Happy Birthday Coco Chanel! 10 Fantastic Quotes From The Icon Herself

Happy birthday to one of the most important fashion designers of all time. 
Happy birthday to one of the most influential women ever. 
Happy birthday to an icon who's essence remains timeless, who's name and legacy will endure long after I'm gone.

Happy Birthday Coco Chanel! Born August 19th 1883, I wonder if she knew she would make such an impact on the world of fashion?
Did she know we would still be talking about her today?

To celebrate Coco here are 10 of her most famous quotes:

In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.



The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.



Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.



Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity.



Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.



Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.



How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.



Don't spend time beating on a wall hoping to transform it into a door.



I invented my life by taking for granted that everything I did not like would have an opposite which I would like.



A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.

Several years ago in Los Angeles I was on a shoot with a billionaire client who told me he could always tell if I had been in the room because I would leave behind just a hint of Chanel No. 5, in his mind the most feminine, elegant and timeless fragrance.

I think about that every time I smell No. 5
Maybe it's time to start wearing Chanel No. 5 again, because honestly I could use a little elegance in my life...

Happy Birthday Jackie O

Today would have been the 87th birthday of one of the most iconic women of all time, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

I have always loved her, her innate sense of style, her presence, and the glamour that her years with Ari Onassis implied.

Jackie and Aristotle Onassis

I have written about Jackie O before here. 
When I take the travelers on my Glam Italia Tours to Capri I take them to meet the man who made her sandals when she would visit the island, Aldo Schettino, so that they like me can buy Jackie O sandals. Read about it here.

Jackie and John John sitting outside Aldo's sandal shop in Capri

To celebrate her birthday, here are some images of iconic Jackie O

barefoot on Capri with Valentino

arriving in Capri

Jackie o in Capri

Jackie with kids in Capri

Jackie O, Capri

Capri

Iconic Jackie Onassis On The Island Of Skorpios

This week I taught a makeup class on iconic women.

I was amazed that students had never heard of Jackie Onassis/Jackie Kennedy. 

Growing up I was fascinated with her, not so much during the Kennedy days, but during the time she spent married to Ari Onassis.

How perfect could life be if you were married to a Greek shipping tycoon, at the time the wealthiest man in the world, spending large amounts of time on your own private island? The combination of her personal sense of style, the island (Skorpios) and the fabulous pictures of her on Ari's yacht (the Christina) and frolicking around the island of Capri had me mesmerized.

Skorpios

Skorpios island is in the Ionian sea. Heavily forested with sandy beaches, Skorpios was the site of Onassis' wedding to the former first lady, Jackie Kennedy in 1968. Onassis, his son Alexander and his daughter Christina were all buried on the island.

Skorpios Island

Ari Onassis' granddaughter Athina Roussel inherited the island upon her mother's death, but only visited it twice. In 2013 she sold it (via 100 year lease) to a Russian heiress, Ekaterina Rybolovleva.

It seems such a shame to have this island and it's fascinating history pass out of the Onassis family. 

Wouldn't you love to have your own Greek Island? I would adore it.

Here are some images of Jackie O on the island of Skorpios.

Her sensational sense of style is timeless. If you stepped out today in one of Jackie O's outfits you would be 100% on point. Which is why her look is iconic.

Ari and Jackie Onassis on board his yacht The Christina

Midweek Wisdom #6 Vintage Images of Celebrities In airports, With A Quote

I never get tired of looking at pictures of Audrey Hepburn.
She is iconic, timeless, the epitome of femininity and a very approachable beauty.
I love her body of work, and I love her body of good works.
I also love her quotes. I have one for you below.
I believe...

Audrey Hepburn, Rome 1968



I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.
I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.
I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.
I believe that tomorrow is another day and
I believe in miracles.

Midweek Wisdom #5

Don't you just love this image?
Shirley Maclaine looking entirely fabulous in long black gloves and rhinestone glasses,
rocking a little PanAm-glam in 1960 at Idlewild airport,
on her way to Italy.

Shirley Maclaine traveling to Italy from Idlewild, 1960

Midweek Wisdom quote #5

"Don't let your past steal your future.

Move on."

Midweek Wisdom and Airport Celebs # 3

Happy hump day!

It's time for a little midweek wisdom

paired with a vintage photo of a celeb at an airport.

This week is the irrepressible Liz Taylor

arriving in New York in 1968.

I'd love to think that this is something she would have said.

Liz Taylor arrives in New York, 1968

"Once in a while

blow your own damn mind"

xo

Midweek Wisdom and Airport Celebs # 2

Happy first Wednesday of 2015!

Today's midweek wisdom is right on point

with a great attitude to wear like a second skin

all year long.

And it's paired with a photo of Cher

at JFK in 1974

Cher at JFK, 1974

"The less you give a damn,

the happier you will be"

xo

Midweek Wisdom + Airport Celebs

I found a series of vintage photos of celebs at the airport

 via Conde Nast Traveler

and was thinking, while it lasts

we could do a little midweek wisdom to get us through hump day

and pair it with a fabulous photo 

of a fabulous celeb 

being fabulous.

Who better to get the ball rolling

on the final day of 2014

than Marilyn Monroe?

Here is beautiful Marilyn Monroe

leaving La Guardia airport in NYC and heading to Chicago for the premiere of Some Like It Hot

and below it a quote from Mahatma Ghandi

Marilyn Monroe on her way to the Some Like It Hot premiere in Chicago

"In a gentle way,

you can shake the world"

~ Mahatma Ghandi

Happy New Year Everyone!

xo

Iconic Women ~ Happy Birthday Jane Birkin

Can you imagine being so iconic, having such a timeless style, that Hermes named a handbag after you?

A handbag known worldwide and coveted as the ultimate expression of luxury, the pinnacle of chic??

British actress and singer Jane Birkin came to fame during the swinging 60's in London, before moving to France to star alongside Serge Gainsbourg in the film Slogan, in 1969.

Gainsbourg became the love of her life. They recorded many songs together including "Je t'aime... moi non plus" (I love you... me neither) a song banned in several countries at the time due to sexual explicitness.
The couple had one child together, french singer Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Birkin is frequently cited as being celebrities' style icon, which is somewhat unusual as her personal style has been so laid back. She is known for wearing her jeans until they frayed, often bare foot, carrying a wicker basket, even after Hermes designed perhaps the most expensive handbag in the world for her.

Victoria Beckham is frequently seen with Birkin bags

I love the story:

In 1981, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. Birkin had just placed her straw bag in the overhead compartment of her seat, but the contents fell to the floor, leaving her to scramble to replace the contents. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked. In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her: the Birkin bag,^[4][5] based on a 1982 design. She used the bag for herself for quite some time until developing tendinitis, switching to other types at that point.^[6]

Jane Birkin's Style

Today, December 14th, fellow sagittarian Jane Birkin turns 68.

Happy birthday Jane.