Read The Secret of Chanel No. 5 Online
Authors: Tilar J. Mazzeo
Parfum Delettrez, 114
Parfums d'Orsay, 42, 114
Parfums de Rosine, 26, 30, 114
Paris, France:
as bohemian, 13
Chanel No. 5 as symbol of, 216â17
collaborators sought and charged in, 157â62
as fashion capital, 113
liberation of, 155â61
perfume sales to soldiers in, 24, 29, 139â40
perfume as souvenir of, 29, 34, 111, 139â40, 149, 216â17
during Roaring Twenties, xiv
during World War II, 137â40, 151â57
Parma violet, as respectable scent, 44
Parquet, Paul, 41
patchouli:
as erotic scent, 18, 76
in oriental perfumes, 40
Patou, Jean, 43
scent salon created by, 124â25
Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, Grand Duke, 49, 51
perfume industry:
at 1925 Paris exhibition, 114â15
during Great Depression, 120, 121
duty free business model of, 167
innovations and changes in, 39, 40, 41, 44â45, 54â55, 93, 115, 144â45, 208â9
Lateâ20th century glamour of, 201â3
Marie de Medici and roots of, 31â32
marketing changes in, 123â25
secrecy within, 97
perfume(s):
accords as building blocks of, 39
aldehydes in,
see
aldehydes
American market for, 29, 30, 100, 111â12, 120, 124, 197
in ancient world, 19
categories of, 39â45
on couture scene, 25â27, 59
as feat of engineering and inspiration, 47
”golden age” of, xvi, 33, 45, 144, 214
historically linked to prostitution, 19
legacy, xiii, 209
“lifted” by aldehydes, 64
marketing of, 81, 123â25, 147â50
natural vs. synthetic materials in, 41
personal style as factor in, 93
processing of florals for use in, 143â45
scent salons for merchandising, 123â25
social distinctions defined by, 18, 43, 44, 46
as souvenir of Paris, 29, 34, 111, 139â40, 149, 157, 159, 162â64, 216â17
structure of, 78
studied by Coco, 38â39, 40â45, 104, 143
world's oldest, 19
on World War II black market, 138, 146
see also
fragrance; scent;
specific perfumes
perfumer, task and skills of, 39, 210
phenylethyl alcohol, 44
Piaf, Ãdith, 155
Picasso, Pablo, 45
plant resins, as head notes, 78
Poiret, Paul, 127
signature scent launched by, 25â27, 30, 122, 123
Polanski, Roman, 198
Polge, Jacques, 64, 202, 203, 210
prostitution, perfumes linked to, 19
Proust, Marcel, 18
Quelques Fleurs (perfume), 45, 55, 67, 70â71
quinolines, 42
Rallet No. 1 (perfume), 52, 55â56
as basis for Chanel No. 5, 70â72, 96â97, 105â6, 118, 173, 174
bottle design for, 105â6
Mademoiselle Chanel No. 1 based on, 172â74
re-release of, 117
Rallet No. 3 (perfume), 117
Rallet No. 33 (perfume), 117
Rallet O-De-Kolon No. 1 Vesovoi,
see
Rallet No. 1
Rasputin, Grigori, 49â50, 55
red label Chanel,
see
Mademoiselle Chanel perfumes
Remembrance of Things Past
(Proust), 18
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste, 31
Repulsion,
198
respectability, divide between
demimonde
and, 18, 33â34
Reve d'Or (perfume), aldehydes first used in, 67
Ricci, Nina, 43
Ritz Hotel, Paris, 35, 138, 140, 155, 157, 184, 186
Roaring Twenties, xiv-xvi
Chanel No. 5 captures spirit of, 3, 67, 118
fashion and style of, 22, 45â46
see also les années folles
Robert, Henri, 210
Robert, Joseph, 97
Roger et Gallet, 114
rose
in Chanel No. 5, 60, 61, 66, 71, 76, 79, 124
rose
(cont.)
