THE CHANEL LOOK HAS NEVER REALLY GONE

OUT OF FASHION

Coco Chanel (Gabrielle Bonheur) was a prominent French designer of clothes. She was born on August the 19th,
1883 in Saumur. Her mother died when she was hardly twelve. Her father didn’t want (1)________ five children
and they were sent to the shelter for the poor. When Gabrielle was 18, she got a job of a shop-assistant at one
clothing store. She spent her free time singing in cabarets. The song she often sang was called “Qui qu’a vu Coco”,
(2)_______ started calling her Coco. Although she didn’t become a successful singer, she was noticed by one of the
wealthy retired officers, Etienne Balsan.

He was fascinated by her performances and invited her to live in his Parisian house. At first, she liked living in a
new, richly decorated house. However, it was difficult for her (3)_______. She spent years trying (4)_______. Soon,
she told Balsan that she wanted (5)_________, but he only laughed at her idea. He said that there were so many
milliners
in Paris and Coco didn’t even have experience. Later, another man appeared in her life. It was Balsan’s English
friend, Arthur Capel, also known as “Boy”. After that, her life radically changed. Arthur was a successful
businessman with excellent entrepreneurial skills. He encouraged Coco (6)________ and helped her (7)________.

Three years later she opened a boutique in Deauville. From then on, she was a real businesswoman. Nothing could
stop her – neither the lack of experience, nor the First World War. She was an entrepreneur and a designer at the
same
time, creating her own elegant style. She became quickly recognizable among the famous ladies of Paris. Chanel
became the first tailor (8)_______________. She completely changed public opinion about a designer’s labor. After
the announcement of the Second World War, she closed all her showrooms as she understood that it was the wrong
time for fashion. In 1944, she was arrested for a while because of the rumors about her affair with a German officer.
After that she moved to Switzerland (9)____________.

Chanel’s glory was gradually fading, as post-war fashion was mainly in the hands of Balenciaga and Dior houses.
However, in 1953 she re-opened her salon in Paris and a year later she established her own fashion house. There
was lots of criticizim in local newspapers, but she ignored them. All she needed was three years (10)_________.
Thus, a 70-year old woman again changed the whole idea of fashion, making her style dominant. The great milliner
died in 1971 at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Her style is still considered (11)_______ in the history of fashion.

There was a Broadway musical about Chanel, plenty of biographies and memoirs have been published about her,
and
a couple of recent films, as well, so the interest in her extraordinary life has never really gone out of fashion.

A. to get used to the status of a mistress

B. to become a milliner
C. to be the most elegant
D. to understand what she actually wanted in life
E. to take responsibility for
F. to open her first store of ladies’ hats in Paris in 1910
G. to develop her idea
H. to restore her fame
I. where she spent the next ten years
J. who was the part of high society
K. when she launched a comeback
L. which is why people

Use the word given in capitals to form a word or a verb form that f ts the sentence.

Chanel fancied loose trousers and collarless jackets; the clothes proclaimed that women ought to be comfortable and
(1)_________ (CONFIDENCE) in walking, riding or driving. When Chanel said, “Extravagant things didn’t suit
me,” she (2)________ (MEAN) that she thought such things (3)________ (NOT SUIT) any woman. Her perfume,
brought out in 1921, made her an international name brand. She was aghast when designers such as Christian Dior
came out with extravagant fashions after the war, and was disgusted with the reintroduction of corsets.
She was seventy years old when she launched a comeback in 1954. The French press sneered at her new line, which
was a (4)________ (VARY) on the practical, attractive, and simple designs that she (5)_________ (DO) before. In
the United States, however, the clothes (6)__________ (CELEBRATE) in an issue of Life magazine: “Her styles
hark back to her best of the Thirties.” She became copied even in France, and said of Yves Saint-Laurent that he “...
has excellent taste. The more he copies me, the (7)_________ (GOOD) taste he displays.