were supposed to wear big fluffy dresses, big hats, and a corset . They were expected to act in socially determined manners including even riding a horse differently than a man. At that time, men were encouraged to be businessmen while women were relegated to housekeeping rather than exploring any other talents they may have. It was not socially acceptable for a woman to dress like a man.

Coco Chanel Description Coco Chanel saw the world in a different light. She visualized fashion completely different than how it was during this time period. Coco wanted women to be able to wear a more minimal look rather than the typical corset and dresses with a lot of decoration hanging from them. She wanted to break the rules of fashion, and she did. Coco wanted to challenge the idea that fashion should be dictated by what men wanted women to wear. Coco used men’s clothing to create a line of women’s clothing. Coco used gender division in clothes to her advantage. She took away the corset and used less shape in her clothing designs. Coco really did what she wanted and did not listen to other people telling her what she could not do. Coco had strong opinions and was not afraid to voice them on certain issues even though that was not the acceptable social norm for women at the time. Her bold creativity outweighed the need for approval in the field of fashion.

Feminism in Coco’s Fashion designs

2 Coco expressed her feminist leanings in her fashion designs by choosing to change traditional fashion during that time period. She took new leaps causing many people to think of her as crazy. She got rid of the uncomfortable corset in her fashion designs. Coco took men’s fashion and turned it into women’s fashion. She completely changed the fashion world forever. Coco impacted fashion during this time by giving it a “less is more” look. Coco made more simple designs for everyday wear. Rather than a woman having to wear a big elegant dress with a big hat,, she made the hat and outfit design more simple, but it was still elegant. She put her view of feminism into her designs by devoting and creating designs that were out of the box. She strayed from the cultural norm but created designs that would be considered more classic than fad. She brought her views to her clothes by using the idea that women could wear clothes similar to men’s. Her fashion ideas were basically saying that women and men can be equal. This was a bold move, since, during this time period, men liked women to dress in a more revealing manner, emphasizing the chest. Also, in the movie, Coco said you want to give the men something to imagine by wearing a dress that covered the woman up completely. Overall, Coco presented her views of feminism through her socially shocking fashion designs....