Coco Chanel

The sweet smell of success: the story behind Chanel No 5’s popularity

29 May 2021 9:00 am

This is a curious book, by turns profound and whimsical. Karl Schlögel, a professor of Eastern European history at Frankfurt,…

There’s something hot about a hat

15 February 2020 9:00 am

When an American describes a woman as wearing a ‘Park Avenue Helmet’ you know exactly what is meant. This is…

Cecil Beaton, self-portrait, 1936

Cecil Beaton, the bitch

20 September 2014 9:00 am

Beaton was the great inventor. Apart from inventing not only himself but his look, his voice, his persona and a…

From Göring to Hemingway, via Coco Chanel – the dark glamour of the Paris Ritz at war

19 April 2014 9:00 am

In Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen did a good job of showing how foolish it is to be obsessed by…