I suppose this all begins, with that reviled and misunderstood historical figure, Marie Antoinette, I've never been overly fascinated by her or quite understood when looking at paintings why she was considered so physically beautiful. When I was 13 though I read a biography of her and did come to feel that she had been maligned (she was not an innocent and was extravagent, but so was all the other rich folk of the time). Yet, within the last year or so, their has been a great hubbub for Marie Antoinette from film to perfume. Many bad things can be said about Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette film, but this can be said the opulent costumes of the period are gorgeous, Kirsten Dunst (who I don't usually find very attractive) makes a beautiful Marie Antoinette, and the heady over the topness of the period is lavishly conveyed.
What captured me the most was the unbridled feminity of the boudoir scenes; the powder, the pink, the picking of the shoes, the pastries, and the fact that it was an area cut off from the world of men. The one scene where we see a man enter Marie Antoinette's boudoir is where she is seducing her lover (this is her place of power), when outside her boudoir Marie Antoinette is quite subdued to those around, but in the boudoir her feelings are far more apparent and she is confident. I admit I walked away from the film wanting a boudoir, no I do not preach feminine submissiveness, but I loved the idea of having an area where my feminity was heightened, where what I felt was attractive was extravegantly on display, where because I was in my little temple dedicated to me that my sexuality was completely under my control. I suppose this is an idealized boudoir but I couldn't help but love the concept. After the film, I went home determined to create an atmosphere of unbridled feminity, I took a bath and lit my most opulent rose candles to create the boudoir atmosphere. This all leads to scent which then leads to perfume. There is nothing so telling or extravegant as the display of bottles of perfumes and Marie Antoinette was involved with this as well. She had her own perfumer, many have tried to re-create her perfume (in fact a re-creation came out last year), many have been inspired by her while creating a fragrance. Now enter the perfumer Sophia Grosjman, she is known for her over the top voluptious extravegant compositions, and I have come to the conclusion one of her scents is the epitomy of Marie Antoinette for me: Paris. Paris is a fragrance dedicated the powdery operatic marriage of roses and violets, the notes are not demure but rather what is considered delicately feminine is turned into the bombastically feminine, it is the scent of the boudoir. Yet, now enters the classic scent of Bal a Versailles, this scent should be the scent to evoke Marie Antoinette, but in fact it rather at least in edt concentration, evokes furs and incense. So I nominate after all the inspired scents of Marie Antoinette and the costly recreation of her scent, something all together different for what I really think evokes her: Paris.
So I am spending my day writing a paper, truthfully I really shouldn't look at as too scary, considering it is only three pages double spaced. So what do wear for days like this? In my opinion you put on your loudest, skankiest, or most out landish scents that you often feel quite strange leaving the house in unless you have only applied the tiniest drop, but that just defeats the joie de vivre of these scents. So today I am putting on Bal a Versailles, that fur laced incense that demands you luxuriate in its pure animalic qualities. The best part is the drydown though, which is the creamiest honeyed musk out there on me, it takes hours but it is worth for that strange magic.
