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Why I Need a Black Chanel Jacket

bottom left: Fairchild Archive

I own a lot of black jackets. Including my cool, fitted leather bomber and tailored, thigh-grazing Alexander Wang blazer. Then, there's a cropped tuxedo bolero—hard won through a 3am eBay bidding war—and a nipped waist double-breasted version with bell sleeves that I never wear but refuse to part with.

None of these, however, are the black jacket. You know, the quintessential, goes-with-everything, always-looks-chic, Audrey-Hepburn-is-jealous-of-you kind of black jacket. For a long time, I've believed this type of outerwear (that can also somehow also be indoor wear) was the stuff of urban legends. Because I've never really owned a piece that can be all things to all outfits. It wasn't until we started posting these Chanel videos on Luckymag.com—first this one of a blazer being made and then this one, of beautiful people modeling it—promoting the brand's upcoming book The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisited, that I began to change my mind.

Maybe it is just the magic of Chanel. The label has such a canny ability to make traditionally fancy things work in everyday situations. Or perhaps Carine Roitfelds's very logical explanation—"it is almost like a jean jacket, but very elegant"—convinced me. But suddenly, I am fixated on this specific piece of clothing and how it will improve my quality of life. I could imitate Georgia May Jagger and sex it up with leather shorts and tousled hair, go classic with pearls (à la Carine paying homage to Coco herself) or, like Sarah Jessica Parker, wear it as a headdress. (Um, full disclosure: I wouldn't do that. But it's nice to know I could.)

As I mused over the video campaign this morning, I started guessing how much the coveted item would cost. Since Chanel doesn't sell RTW online (it's that special) I would have to estimate. Probably a couple thousand, a least. Then I began to calculate how much money I would have to reserve from how many paychecks and for how long. Although none of my work was getting done, a solid payment plan began to form. I started to wonder: can I actually do this? Or am I completely crazy for even considering this extravagant purchase?

Across the room, my editor began to watch the same video. "You know," she said, "These Chanel videos really make me want one of these jackets."

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