Whom You Know: READ THIS: Dreaming of Chanel Vintage Dresses, Timeless Stories BY CHARLOTTE SMITH Illustrated by GRANT COWAN Sponsored by Advanced Derma Laser

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

READ THIS: Dreaming of Chanel Vintage Dresses, Timeless Stories BY CHARLOTTE SMITH Illustrated by GRANT COWAN Sponsored by Advanced Derma Laser

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Everyone has an emotional attachment to their clothes, particularly the dresses they wear when they go out to a major happening! Dreaming of Chanel celebrates this timeless fantasy that is a reality for the lucky ones, and Charlotte Smith brilliantly recounts the story of each dress in her collection that she inherited. Every dress has its own history, and the collection of many illustrious women from around the world is sure to delight any lover of fashion: note, this makes an excellent Christmas gift! It is definitely a coffee table book...and we especially like the felt cover!

THE BEAUTIFULLY PERSONAL AND ENCHANTING COMPANION BOOK TO DREAMING OF DIOR, FOR ANY WOMAN WHO KNOWS A DRESS CAN HOLD A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES…

Inheriting a priceless vintage clothing collection containing more than three thousand pieces sounds like every woman’s dream come true…right?

But all Charlotte Smith could think when her American godmother told her that she was sending her invaluable legacy of dresses across the ocean to Charlotte was: “What on earth am I going to do with it?”

Charlotte had already had her fair share of fabulous dresses and adventures. She lived her life to the fullest in London, Paris, and New York before falling in love with Australia and making it her home.

When she inherited a priceless vintage clothing from her American Quaker godmother, Doris Darnell, the boxes started arriving. When the first box arrived at her home in the Blue Mountains of Australia, Charlotte peeled back the packing tape, pushed aside layers of white tissue and caught her breath at what lay inside. It was a gown of gossamer silk in the palest cream with silver beads glistening over and beyond the bodice; panels of frothy chiffon slipped through her hands as she raised it to the light. Charlotte had unearthed her first treasure. She was instantly enchanted, as Doris knew she would be.

The boxes kept coming and they were filled with more than 3,000 pieces dating from 1790 to 1995, from Dior and Chanel origins to a dainty pioneer dress. Out of the boxes came strapless ball gowns with vast, sumptuous skirts of taffeta and moiré silk, velvet hats bedecked with exotic plumes, organdy party dresses in every style and hue…and every stitch, every sequin, ribbon and silk petal reminded Charlotte of Doris.

But when she unearthed her godmother’s book of stories, the true value of what she had been bequeathed hit home. This wasn’t merely a collection of beautiful things, it was a collection of life: women’s lives. Tiny snapshots of our joys and disappointments, our entrances and exits, triumphant and tragic.

Doris Darnell’s collection had been a lifetime labor of love for her, and she had chosen Charlotte as its new custodian. As a child, Charlotte had spent many hours with her godmother on the third floor of her townhouse, mesmerized by her latest acquisitions and old favorites. For Charlotte, this was where magic happened, brought alive by Doris’s wonderful stories about the dresses and women who wore them. Doris’s enthusiasm sparkled as she recounted the adventures of 1920s flappers, Edwardian ladies at high tea, new brides, debutantes, and pioneer women. And it was these stories that truly made her collection unique.

And so, Charlotte decided to honor her godmother, and the women who wore these dresses, by continuing her godmother’s legacy and sharing this incredible collection with the world. In her elegant and utterly delightful book, DREAMING OF CHANEL (Atria Hardcover; October 4 2011), Charlotte brings these dresses and outfits to vivid life. Renowned illustrator Grant Cowan’s eye-catching illustrations leap from the page and Charlotte’s anecdotes—taken from the catalog of stories Doris had included with her collection—are beautifully personal as she describes each dress.

The vintage collection that Doris passed along to Charlotte is worth a monetary fortune, and selling it would set Charlotte up for life. But she never considered doing so. For these dresses and outfits are so much more than just articles—albeit cherished articles—of clothing. As Doris once wrote to Charlotte, “In my opinion, it’s the stories that make the clothing three dimensional. And in some odd way the people who wore them come alive again in the telling. I am giving you all these stories so that they can continue to be an extension of each outfit.”

And for Charlotte, it was these words—Doris’s words—that drove home the true value of what she had received.

Charlotte Smith is Curator of The Darnell Collection. She was born in Hong Kong to an English mother and an American father. She grew up with her brother and sister on the east coast of America and graduated with a degree in Art History from Hollins College in Virginia. Charlotte has worked for art dealers, ran her own business manufacturing decorative lampshades and was the proprietor of a French country antiques shop. Her interests include horse riding, interior decorating, writing and gardening. She has lived and worked in America, England, France and and now resides in Australia, in the Blue Mountains with her daughter.

Charlotte's fascination with fashion began with a special vintage dress at the age of three. Since inheriting her godmother's vast vintage clothing collection, her passion for fashion has grown to include the history of fashion and its significant impact on society. Charlotte is involved with exhibitions of her collection around the country, gives lectures and talks, works with fashion and design students and is featured on television and radio.

Grant Cowan has worked as an illustrator on magazines like Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour and Red magazine. He studied fashion design and lived in London before moving to Australia to teach fashion illustration. Grant is a freelance fashion illustrator and works with fashion schools in Sydney.

DREAMING OF CHANEL: Vintage Dresses, Timeless Stories

By Charlotte Smith; illustrated by Grant Cowan

Published by: Atria Books / Hardcover

ISBN: 9781451632958

Pages: 296 pages

Price: $23.00

Pub Date: October 4, 2011

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