Coco Chanel by Lisa Chaney Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lisa Chaney
eccentric Spanish courtesan, owned a stupendous jewel collection and famously said, âNo man who has an account at Cartier could ever be regarded as ugly.â She had made for herself a notoriously revealing bodice composed entirely of precious stones, and kept it stored in the vaults of her bank. At the sighting of one of these costly Amazones on a sonâs horizon, his family was in dread lest he should squander his inheritance.
Nonetheless, âat once exclusive, alternative and forbidden,â 9 the courtesan was worshipped as a status symbol and a trophy. At the same time, courtesansâ sexual tastes were wide-ranging; they were often bisexual. The exquisite Liane de Pougy, for example, one of Emilienneâs numerous female lovers, wrote of her: âWith an impudence as great as her beauty, she . . . installed herself in my bed, at my table, in my carriages . . . vicious and ravishing . . . Nothing about her was banal or vulgar, not her face nor her gestures, nor the things she dared to do.â 10
Courtesans pursued a life of independence and sexual liberation unthinkable for all but the smallest fraction of other women. While majestically overcoming typically impoverished and unstable backgrounds, they were, more often than not, ill equipped to deal with their fevered lives. Frequently mismanaging their celebrity and huge earnings, they regularly squandered them on a life more lavish than they could actually afford. In addition, a secret yearning for acceptance usually deluded them into believing that marriage would gain them an entrée to society as equals. Seeking anesthesia against their ultimate ostracism, these memorable women all too often became mired in addiction to alcohol or drugs. It was not uncommon for the courtesan, and her âlesserâ sisters, to die destitute and forgotten. Liane de Pougy and Emilienne dâAlençon were two who kept their wits about them, not only hanging on to their fortunes but also making impressive marriages.
Gabrielle eschewed the path of the courtesan and became an irrégulière , a mistress, entirely dependent upon her lover. Her rejection of the courtesanâs jewel-encrusted path was significant. Over time, she would admire and be influenced by them, but she would also strive to distance herself from their glamorous dependence. She was groping her way toward an idea of self-determination that might bring her a more genuine autonomy. In one sense, the courtesanâs life was a heightened, more dramatic version of the usual power brokering that takes place in relations between men and women. This drama involved the power of the courtesanâs lover over the courtesan, and the power in her potential to damn a manâs life if he should fall in love with her.
Gabrielle was unusual in that she wasnât interested in that kind of powerâpower for its own sake. For this reason, although she was aware of her ignorance of château lifeâand set about to learn about itâher interest in status was limited. Ultimately, this gave her great confidence. What really interested Gabrielle was influence. Over the span of her life, her interest in influence would be misconstrued over and over again as a desire to wield power. But Gabrielle would come to wield power above all as a means to an end, the creation of her art, her work, and, through work she would secure her independence.
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Though Gabrielle remained stubbornly coy about the identity of her earlier lovers, Etienne Balsan was probably not the first of her Moulins officers. Hinting darkly at a brief entanglement when still an adolescent, she would later say that girls of this age âare terrible. Anyone can have them who uses a little subtlety.â 11 The young officers at Moulins may have entertained liberally, but the expectation of a reward was implicit. Gabrielleâs move to Royallieu marked far more long-sighted ambitions.
In part, it was realism. Not
Nonetheless, âat once exclusive, alternative and forbidden,â 9 the courtesan was worshipped as a status symbol and a trophy. At the same time, courtesansâ sexual tastes were wide-ranging; they were often bisexual. The exquisite Liane de Pougy, for example, one of Emilienneâs numerous female lovers, wrote of her: âWith an impudence as great as her beauty, she . . . installed herself in my bed, at my table, in my carriages . . . vicious and ravishing . . . Nothing about her was banal or vulgar, not her face nor her gestures, nor the things she dared to do.â 10
Courtesans pursued a life of independence and sexual liberation unthinkable for all but the smallest fraction of other women. While majestically overcoming typically impoverished and unstable backgrounds, they were, more often than not, ill equipped to deal with their fevered lives. Frequently mismanaging their celebrity and huge earnings, they regularly squandered them on a life more lavish than they could actually afford. In addition, a secret yearning for acceptance usually deluded them into believing that marriage would gain them an entrée to society as equals. Seeking anesthesia against their ultimate ostracism, these memorable women all too often became mired in addiction to alcohol or drugs. It was not uncommon for the courtesan, and her âlesserâ sisters, to die destitute and forgotten. Liane de Pougy and Emilienne dâAlençon were two who kept their wits about them, not only hanging on to their fortunes but also making impressive marriages.
Gabrielle eschewed the path of the courtesan and became an irrégulière , a mistress, entirely dependent upon her lover. Her rejection of the courtesanâs jewel-encrusted path was significant. Over time, she would admire and be influenced by them, but she would also strive to distance herself from their glamorous dependence. She was groping her way toward an idea of self-determination that might bring her a more genuine autonomy. In one sense, the courtesanâs life was a heightened, more dramatic version of the usual power brokering that takes place in relations between men and women. This drama involved the power of the courtesanâs lover over the courtesan, and the power in her potential to damn a manâs life if he should fall in love with her.
Gabrielle was unusual in that she wasnât interested in that kind of powerâpower for its own sake. For this reason, although she was aware of her ignorance of château lifeâand set about to learn about itâher interest in status was limited. Ultimately, this gave her great confidence. What really interested Gabrielle was influence. Over the span of her life, her interest in influence would be misconstrued over and over again as a desire to wield power. But Gabrielle would come to wield power above all as a means to an end, the creation of her art, her work, and, through work she would secure her independence.
Â
Though Gabrielle remained stubbornly coy about the identity of her earlier lovers, Etienne Balsan was probably not the first of her Moulins officers. Hinting darkly at a brief entanglement when still an adolescent, she would later say that girls of this age âare terrible. Anyone can have them who uses a little subtlety.â 11 The young officers at Moulins may have entertained liberally, but the expectation of a reward was implicit. Gabrielleâs move to Royallieu marked far more long-sighted ambitions.
In part, it was realism. Not