A lot has been written about Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s personal life and earlier career in the 1910s and 1920s.  A lot has also been written about her triumphant return to fashion in the 1950s and the time until her death in 1971. But, other than a notation that she closed her shop in 1939, the 1930s are often skipped in Chanel fashion timelines.  The 1930s were another decade of turmoil and tragedy for Coco Chanel both personally and professionally.

Coco Chanel 1930s
Adolf de Meyer (American (born France), Paris 1868–1949 Los Angeles, California)

1930 – Chanel’s lover, the Duke of Westminster leaves her and marries another woman.

Evening Gown, 1930

Coco Chanel, Lace (source)

Evening Dress, 1930

House of Chanel (French, founded 1913)

Silk Lace (source)

Evening Ensemble, 1929-30

House of Chanel (French, founded 1913)

Silk (source)

Evening Dress, 1930

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Cotton and silk (source)

Evening Dress, 1930s

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Beige silk satin and lace; pieced alternately. (source)

Evening Dress, 1930s

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk (source)

Evening Dress, 1930-32

House of Chanel (French, founded 1913)

Silk, (source)

1931 – Chanel meets Samuel Goldwyn in Monte Carlo. Mr. Goldwyn offers her 1 million dollars (approx. 75 million in today’s economy), to design costumes for MGM.

Cape French, ca. 1931

House of Chanel (French, 1883-1971)

Silk, sable, metal button  (source)

Evening Dress, 1931

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk (source)

1931 – Chanel travels to California where she designs the clothing worn on screen by Gloria Swanson, in “Tonight or Never,” (1931) and for Ina Claire in “The Greeks Had A Word for Them,” (1932). Though the public loves her clothing and several celebrities become private clients, her designs don’t translate well to film.

Coco Chanel (right) with musical theatre star Ina Claire, 1931

1931 –  Gloria Swanson wearing Chanel in the film “Tonight or Never”

Evening Dress, 1932

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk, Tulle and Sequins (source)

Coco Chanel 1932 (source)

Ensemble, Evening 1932

House of Chanel (French, founded 1913)

Silk (source)

1932 – Paul Iribe collaborates with Coco Chanel in the design of extravagant diamond and platinum jewelry that is exhibited to the public. (source)

1932 Chanel Diamond Brooches and Diadem Shown on Wax Model. (source)

1934 – Gabrielle moves to the Ritz Hotel

Coco Chanel on the balcony of her apartment at the Ritz (*)

Evening Dress, 1934

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk and Metal (source)

1935 – Coco’s lover Paul Iribe, while staying with her at her villa, La Pausa, on the French Riviera in September suddenly collapses and dies while playing tennis. 

Ensemble, Evening 1933-35

House of Chanel  (French, founded 1913)

Silk and Feathers (source)

Chanel 1934, Feathers Cape

 Etienne Drian (source)

Chanel 1934 Evening Gown

George Hoyningen-Huene (source)

Chanel 1934 Black Taffetas Evening Gown

Schompré (source)

1935 – Elsa Schiaparelli establishes a salon overlooking the Place Vendôme – her vivid patterns, brighter colors and defined silhouettes challenge Chanel’s understated designs.

Elsa Schiaparelli 1935 dress (*)

1935 – by 1935, Chanel has become a habitual drug user, injecting herself with morphine on a daily basis until the end of her life. (source)

Evening Dress and Cape ensemble, 1935

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk, Rayon and Plastic (source)

1936 – During financially challenged times in France, Chanel develops a reputation as a rogue employer as she is faced with the strike of at least a hundred of her workers,  fires them,  and then hires them all back, reluctantly conceding to their demands.

Vogue December 1936

Sequined Chanel Dress (source)

Artist Jean Cocteau sketching model Elizabeth Gibbons in a Chanel evening gown

in his hotel bedroom (castille in the rue cambon), 1937 (source)

 Chanel haute couture Cannes gown from 1935 (source)

Chanel 1936 Evening Gown (source)

1937 – the House of Chanel expands the range of its clothes to include more women, and presents prêt-à-porter clothes designed, cut, and created especially for the petite woman. The simplicity of her designs also makes them easy to copy in the factory so she is credited with being the designer who had the greatest effect on the early development of American mass production.

1930s Chanel Adaptation vintage dress at Dress Vintage

Coco Chanel 1937 (source)

Evening Dress and Cape 1937

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk satin and net embroidered with sequins (source)

Lucien Lelong & Chanel 1937 Blouses

Christian Bérard (source)

Evening Dress, 1937-1938

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

silk, rayon, horsehair, linen (source)

Chanel Jewelry 1938 (source)

Suit 1938

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk Velvet (source)

1938 –  Karl Lagerfeld is born

Evening Dress, 1938

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Cotton (source)

Evening Dress, fall/winter 1938-39

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (French, 1883–1971)

Silk, plastic, suede and glass (source)

Evening Dress 1938

House of Chanel (French, founded 1913)

Silk, (source)

1939 – The outbreak of World War II – Chanel declares it was ‘no time for fashion’ and takes a 15 year break from her fashion business. She lives off the royalties of her perfume, closes her fashion houses and starts a controversial relationship with German Nazi officer Hans Gunther von Dincklage. 

Chanel took women’s fashions away from uncomfortable corsets and introduced casual, practical clothing that borrowed fabrics and sensibilities from men’s fashion.  Chanel’s other contributions to women’s fashions are considered to be:

Knit jersey – Chanel was the first designer to use wool jersey in women’s wear, revolutionizing the textile industry.

The bias cut dress – labeled a “Ford” by one critic because everyone had one.

The little black dress

The beige slingback shoe with black toecap

The tweed suit

“Chanel suit,” which usually consisted a cardigan-style jacket, weighted with her trademark gilt chain stitched around the inside hem, a simple easy-to-wear skirt, worn with a blouse

The cashmere cardigan

Menswear separates for women

Riding breeches

Wide-legged trousers

The chain belt

The topstitched handbag with gilt chain

The Collarless cardigan jacket

The spaghetti strap on evening gowns

The floating evening scarf

She was also the first to make wearing costume jewelry with fine jewelry socially acceptable. She introduced;

ropes of imitation pearls

innovative combinations of real and imitation gems

crystal clusters

ornate jewelled cuff links

wide bracelets that could be split up and worn separately

necklaces covering the shoulders

Merci Beaucoup Madamoiselle Chanel..