In 1910, she opened a hat shop. In 1919, she opened a house of fashion in Paris, and introduced her perfume, Chanel No. 5, in 1921. She retired in 1939, but returned to fashion with great success in 1954.
She is famous for the little black dress, Chanel No. 5, the most famous women's perfume in the world, and the knee-long skirt and box jacket suit worn with pearl necklace.
In 1913, Chanel opened her first shop in Deauville, France. Society women liked her simple wardrobe. In 1915, she opened a second shop in Biarritz.
Chanel became one of the first women fashion designers to create simple and practical clothes for the sporty women of the era. She took the color black, which was not used in fashion at the time and showed "chic" it could be by wearing it. The material jersey was usually used to make men's underwear, but Chanel started to work with it to make women's fashion. Short hair, tans, and casual styles were the new trends. She banned corsets and other uncomfortable garments.
Chanel was the mistress of several rich men. During her relationship with the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia in 1920, she added a Russian touch to her dresses by embroidering Russian patterns on them.
Chanel was with Hugh Grosvenor, from 1924 to 1931. During this time, she discovered the English tweed sweater, English men's suits, and English coats. She added these to her collections.
Chanel lived at the Hotel Ritz in Paris for over thirty years. During World War II, the Nazis occupied Paris, and her shops were closed. She had an affair with a Nazi officer, and was accused of being a collaborator. She moved to Switzerland, and gave up fashion.
After a 15-year gap, Chanel returned to fashion in 1954. She was shocked to see the new fashion trends, especially those by Christian Dior. She understood better than anyone the requirements and needs of an active woman’s lifestyle. Her 'comeback' collection was in 1954.
Her life was depicted in the Broadway musical "Coco" in 1969. Movies based on her life include: "Chanel Solitaire" (1981), "Coco Chanel" (2008), "Coco before Coco" (2009), and "Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky" (2009). Chanel also liked drinking cocoa during interviews. She always said she felt better after a few sips.
Chanel died in 1971. She is still influencing women’s lifestyles and clothing. The House of Chanel remains in business. It is a member of the "Chambre syndicale de la haute couture", the top fashion clique in Paris. The House of Chanel produces modern versions of her best ideas.
Itaewon
Itaewon is a neighborhood in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It is an international neighborhood. Travellers and expatriate residents come here for shopping, restaurants, and nightlife.
About 22,000 people live there, but between 4000-5000 reportedly visit the commercial district daily. Many US military personnel from the nearby Yongsan Garrison come here. Itaewon has restaurants serving food from many parts of the world, including India, Thailand, and Mexico. Those foods are not common in Korea.
J. M. G. Le Clézio
Jean Marie Gustave Le Clézio (born April 13, 1941 in Nice) is a French novelist. He won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
Sejong the Great
Sejong the Great (May 6, 1397 – May 18 1450) was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty. He is one of only two Korean kings called "great" (the other is Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo). He picked out young scholars and tried to fix the prejudice of classes by helping intelligent but low-class prodigies. In 1442, he had Jang Young-Sil, a scientist in Joseon, invent the 'Chuk-Oo-Gi (測雨器)'. This was a kind of tool to help measure the rain and how much it fell. Also, he expanded the territory of Joseon.
One of the best works and the biggest reason why Sejong was called great was because he created the Hoon min jung um (訓民正音). It is called in modern days as 'Han-gul (한글)'. Because of the creation of the Hoon min jung um, Joseon (now Korea) now got its own alphabet, and many people, most of whom have never learned how to read Hanja (Chinese characters used for Korean) could learn how to read and write much more easily than before.
Sejong was the third son of King Taejong. When he was twelve, he became grand prince and married Shim On of Cheongsong. When he was young, he was very good at studying. His father liked him more than his other brothers.
His older brothers, Yangnyeong and Hyoryeong, thought they were not fit to be king and that it was their duty to make Sejong the king, even though he was younger than them. So they acted rudely and badly in front of the court and were soon . Yangnyeong became a traveler who wandered in the mountains, and Hyoryeong became a Buddhist monk. This later became a heartfelt and traditional legend in South Korea.
Kabuki
People from around the world are now interested in Kabuki. It was recognized by UNESCO in 2006 as an important part of Japan's cultural history.
Kabuki theater started during the Edo period (1603—1868). It developed into what we now know as kabuki during the "Genroku" (1688—1704). Kabuki was started by a woman, Izumo no Okuni, who performed in the dry river bed in Kyoto in 1603. It was very popular, especially because many of the stories and dance moves were about sex. Many of the women performers were probably prostitutes, and it was thought that kabuki disturbed discipline. This caused women to be banned from performing in Kabuki plays in 1629. Beautiful young men replaced women to play female roles, but in 1652 they were banned for the same reasons. Kabuki was allowed to continue with adult men playing all the roles, "Yaro kabuki," and this style is the one that has became famous.
After the "Genroku" era, Kabuki became popular in Japanese cities, growing rapidly as proper theater with great authors and actors. "Ningyo Jyoruri" (the puppet theater) also influenced the stories, directions, content and style. Ballet and theater music, such as "Nagauta", "Tokiwadubushi" and "Kiyomotobushi" were also influences on the development of kabuki. After the restoration of the Emperor in 1888, kabuki was influenced by foreign culture, stimulated by the rise of new drama.
In the "Showa" period, from 1926 to 1989, performances began in other countries. The Empire Theater in Japan was reconstructed, and renamed the National Theater. In 1954, the East Side Theater was constructed, and kabuki was shown from it on TV. In 1965, Kabuki was seen as an important cultural heritage. After World War II, the Japanese came to see that Kabuki as an important part of their culture. Many actors became famous people in Japan.
Woman kabuki actors are rare though there was "onnakabuki". The "onnakabuki" is woman’s kabuki. Now the men play both male and female roles.
There are famous kabuki actors in Japan such as Danjuro Ichikawa, Ebizo Ichikawa and Koshiro Matsumoto. Danjuro Ichikawa is an especially famous kabuki actor. He started "aragoto" at the age only of 14. The "aragoto" is a kabuki genre dealing with a brave warrior, a fierce god, or a demon. He also wrote kabuki plays under the name of Hyogo Mimasuya.
The name of a kabuki actor usually is passed on from one generation to the next. Therefore the name of an actor is passes to the next generation. Kabuki actors do not perform only kabuki but also act in TV drama and movies. Koshiro Matsumoto often appears on TV.
Kabuki theaters are very unique. In the Genroku era, kabuki was influenced by "nou" or "kyougen" which were the theater styles made before "kabuki". In this period there was no roof for audiences, so that if it rained, actors could not perform. In the Edo period, all seats were covered with a roof.
"Mawari-butai", a revolving stage, began in the Kyōhō era (1716–1735). Scenes are built on the revolving stage and when a new scene is needed they simply rotate the stage; it makes progress of plays move quickly and easily. Foreign theaters have copied this kabuki invention.