The French fragrance house of Houbigant seems to have turned to the history of art even more than other houses of the mid-twentieth century. I’ve already written three posts about advertisements for Houbigant’s Chantilly. This ad is a general promotion for the brand, rather than any specific fragrance, and it illustrates the idea of “the Eternal Feminine” with a work of classical sculpture.
When I saw this vintage magazine advertisement for Cashmere Bouquet (circa 1899-1900), I immediately knew that it had to be the work of artist Maxfield Parrish. The hyper-realism of the light and shadow on the distant mountains, the palette of mauve and periwinkle, the “exotic” setting—these are all Parrish hallmarks.
Colgate hasn’t produced anything as fantastic as this ad in a long time.
I’m constantly gathering images for my posts about art history and perfume advertising, and I’ve come across many beautiful examples from the past century. I’ve also encountered some ads that have not aged well at all. Here are five perfume advertisements that seem (to me, at least) unappealing, borderline offensive, or just plain odd.
One of my favorite beauty-fashion-fragrance blogs is The Non-Blonde; I read it every day. Gaia, the stylish and smart brunette behind the site, is always discerning and articulate in her product reviews and other commentary.
Her recent review of the vintage fragrance Écusson by Jean d’Albert was, as always, a pleasure to read. It also inspired me to write today’s post here on Tinsel Creation, because one of the vintage Écusson ads in her post set off an art historical spark in my memory.
In honor of New York Fashion week, here’s a look at a perfume advertisement from Anna Sui, my favorite living designer. (Not to offend her by qualifying that statement with “living,” but I do love Paul Poiret! and Jeanne Paquin and early Chanel…)
To the point: Live Your Dream is a zingy rose-berry scent released in 2009 as a flanker to the original dusty tea-rose Anna Sui fragrance. Its print ad was photographed by Steven Meisel, one of Sui’s longtime friends and collaborators. And, as the official Live Your Dream description suggests, “the glamour and the hip retro feeling of Art Nouveau” are very much in evidence here.
