Dear Friends
As some of you may have seen, The Dandy had a dashed lovely day out in the Park on Sunday, well The Gardens to be precise and Kensington Gardens at that.
Thank you all to those of you who suggested some scents that might go with my humble snaps.
Perhaps the wisest proposal was that such sublime scenes of nature required no man made smell to assist them. Too true.
However, The Dandy was ever one to throw caution to the wind and so this week I am presenting some 25 scents to go with those same scenes and today we have the second batch…
1. Swan
No other perfume will do for a swan!
The grandiose crystal bird bottle of years past may be gone but Gloria Vanderbilt’s Vanderbilt itself is still gliding by, transformed today into a ubiquitous drugstore tuberose cheapie.
For The Dandy no perfume, not Coco nor all the great florientals, so fully sums up a certain quality of the 1980s as does this sweet white floral aldehydic powerhouse.
Like the bird itself it can be beautiful at a distance but beware for up close and a little too personal (and frankly sprayed too vigorously) this scent can inflict a serious wounding.
You know, Vanderbilt really is not that bad, quite good really, and aldehyes in their abstract expansiveness has something of Spring air about them.
Being honest though, it is and always was all about that bottle.
2. Green Grass
In one of those totally chance encounters The Dandy came across this one whilst buying a bouquet for a friend.
Exquisite British florist Jane Packer has produced a small range of Eau de Parfums including this Green Orchid, Vetiver and Lemongrass.
The strange thing is for the life of me I can’t find any of those individual notes in this fascinating fragrance.
Instead, it entrances with an overall effect that is a magnificent meditation dewy morning grass in early spring.
Moist, alive and utterly green I fallen head over heals for this perfume as a way to start my scented day.
3. Folly
The slightly out of focus structure in bath sandstone in this shot is a folly.
A building with no other purpose but to look beautiful and to be beautiful in.
Follies speak of another age, of endless time and money for a fortunate few. Of elegance and elongated rituals.
Guerlain’s Eau de Cologne Imperiale too is an important part of history, perfume history that is.
Created by Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain, founder of the house, for France’s Empress Eugenie in 1853, it would earn him the honour of becoming royal perfumer and secure the fortunes of the company forever.
But this is no relic, Imperiale’s ethereal citrus accord swoops high above the wearer and is bound to elicit swoons in all admirers.
Critics rightly claim its charms are passing, but that is to miss the point: this cologne is an essential element of a fashion of living.
It is a refreshment, best taken before the serious perfume business of the day is applied, and The Dandy for one can think of no better accompaniment to his levee.
I will say no more for now as there will soon be words a plenty on this perfume…
4. Tea House
Beyond the luscious green leaf that looks almost good enough to eat, or at least brew, lies an handsome structure that was once a tea house.
Today this little red brick and Portland stone piece of Victorian fancy is home to London’s Serpentine Gallery, a small contemporary art space whose enormous reputation belies its diminutive size.
Perhaps it’s the colour of the brick, perhaps the building’s past use or maybe just the thought of a tea made with that leaf, but Bvlgari Eau Parfumee au The Rouge springs to mind.
Some people may associate a warming cup of char with winter, but what could be more refreshing come Spring than a sprightly cuppa after a brisk stroll along around the park?
Indeed there is a bracing edge to this revitalising and restorative perfume, a certain peppery punch and citrus zing before it yields to the delicious spicy fig and walnut of the heart.
The choice of the slightly racy roiboos for the tea note itself is inspired and lends a pzazz to an accord that can sometimes be pedestrian.
The last sharp breezes of the early morning before the suns heat sets in.
5. Conifer
It doesn’t look like a conifer does it?
But rest assured when you get up close this tree’s all needles and not leafs and has been green all the winter through.
Evergreen it may be, but this great plant is not immune to the season’s changes and now the warmer weather is here the sap is rising!!
Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet starts as a delicious sherbert lemon of a scent all springtime zing and effervescence, then develops complexity and becomes a splendid peppery pine tree in a lavender field all without ever losing that lovely urgency and energy.
This is a perfume to give your day a distinct dose of purpose and pace and definitely one for everyone no matter what the marketing department might say.
So, there we have the second five fragrances to follow on from my weekend photographs.
Fifteen more to come ‘twixt now and Friday!!
