When asked in 1954 what she wore on bed at night, Marilyn Monroe answered, “Five drops of Chanel No. 5.”
I am jealous of women who have a favourite perfume. Who always wear it and who become synonymous with that scent. I think perfume suggests elegance. It has a timeless quality. If you know someone who wears the same scent, it reminds you of them, it links in your mind with a picture of who they are and what they stand for.
I am always frustrated by trying to find this elusive signature scent for myself. I currently alternate between Vera Wang Princess and Chanel no. 5 but don’t feel they particularly stick to me or that they’ve become recognisable to me. I am always unsure if it’s just about consistency – wearing the same one every day so it becomes you or searching for one that declares who you are or want to be as a woman.
Fashion designers have long proclaimed the importance of wearing perfume for women, leading us all to link elegance and being a true lady to wearing it …
“A woman’s perfume tells you more about her than her handwriting” – Christian Dior.
“A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future” – Coco Chanel.
But is wearing perfume even important for women anymore? I find that it’s mostly my mum and her friends that have that familiar scent, my friends don’t seem to bother as much, maybe just for a night out but not every day use. Is this a sign that we leaving our ladylike qualities behind and losing that elegance that made women like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn have such timeless beauty?
Do you have a signature scent? Do you think perfume has lost its allure to us now?
Vix x
