life's a gamble.

historical-hogwarts-houses:

Coco Chanel - Slytherin 

With her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today. Her early years were anything but glamorous. After her mother’s death, Chanel was put in an orphanage by her father who worked as a peddler. She was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew—a skill that would lead to her life’s work.  She had a brief career as a singer before opening her first clothes shop in 1910. In the 1920s, she launched her first perfume and introduced the Chanel suit and the little black dress. The international economic depression of the 1930s had a negative impact on her company, but it was the outbreak of World War II that led Chanel to close her business. She fired her workers and shut down her shops. During the German occupation of France, Chanel got involved with a German military officer, Hans Gunther von Dincklage. She got special permission to stay in her apartment at the Hotel Ritz. After the war ended, Chanel was interrogated by her relationship with von Dincklage, but she was not charged as a collaborator. Some have wondered whether friend Winston Churchill worked behind the scenes on Chanel’s behalf. While not officially charged, Chanel suffered in the court of public opinion. Some still viewed her relationship with a Nazi officer as a betrayal of her country. Chanel left Paris, spending some years in Switzerland in a sort of exile. She also lived at her country house in Roquebrune for a time. At the age of 70, Chanel made a triumphant return to the fashion world. She first received scathing reviews from critics, but her feminine and easy-fitting designs soon won over shoppers around the world. Shirley MacLaine, who played Chanel in a 3-hour Lifetime movie described her personality as such: “I found Coco to be everything between generous and rude […] I loved her conflict between love and ambition, her sense that everything was about her talent. I think we’re both colorful. I think we’re both rude. We both can’t hold in what we feel to be the honest opinion.” Coco Chanel never married, and is quoted as saying “I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” Coco’s creativity and stark individuality point initially towards a Ravenclaw sorting—they too are frequently honest, which she certainly possessed. But it was her ambition and her talents that dominated her life. Coco’s rags-to-riches story and her noted ambition point directly towards a Slytherin sorting.