Look around your closet. See any little black dresses? Twin set cardigans? A-line skirts? Two-tone pumps? Quilted handbags? Jersey anything? Gold chains? Or long ropes of pearls? Well, if you see any of these stylish classics peeking out at you, you have bought into the century-old mystique of one of the most famous fashion icons of all time. You may have heard of her — Coco Chanel.

This eccentric chain smoker had millions of fans. Her legendary interlocking "C's" live on in the creative ingenuity of Karl Lagerfeld, the current House of Chanel's mastermind designer, who is constantly coming up with new modern ways to update the gold chains, pearls and black dresses of his infamous predecessor. Her fascinating life is the subject of countless books and an upcoming movie by Warner Brothers — "Coco Before Chanel" — scheduled for release Sept. 25.

She was born in a poorhouse in southern France to unmarried parents. She was raised in a convent, after her mother died when she was 6 and her father abandoned her. She learned to sew from the nuns at the convent, and later began designing hats when she was a cafe singer in the early 1900s.

And we never seem to get enough of this fascinating story about style. Gabrielle (that's before Coco) Chanel's life is the subject of a wonderful type of self-help book by author Karen Karbo: "The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons From the World's Most Elegant Woman" (Globe Pequot Press, 2009, $19.95). This is a book for fashionistas everywhere; those who love to read about the fashion legacy that continues to inspire women all over the world.

In her new book, Karbo reminds us of some of the ways we can emulate that famous French style, even though "to embody the Chanel style, it is not necessarily necessary to wear Chanel." So, while our charge cards may be better off, what's the bottom line to channeling the spirit of Coco?

Here are some of Chanel's most famous one-liners as well as Karbo's tips from one who never played by the fashion rules:

— Coco Chanel: "It's always better to be slightly underdressed."

Karbo agrees. "Overdressing is the first cousin of trying too hard," she says. But note the emphasis on the word, "slightly."

"This means jeans worn to a black-tie dinner are neither classy nor fabulous," adds Karbo, "and even if the bridesmaids at your favorite niece's wedding are all wearing flip-flops, that doesn't give you license to do the same."

— Coco Chanel: "All you have to do is subtract."

OK ... this is one you've all heard ... and it may or may not have been said by Chanel, says Karbo, but it is often accredited to her: "Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory." Sound familiar?

Karbo says it's the fashion point that counts. "Simplicity will now and forevermore be equated with elegance."

— Coco Chanel: "One shouldn't spend all one's time dressing. All one needs are two or three suits, as long as they and everything to go with them are perfect."

We may all claim more than a few suits in our closets, but the point is well taken, according to Karbo. "There are few things less stylish than a boring, self-absorbed twit, and so the idea of assembling a few perfect go-to-outfits is both elegant and chic. We're talking mix and match. We're saying that every beautiful piece you own should go with every other beautiful piece. Because you have better things to do than think endlessly about your clothes. Right?"

— Coco Chanel: "One ought to be a bit of a fetishist."

Chanel had a flower fetish. She loved camellias. "She adored the flower's near-perfect roundness, the creamy whiteness against a black dress or dark hair," says Karbo. "She pinned one to hat brims, pockets, waistlines and lapels. Being a bit of a fetishist allows us to indulge the much ballyhooed individuality without which we Americans would shrivel up and die."

— Coco Chanel: "Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn."

Well, maybe Chanel didn't actually say this, but she could have, says Karbo. "One of the reasons we hold the magnificently imperfect Chanel up as the perfect manifestation of style is that she was never in doubt about what she liked and what suited her," adds Karbo.

"To know who we are is a challenge for most of us. As dutiful consumers of media we are dogged by the feeling that we should exist in a state of eternal self-transformation. To plant our flag in the ground and say, 'This is me!' seems to us to be settling for less, or giving up, or not being all that we can be."

Other famous quotes from Coco Chanel:

— "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

— "How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone."

— "The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."

— "Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door."

—"Greatness doesn't get work done, unless you happen to be a hen laying eggs."

— "The only way not to hate azaleas is to cut them."

— "Money is a good servant and a bad master."

— "A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future."

— "There is time for work, and time for love. That leaves no other time."

Sharon Mosley is a former fashion editor of the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock and executive director of the Fashion Editors and Reporters Association. To find out more about Sharon Mosley and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.