If you’d like to take a peek, why not spend a moment perusing the complete album of The Perfumed Dandy’s Sunday In The Park.
Any additional suggestions as to scents would be gratefully received.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
The Perfumed Dandy. 
Dandy,
I had never heard of a folly. “A building with no other purpose but to look beautiful and to be beautiful in.” Why do I suddenly want to house my bed in a folly? Oh, I just love this idea!
Gripping
The fragrance selections were spot on. Sorry, I got wrapped up in the idea of a beautiful building with no purpose. 😉
Dearest Gripping
Aren’t follies just the best!?! One of the many splendid things to emerge out of the Eighteenth Century (though there are similar structures before, right back to antiquity).
They are still being built today and temporary examples (rather dully called pavilions) often appear in London of a summer.
The last truly major commission of follies was 35 for the Parc de la Vilette in Paris. President Mitterrand wanted them and Bernard Tschumi the architect collaborated with Jacques Derrida the philosopher on their design.
Follies are a serious business it would seem, for the French at least.
As to the perfumes, maybe I will try and find a hermit’s grotto to include in future photographs and imagine a fragrance to go with that too!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Eau de Cologne Imperiale is one of my favourite edcs. And Blenheim Bouquet is a wonderfully smelling fragrance.
Dear James
I agree with you on both counts as they are [perfect examples of the absurdity of assigning a gender to perfumes for Imperiale is apparently for women and Blenheim men.
Frankly they’d be beautiful on anyone to The Dandy’s way of thinking.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
My beloved Swan! How I adored that scent in the 80s (including the decadent body cream!) I had forgotten all about that one! And now you have me desiring the Jane Packer…the bottle, the name, the description (“meditation dewy morning grass”)…I want it!
Dearest Brie
Is it just The Dandy or was there a distinctly more decadent decanter than that back in the 1980s? I remembers something in the shape of a swan? A crystal stopper perhaps… maybe it was a collector’s edition or cofret.
The Dandy definitely has memories of his mater with something very overblown by Vanderbilt and I don’t just mean the perfume!!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
A collector’s edition I believe for the bottles I had were exactly as the one shown in this post…goodness… I must be as old as your mater :D!!
I’d like to take a stroll with you through Kensington Gardens with all your scent suggestions clinking in my shoulder bag – then we could extract and sample them at the correct intervals (at my age I would consider this weight training) – sublime 😉
Dearest V
One of The Dandy’s many hats is that of professional strolling companion! This has set my senses racing for a new and entertaining idea… “Perfumed Perambulations” or perhaps “Scented Strolls”.
Walking my dear is an excellent exercise at any age, however, I am sure one as ever youthful as yourself might be up to a little turn on a bicycle too. The wind coursing through our hair to awaken the senses in advance of our olfactory adventures!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
I wonder what kind of evergreen that is, whether it is a type of cedar tree. Green cedar leaves/needles smell wonderful. I have a green cedar essence from a company in New Mexico called Clear Light. It is one of my favorite scents, very grounding and relaxng, which is how I imagine you felt after your day in the gardens.
Dearest Lily
My bet would have been a cedar too from appearance, but the scent close up was more like a pine.
As most of the trees in the Royal Parks are catalogued as historic monuments I should be able to find out and have already set the matter in train… I will be sure to report back when I know more.
Please to remind my if it slips my mind.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Thank you, Mr. Dandy. You are kind to indulge my curiosity. 🙂
Follies are sublime. Glinting bits of architecture dedicated to man’s joy and foolishness.
Last Sunday Boyfriend, Father and I went hiking to the Griffith Observatory. Part of the path was lined with trees – we took some needles from a cedar tree, rubbed them between our fingers and could smell its spicy, earthy essence.
Dearest Aubrey
Hello and welcome to The Dandy’s… do make yourself all comfy like!
Yes, follies are fabulous, no questions asked and we are lucky enough to have so many of them in Britain.
As for crushing cedar needles, I can imagine the scent… it must have been truly terrific.
The Dandy is forever sticking his proboscis into a flower or plucking a herby stem to contemplate on his travels: what better way is there to learn all the scents of nature?
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
May I be a little grumpy? I think that too many of the connections are too literal: swan, tea, grass… (said she who admitedly couldn’t pair anythining with anything 😉 )
Dearest Undina
You may indeed be as grumpy as you like… though be aware it’s not good for one’s constitution!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy