09 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent
Every fall season should include days like this, with companionable strolls down leaf-strewn paths under brilliant foliage and clear skies.
This advertisement for Prince Matchabelli Golden Autumn was published in 1964. I wish I could get closer to see the details of the couple’s outfits — sweaters? tweeds? — but even without sharper resolution, the mood is clearly conveyed…
05 Wednesday Jun 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent
Australian actor Rebel Wilson is the face of InStyle‘s May 2019 issue, and for this cover and interview, the magazine photographed her in a series of shots inspired by classic (if occasionally over-the-top) perfume ads of the 1970s and 1980s.
Here’s Rebel wearing a slinky black gown and reclining on a couch with a bouquet of orchids at her head…
26 Sunday May 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent
Headed out of town this weekend?
On May 27, 1910, an ad for the Rosenbaum Company store in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania newspaper made some suggestions for toiletries that its customers might want to pack for their Memorial Day outings. These items (on sale!) included facial cream, hydrogen peroxide, “Lusterite” emery boards, and tinted face powder (and “powder leaves,” which do sound useful for travel, if they’re similar to the “papier poudre” blotting papers still available today)…
15 Monday Apr 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent
Édouard Baldus, Facade of Notre-Dame de Paris, between 1851 and 1870. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Since France has been the center of Western perfumery for several centuries, and so many major fragrance houses have been based in Paris, it’s no surprise that Paris landmarks — including the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris — make cameo appearances in so many perfume advertisements.
Earlier today, Notre-Dame was engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire hasn’t been established yet. While we’re reflecting on this event, let’s take a break from the news footage of the conflagration and look back at a few images of Notre-Dame in fragrance ads…
28 Thursday Mar 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent, Art and Scent
Fragrance aficionados don’t pay much attention to Elizabeth Arden’s fragrance line these days, and I can’t really blame them (us)—the brand’s perfumes, and even their marketing, aren’t too memorable…
11 Monday Mar 2019
Posted in Advertising and Scent
One of the major mainstream fragrance releases for autumn 2013 was Estée Lauder’s Modern Muse, with the tagline “Be An Inspiration” and an advertising campaign featuring the model Arizona Muse.
In the initial advertising for this fragrance, Muse (the person, with the perfume!) made an appearance at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
In the print ads, including the one above, she poses inside the Guggenheim, which is immediately identifiable by its spiral ramp and its circular skylight…
