Chanel dreams

Chanel no. 5 & Chanel 2.55

      Here in the one stoplight town of Sandston, Virginia; built on the outskirts of the Chickahominy swamp, how practical is it to dream of Chanel? I was a elementary school age girl in love with a Marilyn Monroe biography that I checked out of a library so many times they should have just given me the copy. That book is still on my bedside table today. When I was old enough to get my first bottle of grown up perfume, my mother bought me Chanel no. 5, because she said that was Marilyn's favorite perfume. I was having a wow moment like all teenage girls. No more drugstore little girl perfume in the candy pink bottle. I had Chanel in the center of my dresser. The black case, the sleek lines. No eighties high school fashion could stand the test of time next to it. When I got older and past my coordinating outfits from Express circa 1990 my taste in fashion magazines evolved. No longer was it that interesting to read a magazine that described the best way to perform oral sex and how to get and keep your man. You can walk down the aisle at a supermarket and get a man. Check out reality tv and you can see a chick juggling a dozen. What sparked my interest was Vogue and pictures of the Chanel 2.55. Coco Chanel's iconic bag named for its debut in February 1955. That was a real goal, not how to get a man with tramp tricks 101. How could such an expensive bag be a goal in this economy in small town USA? Simply for what it represents for me. Yes it is an image of timeless style, an elegant bag that will still be in style in fifty more years. But the root of dream is how much you have to have your act together just to afford it. Yes it is an object of cost that most of Americans will never afford in this economic standstill. In some cases one bag is more than a semester or even a whole year in a community college. To own one bag without being financially stupid all that money would have to be completely separate from your necessities of life. A roof over your head, a working car with a full tank of gas and a great job that you have been at forever and will always be there. Then when you have everything you need, you can cut out that awesome coffee, pack your lunch, and then decide even if you can afford it after being financially responsible is it an ok purchase? That is what my goal is, to someday be so financially secure that beautiful bag could be mine.