Advanced - Coco Chanel A:
(E0123)
´ en 1883, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel perdit sa Nee ` ˆ mere, morte de tuberculose, a` l’age de 12 ans. ´ elle, ainsi que ses Elle fut ensuite abandonnee, ` deux sœurs, par son pere. Born in 1883, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel lost her mother to tuberculosis at the age of 12. Her father then abandoned her and her two sisters.
A:
` Elle grandit dans un couvent en Correze, ou` elle ´ par les religieuses. apprit la couture, enseignee She grew up in a convent in Corr`eze, where the nuns taught her sewing and dressmaking.
A:
En 1908, Gabrielle change de nom et devient ´ suivante, Coco, chanteuse de music-hall. L’annee Coco Chanel ouvrit un atelier ou` elle put faire ´ ´ ´ et modifie des evoluer son esprit creatif : elle cree chapeaux, qui plaisent aux mondaines. In 1908, Gabrielle changed her name to Coco, and became a music hall singer. The following year, Coco Chanel opened a workshop where she could develop her creative spirit, designing and altering hats that appealed to the high society socialites.
Visit the Online Review and Discussion (text version).
c
2008 Praxis Language Ltd.
A:
ˆ En 1910, grace aux fonds de son amant Boy Capel, elle s’installe au 21 rue Cambon, a` Paris, ˆ et ouvre sa boutique de vetements haute couture : ’Chanel Modes.’ En 1916, l’un de ses ` modeles est publie´ dans Harper’s Bazaar : cette ´ consecration lui permet de rembourser Boy Capel ´ et de prendre son independance. It was in 1910, thanks to money from her lover, Boy Capel, that she set up shop at 21 Rue Cambon in Paris and opened her haute couture clothing boutique, ”Chanel Modes.” In 1916, one of her designs was published in Harper’s Bazaar. This recognition made it possible for her to pay back Boy Capel and to gain her independence.
A:
´ Tout s’enchaine alors: elle annexe les numeros 27, 29 et enfin 31 de la rue Cambon, ou` se trouve toujours la maison de couture qui porte son nom. Everything came together then and happened fast. She annexed numbers 27, 29, and, finally, 31 of the Rue Cambon, where the fashion house with her name still exists.
A:
En 1921, celle qui a dit ’Une femme sans parfum ´ ebre ` est une femme sans avenir’, lance le cel N◦5, ´ ˆ a` Marilyn Monroe qui entra dans la legende grace qui le portait pour dormir. In 1921, the one who said ”a woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future,” launched the well-known number 5, which became a legend, thanks to Marilyn Monroe who used to wear it to bed.
Visit the Online Review and Discussion (text version).
c
2008 Praxis Language Ltd.
A:
Sa fameuse petite robe noire, qui apparait dans chacune de ses collections, devient un classique baptise´ ’la Ford de Chanel’. Her renowned little black dress, which appeared in everyone of her collections, became a classic nicknamed ”Chanel’s Ford.”
A:
Le confort, la liberte´ de mouvement et le mod´ ernisme caracterisent ses collections. Ainsi, audacieuse, elle inventera le pantalon, le tailleur, ´ la jupe courte, les bijoux fantaisie, liberant les femmes des contraintes que sont le jupon, le ´ ´ ´ corset et reinventant le concept de feminit e. ´ la ’creatrice ´ Mademoiselle fut surnommee la ` plus influente du XXe siecle’ lorsqu’elle remporta l’Oscar de la Mode en 1957. Comfort, freedom of movement and modernity characterize her collections. She liberated women by inventing pants, suits, short skirts, and costume jewelry for them, thus freeing them from the constraints of petticoats and corsets and reinventing the concept of femininity. Ms. Chanel was nicknamed ”the most influential designer of the 20th century” when she won the Fashion Oscar in 1957.
A:
´ ´ Les creations de la maison etaient le reflet de la personnalite´ de Coco Chanel, femme ´ independante, libre, moderne. Elle ne se maria d’ailleurs jamais (mais elle eut un certain nombre d’amants, dont le duc de Westminster).
Visit the Online Review and Discussion (text version).
c
2008 Praxis Language Ltd.
The fashion house’s creations were a reflection of who Coco Chanel was: an independent, free and modern woman. Moreover, she never married (but she did have some lovers, including the Duke of Westminster.)
A:
Son tailleur en tweed, qui fut notamment porte´ par Jackie Kennedy en 1963, est de nos jours ´ e´ comme un symbole du chic encore consider ´ indemodable. Her tweed suit, notably worn by Jackie Kennedy in 1963, is still, even today, considered a symbol of chic that will never go out of fashion.
A:
Le parfum Chanel N◦5 est aujourd’hui le parfum le plus vendu dans le monde. Chanel N◦ 5 perfume is the top selling perfume in the world today.
Key Vocabulary
la tuberculose
Noun (f )
tuberculosis
abandonner
Verb
to abandon
le couvent
Noun (m)
convent
la couture
Noun (f )
sewing
la religieuse
Noun (f )
nun
Visit the Online Review and Discussion (text version).
c
2008 Praxis Language Ltd.
l’atelier
Noun (m)
studio
le mondain
Noun (m)
socialite
la haute couture
Noun (f )
couture
´ la consecration
Noun (f )
recognition
s’enchainer
Verb
to go very fast and come together
le tailleur
Noun (m)
suit
le bijou fantaisie
Noun (m)
costume jewelry
´ la creatrice
Noun (f )
designer
le chic ´ indemodable
Noun (m)
timeless chic
le styliste
Noun (m)
fashion designer
visionnaire
Adjective
visionary
hors du commun
Adjective
out of the ordinary
ˆ l’icone
Noun (f )
icon
Supplementary Vocabulary
Visit the Online Review and Discussion (text version).
c
2008 Praxis Language Ltd.
avant-gardiste
Adjective
Visit the Online Review and Discussion (text version).
avant-gardist
c
2008 Praxis Language Ltd.