from Grasse, 43, 44, 143
as respectable scent, 43, 44
as scent at Russian court, 52
smuggled during WWII, 206
Rose (Chanel perfume), 109
Roubert, Vincent, 117â18, 173â74
Rubenstein, Helena, 147
Russian Revolution of 1917, 51
Ruth, Babe, xv
Saint Laurent, Yves, 40
Saks Fifth Avenue, 116, 171
sandalwood:
in Chanel No. 5, 62
in oriental perfumes, 40
as sexual scent, 76â77
Scandal (perfume), 182
scents:
chemical architecture of, 78
language of, 39â40, 78
memories linked to, 52, 90â91, 102, 210
reminiscent of human odors, 21, 60, 77â78, 79â80
sexuality revealed through, 18â22
see also
fragrance; perfumes
scent salons, 123â25
Schellenberg, Walter Friedrich, 159, 176
Schiaparelli, Elsa, 137
Scott, Ridley, 199
Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, Grand Duke, 49, 51
Sert, Misia, 30â31, 32, 35, 57, 102â3, 127
Seventeen,
199
Shalimar (perfume), 84, 114, 115
as oriental reference perfume, 40
scent consistency over time of, 209
Sheldrake, Christopher, 206â7, 209
soldiers, U.S., French perfume as
souvenir for, 29, 34, 157, 159, 162â64, 168
soliflores, 43â44
Stamelman, Richard, 45
State Porcelain Factory, 54
Stein, Gertrude, 120
storax, 79
Stravinsky, Igor, 107, 127
Style Moderne,
see
art deco
styrax, 79
Sulka, house of, 102
Summers, Steven, 168
suntans, made fashionable by Coco, 48
Switzerland:
Coco living in, 161, 162, 167
perfume production in, 168, 170, 173
symbolism, of numbers at Aubazine, 8â10, 61
synthetics:
first used in Fougére Royale, 41
in floral perfumes, 45
in leather perfumes, 42
mid-century generation of, 195
musk, 208â9
in oriental perfumes, 40
perfume industry changed by, 39, 40, 41, 44â45, 54â55, 144â45, 208â9
wariness about use of, 63
see also
aldehydes
Talbot, J. Suzanne, 122
Tautou, Audrey, 201
Tender Is the Night
(Fitzgerald), 109
31 rue Cambon (perfume), 202
Thomas, Dana, 193â94, 200
Thomas, H. Gregory, floral materials acquired by, 141â46, 206
Time,
128â29
Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri, 31
Truman, Bess, 157, 162, 181
Truman, Harry S, 157, 162, 181
tuberose, as erotic scent, 18, 44, 76, 79
Turin, Luca, 84
28 La Pausa (perfume), 202
United States:
Coco's visit to, 128â30, 171
Depression-era luxury market in, 119â20
marketing of Chanel No. 5 in, 99â100, 111â13, 138, 141, 147â50, 199
perfume market in, 29, 30, 100, 111â12, 120, 124, 197
perfume production in, 141, 145â46, 147, 166â67, 171
during Roaring Twenties, xiv-xv
Valéry, Paul, 46
van Ameringen, Arnold, 141
vanilla, in oriental perfumes, 40, 115
vanillin, 40, 115
Verdi, Giuseppe, 10
Victoria, Queen of England, 49
violet fragrances, as respectable scent, 44
Violetta di Parma (perfume), 44
Vionnet, Madeleine, 122
von Boineburg, Hans, 158
von Dincklage, Hans Günther, Coco's relationship with, 158â62, 167, 182
Warhol, Andy, xvi, xvii, 186, 193, 199
Warren, Estella, 200â201
Watson, Lyall, 78
Weriguine, Constantin, 65
Wertheimer, Alain, 197, 200
Wertheimer, Jacques, 141, 194â95, 197
Wertheimer, Paul, 104, 123, 135
Coco's initial agreement with, 92â97
death of, 184
move to New York of, 140
shares sold to Amiot by, 151â54
see also
Les Parfums Chanel
Wertheimer, Pierre, 104, 123, 135, 175
Coco's business relationship with, 153, 183â85
Coco's expenses paid by, 184
Coco's initial agreement with, 92â97
Coco's renegotiated agreement with, 176â77, 183â85, 195
death of, 194
move to New York of, 140
shares sold to Amiot by, 151â54
see also
Les Parfums Chanel
Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of, 128
white camellia:
as Coco's personal symbol, 10
popularity of, 10
White Russians, in exile, 48â49, 51â53, 56, 88
women, number five as symbolic of, 9â10
Woolf, Virginia, 24
World War I, 27, 28â29, 50â51, 54, 55, 70, 113
Beaux service during, 56
perfume as souvenir after, 29, 34
World War II:
black market during, 138, 146
Chanel No. 5 as soldiers âsouvenir during, 139â40, 157, 164
Chanel No. 5 production during, 140â46, 166â67, 171
Chanel No. 5 sales during, 138â40, 146â47, 158, 176
collaborators sought and charged after, 157â62
floral material supplies during, 196
shop at rue Cambon during, 137â38
shortages during, 138, 141â46, 156
Wyndham, Diana Lister, 34, 35, 43
XXIII (perfume), 114
Yardley, perfume house of, 147
ylang-ylang:
in Chanel No. 5, 62
as erotic scent, 44
Yusopov, Felix, 49â50
Zelle, Margaretha Geertruida (Mata Hari), 13, 14, 16
Zizanie (perfume), 187
N
ever, I believe, have I written anything that depended so much on the kindness of friends and on the generosity of so many new acquaintances.
Among those friends, thanks to Noelle Baker, Bill Hare, Roberta Maguire, Jeff Cox, Mark Lussier, Paul Youngquist, Christine Renaudin, Graham Lawler, Michael Gamer, Elise Bruhl, Michael Eberle-Sinatra, Tim Fulford, Paula Torgeson, Noelle Oxenhandler, Adrian Blevins, Nate Rudy, Lydia Moland, Axel Witte, the late Susanne Kröck, Matt and Erica Mazzeo, Dave Suchoff, Carleen Mandolfo, Lisa Arellano, Anindyo Roy, Liz Vella, Hannah Holmes, Shari Broder, Bruce Redford, Dennis Crowley, Mark Lee, Joyce Hackett, Jeremy and Paula Lowe, Michael Buss, Anna-Lisa Cox, Abby and Jon Hardy, Jérémie Fant, Jeffery McLain, Sam Hoyt Lindgren, Don Lindgren, Victor Hartmann, and Elizabeth Morse. Richard Wendorf offered perceptive advice on the manuscript at a crucial juncture. Jim Wendorf and Barbara Fiorino were guardian angels in New York, and my thanks to Mark Anderson for assistance with last-minute research in Berlin. Hillary Rockwell Cahn and Charles Cahn steered me in the right direction at the outset. My mother, Charlene Mazzeo, was once again my last and best reader, and my thanks to Pierre Guyomard and Simon Pittaway of La Maison de Léontine in Aubazine for putting me up, showing me around, andâalong with so many others in the village that nightâhelping me haul a rental car out of a snowy ditch in the middle of a French blizzard.
I am also grateful to Chanel for having given me invaluable assistance in the research for this book, although Chanel was clear with me in indicating that it could not confirm many of the facts that are set forth herein. I have relied throughout this book on the manyâand occasionally contradictoryâpublished sources on the life of Coco Chanel and on the Chanel No. 5 legend. Also in the world of perfume, Christophe de Villeplee and Nicholas Mirzayantz welcomed me at International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF), and I am grateful to Subha Patel and Ron Winnegrad of IFF and to Virginia Bonofiglio at the Fashion Institute of Technology for everything they shared. Linda Gerlach also shared her experience creating Love, the Key to Life, and, at the Osmothèque de Versailles, Jean Kerléo and Yves Tanguy offered freely time and expertise. Marie-Christine Grasse introduced me to the Museum of Perfume in Grasse. Thanks, too, to Philip Kraft at Givaudan; Walter Zvonchenko at the Library of Congress; and Bradley Hart at the University of Cambridge for his research assistance in the Churchill Archive Centre and in the National Archives in London. At Aubazine, Michèle Millas and Jean-Louis Sol were superb guides to Coco Chanel's childhood home. Thanks to odor artist and researcher Sissel Tolaas for olfactory conversations and other pleasant diversions and to Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez for taking the time to speak in Boston. Memoirist and former model Ann Montgomery Brower generously recollected her days at the house of Chanel in the 1950s.
Lastâbut certainly not leastâat HarperCollins, Matt Inman was, as always, the kind of editor most authors only ever dream about, and I could not have written this book without him. A warm thanks goes, as well, to my agent, Stacey Glick, for the fine art of making everything possible. Finally, I am grateful to my colleagues in the English Department at Colby College and to Dean of Faculty Edward Yeterian, particularly, for the gift of time and for their patience as I completed this book.
TILAR J. MAZZEO
is a cultural historian, biographer, and passionate student of wine, luxury, and French culture. She divides her time among the California wine country in Sonoma County, New York City, and Maine, where she is an associate professor of English at Colby College. She is the author of the
New York Times
bestseller
The Widow Clicquot
, as well as many other books, articles, essays, and reviews on history, women, and travel.
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