My Book SCENT AND SUBVERSION: A Century of Provocative Perfume Will Be Published by Lyons Press

One spring night in 2008, I was in bed reading a New Yorker article by John Lanchester called Scents and Sensibilities. It was a meditation on the difficulty of conveying what he called "taste experiences" into language, as well as reviews of a couple books that did a splendid job of doing just that. One was a book about wine, and one — you guys know where I'm going with this — was a book about perfume by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, the magnificent Perfumes: The Guide.

I was transfixed by the elegant and funny writing Lanchester excerpted and tantalized by the possibility of smelling these perfumes Turin and Sanchez so evocatively described. I'd loved perfume as a child and tween, but my love had lain dormant for a couple decades despite my continued (desultory) purchasing and wearing of perfume. After reading The Guide, my Limbic System, like an awakened Rip Van Winkle, went on a zombie-like quest for braaaaains!!!!PERFUUUUUUME!!!!, and here I am, four years later, still obsessed by it.

As I continued to read about perfume in books (Chandler Burr's two awesome books The Emperor of Scent and The Perfect Scent) and blogs (Perfume Shrine, The Scented Salamander, 1000 Perfumes, Basenotes, Fragrantica, Grain de Musc, I Smell Therefore I Am, Bois de Jasmin, Olfactarama, The Non-Blonde, Katie Puckrik Smells etc., etc. look to your right for the others!), my perfume tastes focused on what could be described as Temporal Niche: vintage perfume.

Don't get me wrong, as I was collecting vintage, I was still sniffin' the new. There was my obsession with Serge Lutens' Muscs Koublai Khan, and particularly with this wonderful category I'd never heard of called "animalic." (Read this classic Basenotes thread to see why!) Etat Libre d'Orange's Sécrétions Magnifique blew me away with its skirting the "bleeding edge," so to speak, of what a perfume could smell like. And Christopher Brosius at CB I Hate Perfume seemed to have a restless, New Millennium urge to reset the barometer on smell to Year One, with his representational scents of Roast Beef, Old Fur Coat, and Burning Leaves. There were many, many others. Trust.

But there was, I felt, time to learn about the new. Turin and Sanchez made a compelling case against bad reformulations of classics, and waxed poetic about certain perfumes that, in their original form, were sublime. Vintage perfumes were disappearing, and I needed to smell as many as I could before I could never experience them again. Thanks to eBay, estate sales, Ye Olde Junque Shoppes, The Perfumed Court, and friends like Leslie Ann at the Miniature Perfume Shoppe and this blog's readers — some of these originals soon became mine.

I had so many a-ha, falling-down-the-perfume-rabbit-hole moments with vintage. A night of sniffing vintage Chanel No. 19 was revelatory for me, in that I realized that a well-made perfume is a Mute Invisible Cinema, with its own mise-en-scene, characters, atmosphere and narrative. Diorella was kaleidescopic in its strangeness and complexity. Narcisse Noir, Bandit and so many others showed me just how erotic and subversive perfume could be, their perfume notes and combinations a language full of stories. As well as being beautiful, these creatures held secrets about the women they were meant for and the culture they were made in, and I wanted to find out what I could. All this led me on my slightly insane quest to smell as much of 20th century perfume as I could, and to discuss how each decade's style reflected the culture it emerged from.

There have been times, including now, when the hierarchy of needs up there in the Madame Rochas ad have placed Perfume squarely before Food, Clothing, and Shelter. But here I am. Two cities (SF to NOLA), one agent (the patient and wonderful Gordon Warnock of Andrea Hurst Literary Agency who believed in this project), and one publisher (Lyons Press/Globe Pequot Press) later, and these years of perfume obsession are culminating in a book that will be published in 2013.

I'm excited about Scent and Subversion: A Century of Provocative Perfume. It will include descriptions and histories of over 300 vintage perfumes, decade by decade, from Jicky to Demeter's Laundromat (2000). It will cover drugstore perfumes as well as haute perfumes. It will have over 100 gorgeous and interesting vintage perfume ads I've been collecting over the years. There will be some history about perfume houses, noses, basic perfume appreciation glossaries, and essays about the history, sociology, and even philosophy of perfume. There may even be interviews with perfumers.

In many ways, Scent and Subversion is a feminist project as much as it is an aesthetic one, because I'm also interested in how women have experienced this art that has been (predominantly) dedicated to them. What does it mean to them? Why do they love it? That's why the comments on this blog, the conversations I've struck up with readers, and the friendships that I've formed around perfume have been invaluable to me. I've learned so much from every one of my perfume friends.

Scent and Subversion is a work in progress. I'm still collecting some vintage perfumes, and I'm still doing some research. I'll still occasionally blog, but I'm furiously working on the book now, so the posts will be less frequent. I may post a question I want to tackle in the book, and your feedback could help me formulate an answer. If any of you have suggestions — books you want to make sure I've read, vintage perfume you want to ensure gets covered (or that you want to send), ideas for the book, anything! — please drop me a line either in the comments section, or via email (yesterdaysperfume@gmail.com). Thanks to everyone who's chatted with me about perfume over these years. Y'all will definitely be getting acknowledged in the book!

