Coco chanel: pearls, perfume, and the little black dress, hardcover/susan goldman rubin

Award-winning author Susan Goldman Rubin introduces readers to the most well-known fashion designer in the world, Coco Chanel.

Beginning with the difficult years Chanel spent in an orphanage, Goldman Rubin traces Cocos development as a designer and demonstrates how her determination to be independent helped her gain worldwide recognition.

Coco Chanel focuses on the obstacles Chanel faced as a financially independent woman in an era when women were expected to marry; as well as her fierce competition with the Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli; and some of her most memorable firsts for the fashion industry, including the little black dress, the quilted purse with gold chain, and the perfume Chanel No.

The book includes a bibliography, a list of where to see her work, and an index.