At the start of the twentieth century the idea of women in business seemed crazy. In
those days men held all the positions of power and made all the decisions about money.
They believed that a woman` s place was at home, looking after her children, cooking for
her family and managing the house. If a woman needed to work she could perhaps find a job
in a shop or in a factory, but she had no chance of working as a businesswoman or a banker,
or a lawyer.
Women` s fashions in the USA and Europe at that time supported their position in
society. Fashionable women wore long dresses that almost touched the ground. This made it
difficult for them to drive a car, ride a horse or even walk quickly.
But many women were not happy with their position in society, and they didn’t like
the clothes they had to wear. One of those people was a French woman called Gabrielle
‘Coco’ Chanel. When she went into business in 1910, she planned to change clothes that
women wore. But over the next sixty years she did much more than that, as she became the
richest and the most successful businesswoman.
Coco Chanel had no experience of business when she opened her first hat shop in
Paris in 1910. She was only twenty-seven years old and she came from an ordinary family.
Many of Coco’s customers in her first shop were her young women friends. They loved the
simple but beautiful hats and dresses that Coco made for them, and soon her shop started to
do well. 5 вопросов к тексту

1)What was the men’s position?

2) What women did if they needed money?

3) Why women wore long dresses?

4) Who was the first woman who changed women’s clothes?

5) How many years old was Coco Chanel?