Channeling Chanel

The Little Black Dress. The string of pearls. Chantilly lace. The fabulous suit. Jersey knit. Trousers made for girls. Nautical stripes. The perfect red lipstick.



Celebrity Lee-Anne Summers arrives in Cosatu-red lipstick

Black and white shoes. Camellias. Scarves. And of course Chanel No 5, placed wherever you want to be kissed.



Carolyn Steyn is Chanel'd from head to toe

All symbols of female elegance invented by the most elegant woman who ever lived, Coco Chanel. Besides reinventing the modern definition of femininity Coco was given to "sayings", all of which were memorable. My favourite pronouncements of hers include: "The best colour in the world is the one that looks good on you" (a good reason to ignore dress codes that encourage you to fade into the wallpaper - like the ecru and aqua advised for guests at last Sunday's BMW Polo. Ecru is really a fancy word for BEIGE, and who wants to look just like the decor?), "Fashion is made to become unfashionable" (it's all a big conspiratorial retailer's plot really), and "Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress".

Now Chanel is the only label in the world that drives me moggy; when other people get glassy-eyed and say they would live on pilchards for three years so they can buy their favourite label, I don't understand. But when it comes to Chanel, I do go weak at the knees. I don't of course actually possess any Chanel, but have a fantasy of going to one of those famous Paris vintage shops, where the stuff costs more than a triple heart bypass without medical aid, and buying everything that is genuine pre- or post-war Chanel. Funnily enough modern Chanel doesn't have the same effect on me as the vintage stuff, although it is gorgeous as I found when I was taken to the Chanel shop opposite the Ritz. It's the old money honey stuff that gets me going. It's kind of like expensive men's overcoats, all that silk and cashmere and the smell of new coat drives me crazy. I just wanna roll around in them like a cat high on catnip. A therapist would have a field day with this one. Do they spray men's coats with that new coat smell, like they spray cars with the new car smell?

But I digress. The movie of the year, that eclipses The Devil Wears Prada, is of course Coco Avant Chanel.



Tamara Dey in front of the posters at the Rosebank Nouveau

Friends have been raving about Audrey Tatou's performance. And a lucky few Glamour movie club goers got to enjoy the woman's movie of all time last night while sipping on baby bottles of Piper-Heidsieck.



Actress Nambitha Mpumlwana of "The Lab" fame enjoys a Piper-Heidsieck mini!

The Rosebank Noveau has been looking very sad of late ( I hear they are in big financial pooh, surprising when you think it costs R50 just for a movie) so it was great to see the huge glamazon bash that took place. But you will have to read my column in The Citizen to find out more ...