Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France, to a laundrywoman and a traveling street vendor. Her childhood was anything but glamorous. When she was just 12, her mother died of tuberculosis, and her father, unable to care for his children, left Gabrielle and her sisters in the custody of a… Continue reading Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance!