Stylebook Book Club - Book 14

I'm really excited about this month's book, Living with Coco Chanel by Caroline Young! I loved Caroline’s book Style Tribes and while discussing that read with her, she mentioned that she recently wrote a book on the life of Coco Chanel. She kindly sent me a copy and it did not disappoint!

Chanel’s life is as dramatic as a Jane Austen novel, full of passionate love affairs and daring trendsetting. More importantly, the book is an amazing history of the origin of what many of us consider timeless style. I'm in awe of how Chanel was able to extract inspiration from everything around her - incorporating materials, symbols and silhouettes from her daily life to create the pillar of fashion we know today as the House of Chanel.

I was very surprised to find out that what we consider to be the epitome of classic style started off as bold and even avant-garde. I think Chanel was a very modern woman, and I’d say she was even a feminist, making clothes that freed women to be active and enjoy life. She was also an amazing businesswoman who was resourceful and extracted a life of glamour from a surprisingly unglamorous background. Her story is a valuable lesson in style and how to find and use inspiration from the world around you. She infused her personal taste into everything that surrounded her from clothes, to interior design, to the way she did her hair. If she wanted something, she made it happen and that’s something I think many of us would love to achieve.

- Jess Atkins, Stylebook Co-founder

Here’s how it works!

On the first of the month: I’ll share a new book on for everyone to read. Join our email list here to get notified about each month’s book.

The first week of the month: I’ll post on Instagram about what I got from the book and I hope you’ll share your thoughts with me there too!.