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U.S. Sailors and Marines from the USS Iowa on shore leave shop for perfume in Bermuda, circa 1943. (Photo by Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Veterans Day
12 Monday Nov 2018
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Henri Bendel: A Scented Salute (in 5 Parts)
03 Wednesday Oct 2018
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I’m still distressed by the news that Henri Bendel will be shut down in January 2019 by its owner, L Brands, due to low profits. Last week I took a look back at The Gilded Cage, Henri Bendel’s shop-within-a-shop for perfumes and cosmetics. Today I’ll share five memories of Bendel from my own scented timeline.
A Look Back at Henri Bendel and “The Gilded Cage”
25 Tuesday Sep 2018
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Henri Bendel on West 57th Steet, via Geraldine Stutz Fellowship/Parsons School of Design
I’m still saddened by last week’s news that Henri Bendel—the flagship store on Fifth Avenue and its various satellites in other cities—will soon cease to exist. L Brands, Bendel’s corporate owner since 1985 (and the force behind Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, et al.) is closing down the brand due to its lack of profitability.
I could ramble incoherently for thousands of words about the ways that L Brands gradually dragged Bendel down into tacky irrelevance and ruined it for those of us who were lifelong shoppers (and I mean, lifelong—I probably visited the original Henri Bendel location in utero). Instead, I’ll share this gem of an article that The New York Times ran in 1960.
Screen Time: “Endeavour” Follows His Nose (sorry!)
24 Tuesday Jul 2018
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I’ve been watching the various television series inspired by Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse mysteries since my late teens: the original BBC series starring John Thaw as Morse, then the spin-off series Inspector Lewis (about Morse’s younger assistant), and now Endeavour. This one is set in the late 1960s and offers a backstory (or origin story, if you want to think of it that way) for the mysterious Morse.
The latest episode of Endeavour to air in the United States, “Quartet” (Season 5, Ep. 5), is a tale of murder and espionage set in—where else?—Oxford, England. One of its subplots includes references to a fictional perfume brand called Fenix.
Vanities: Iman’s favorite perfume and home fragrance
16 Monday Jul 2018
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Bowie and Iman in 1990 (Photo by Ron Galella)
To say that I’ve spent most of 2018 (to date) immersed in all things David Bowie would be an understatement.
That situation is about to change, but I can’t help writing one post here about Iman, the model and entrepreneur who was his wife from 1992 until his death in 2016. I could spend all day looking at photos of them together, but I’ll try to keep this post short and sweet and scent-related.
Giveaway Winner for GALLIVANT Samples…
27 Tuesday Feb 2018
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Perfume Giveaway: GALLIVANT Discovery Set
19 Monday Feb 2018
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WHY: Because winter can give us cabin fever and make us crave new sights (or smells).
WHAT: An unused “discovery set” of GALLIVANT fragrance samples that I’d like to pass along to a reader in the United States. It includes Brooklyn, Tel Aviv, London, and Istanbul.
Year of the Dog 2018
15 Thursday Feb 2018
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This week marks the lunar New Year, and in the Chinese calendar, it’s the Year of the Dog. What better time, I thought, to remind you that Oh My Dog! fragrance still exists?
Oh My Dog! was launched by the Paris-based brand Dog Generation in 2000 and, yes, it’s a perfume for dogs. It was “tested under the supervision of veterinarians and dermatologists” and it’s described as “unisex.”
Screen Time: A Stinky Moment on NBC’s “The Good Place”
22 Monday Jan 2018
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I started watching NBC’s “The Good Place” while I was housebound with my broken ankle in November, and I’m still hooked. It’s one of the silliest and smartest shows on TV right now.
Here’s a moment that gave me a laugh (among many laughs throughout the episode).
