<p>It began as a scheme to turn a sleepy French outpost into a posh getaway. That might have been the extent of it, but Coco Chanel came to town, and her iconoclastic style spawned a fashion revolution. The modern summer seaside resort was born, inspiring a lifestyle&mdash;and wardrobe pieces&mdash;that have become synonymous with celebrity, sun, sea, and la&nbsp;dolce&nbsp;vita.&nbsp;Meg Lukens&nbsp;Noonan&nbsp;traces the rise and enduring&nbsp;glamour&nbsp;of the phenomenon, from Europe to the Americas.</p>

- Meg Lukens Noonan

1920s–1940s French Beginnings

WHEN A GROUP of investors conspired to turn some soggy land on France’s north coast into a resort so posh it would entice rich Parisians to make the 120-mile trip, little did they know they were launching a style revolution. But their goals were bricks and mortar (and money). They drained the marshes, built a railway and horse-racing track, and later constructed a grand casino flanked by elegant hotels and shops. It was Deauville. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel opened her first boutique there in 1913, and Belle Époque socialites were instantly beguiled by the gamine designer’s comfortable, practical—and quite revolutionary—wool jersey sportswear. Before long, they had ditched their corsets and taken to strolling Deauville’s beachfront promenade in Chanel’s drapey belted cardigans, wide-legged trousers, and two-piece beach pajama sets. Modern resort wear had arrived.

At about the same time, the former Basque whaling port of Biarritz, on France’s wild southwest coast, was becoming a fashionable getaway for aristocrats who came to bathe in the therapeutic saltwater spas. In 1855, Napoleon III built Empress Eugénie a summer palace on a bluff overlooking the Grande Plage, a long sweep of tawny sand she had enjoye

Esta historia es de la edición January - February 2017 de Coastal Living.

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