 

 

Comments

[Olfacta]

Wonderful! Congratulations -- I can't wait to read it!

[Vinery]

Wonderful news and I'm so happy for you!
But we have to wait until next year to read it--gaaaak

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks, Olfacta! I can't wait until I finish it. :-) It's been wonderful talking to you about perfume and I've learned so much from your blog.

[Perfumaniac]

Hey Vinery, you're sweet! All of the lovely perfumes you sent me will be described. I'm grateful for those gifts and the conversations we've had and hopefully will continue to have.

[TaffyJ]

This is great news, and I wish you all the best! I can't wait to read your book. Lovelove the inclusion of vintage perfume ads; grand idea!

[Perfumaniac]

Hi TaffyJ. I'm excited about the ads as well. I think the visual aspect of the ads will help highlight the more intangible aspects of the perfumes. I can't wait to share all of it!

[Isis]

That's wonderful! I can't wait to read it! I have learned so much about vinatge perfumes from your blog and you write so well- I'm sure teh book will be a treat!

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks, Isis. I can't wait for it to come out. I'm excited to see those ads in a book, as well! They're gorgeous.

[Emily]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I've enjoyed your blog for a long time, and I can't wait for the book to come out.

Vintage perfume is my favorite thing in the word, as my wallet will attest.

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks, Emily! It's really encouraging to have affirmations that there is going to be an enthusiastic audience for this book. Glad to know you've been reading the blog for a while!

[breathesgelatin]

How exciting! I'm especially interested in the feminist aspect of the book.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi breathesgelatin (I'm dying to know the meaning behind your screen name!) I'm glad you're excited about the feminist angle. I'd say this book was driven as much by my curiosity around the meaning of smells as it was by the pleasure I get from their beauty.

The vintage ads were easier to read, of course, from a feminist point of view, but I'm also attempting to analyze perfume language/styles and what they say about the women during that particular time. (And there's a whole discourse around women and smell, so the analysis is against that backdrop, too.) I don't want it to sound too academic (I mean, perfume is fun!) but I also think it's meaningful. Anyway, thanks for your words of encouragement!

[Ines]

What a wonderful project that will culminate in a book I am already looking forward to reading (or just browsing, what with all the adds you mention will appear in there). :)

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Ines, Thanks for the words of support. And yes, there will be reading and browsing to be had!

[noetic owl]

As you know already I can not wait for this book to be out in print! It was you, Barbara, and your blog that sent me down the rabbit hole after I discovered all the other sites listed to the right over a year ago. But honestly, your blog is still #1 for me, as it reminds me time and time again of all the original beauties I wore in my youth. I am so looking forward to your book! Best of luck!

[Perfumaniac]

Yay, noetic owl! Thanks for the vote of confidence. I appreciate all of the perfume conversations we've had and the perfumes sent back and forth. But as I said above, I'm grateful for the perfume friends I've made not only because I've learned about perfume from them, but also because you guys have been fantastic to get to know. Thanks for your support!!

[Nicole]

I can't wait to read this book, I know it is going to be fascinating.

[Carrie]

!!!!

I can HARDLY WAIT!!!

How exciting!

[Doug]

Although I am of the "wrong" gender, I enjoy your blog. I wish you covered more men's vintage scents.

On the women's side, I would like it if your book (or blog) covered Elsa Schiaparelli's 1942 perfume "Spanking," a mysterious scent that has piqued my interest.

[Perfumaniac]

Nicole: I hope my fascination with perfume is conveyed in the book. Thanks for the positive words.

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks, Carrie! It makes me happy to see enthusiasm for the book.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Doug, You're not the wrong gender! I love my male readers. I've reviewed a few vintage perfumes for men (Aramis, Pierre Balmain, and Eau Sauvage), and I might include a brief section in Scent and Subversion. There are definitely some gems, but they won't be the focus. There are some incredible ones I'll have to write about that I haven't: Kouros, Yatagan, Grey Flannel etc., so I'm glad you're letting me know there's some interest in that.

As for SPANKING perfume by Schiaparelli (seriously?? I almost thought you were mistakenly talking about Shocking). I'll totally get on that if someone can supply me with a good (version of) Spanking. (Sorry, I had to.)

[Elisa]

This sounds terrific. Congrats! No suggestions, but I'd love to get my hands on a review copy when it's ready for press!

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks, Elisa! I'd love for you to review it.

[Barbara]

Can't wait to add this to my perfume book collection because I love your writing. Hoping for many wonderful images like the top one in this post.

As a fairly recent subscriber forgive me if you've written about this, but have you read The Scent Trail by Celia Lyttelton?