A public holiday in London today… the last one of the Summer.
The last one in fact until Winter is with us and we celebrate Christmas.
So what better way to go out than with a bang, a whoop, a scream, a whirl and a whoosh of steam?
The whoosh in fact of Carter’s Steam Fair which took up it’s customary place on ‘the East End’s lungs’: Victoria Park today.
Do enjoy the colours, and a few perfumed proposals, some serious, some just fragrant fun… just like the fair itself.
The Swing Carousel
The Spitfire
The Motorcycle Carousel
The Dodgems
Ice Cream Van
The Octopus
Candy Floss?
The Shooting Gallery
The Motorcar Carousel
Cuddly Toy Prizes
The Coconut Shy
The Grand Carousel
So there we have it… a few scented snaps.
I wonder whether all the connections are evident?
Perhaps some are a little puzzling.
But then The Dandy does like a riddle…
“Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
The Perfumed Dandy. 
That was fun! I love that one. 🙂
Dearest Lily
Fun indeed as any good fair should be… it’s a shame that the plumes of steam and smoke emerging from these truly vintage rides didn’t quite come out on the images.
I guess it just means I’ll have to go again next time the fair’s in town!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
The thing about taking photos at the fair (or anywhere) is you get to look in detail later, which is impossible to do when we’re amidst the kaleidoscopic whirl of color and sound and scent. Our senses are overwhelmed and we miss a lot (I suppose I should speak for myself!). In photography we get to have our cake and eat it too. We can be both participants and voyeurs. I am enjoying your photos so much, Mr. Dandy, and you have inspired me to want to take photos as I go about my day.
Dearest Lily
Oh do! I encourage, nay implore you to get your camera out and out and about with you!
I normally take photographs most when strolling alone or with very close friends.
I’m not terribly good at snapping ‘events’ or ‘people’ as I feel times are for living in and good company is best suited to conversation.
But yes, the rewards come after, it is a wonderful and slightly strange feeling to look back at moment captured and perceive all the things going on in it one wasn’t aware of at the time.
Now you do promise us that if you get snap happy too you’ll share the fruits of your labour!?!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
My eyes needed this.
Dearest Victoria
It’s quite an ocular work out isn’t it!
Like a good brisk walk for the eyes…
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Love the ice-cream van, it’s just perfect, and I also secretly like shalimar initial.. I say secretly because although I think its an excellent composition, I feel the same way about wearing it as I might about tucking into a large cone like the one on the van, with sprinkles and a chocolate flake to top it off.
Dearest Alice
How very true… Shalimar Parfum Initial is something of a guilty pleasure.
The only word I’d say against it is I’m not sure why it needs to bear the name Shalimar (of course I know the answer in marketing terms).
But if we’re going to have flankers then this is not only as good, but better than most.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Almost nothing in common with Shalimar. I do like the strong iris note at the heart, although the opening is off-putting. Agree its better than most flankers, and more wearable than Insolence.
Dearest Alice
I shan’t say to much lest I find myself testing it one day… but, aren’t most things more wearable than Insolence?
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Oh do wear it, I’d love to read your piece on that one!
BTW you mentioned wearing No 19 in the summer – I’ve always reserved it forr autumn, but have tried it for the last few days and it wears beautifully in the late summer (London, of course). Thanks for the promp! One of my eternal favourites.
Dearest Alice
I shall place one vote against the ‘Insolence’ in your honour and when The Hit Parade returns, who knows it may even be on there!
So glad you gave No 19 a run in the heat, I find greens very agreeable when the temperature goes way up… just like olfactory air conditioning!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Dear Mr Dandy,
Gosh where to start? I love it all! There is a bittersweetness to your photography and to the End of Summer theme. I can’t find the connections but I did note Shalimar Perfume Initial in there, which I am reviewing shortly. I was surprised to see Virgin Island Water there since I know of your aversion to coconuts, but then the penny dropped and I finally got one of the connections! Ta dah! Don’t by shy of Coconuts…
Entertaining, witty and thought provoking. I never read your posts without feeling something: be it nostalgia, humour or melancholy. But usually humour!
Your Friend
IScent
Dearest Iscent
The end of the Summer is bittersweet… “May to September” and al that I suppose, and fun fairs to have a slight air of melancholy… a phenomena one can;t help feeling might be coming to an end just like the season.
To be supplanted permanently by their permanent cousins the ‘Theme Parks’.
Now I’ll be very interested to know what you think of Parfum Initial… I shall just whisper one word that may strike fear into your heart… “ir..”. No, I can’t. It would be to cruel!
Thank dear friend for all your kind words and encouragement, it really is a joy to have you hear and to have your daily reviews to turn to too.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
You made me feel good: we have 2 more official holidays before the winter ones: Labor Day (next Monday) and then Thanksgiving in November 🙂
Nice pairings. It made me want to wear my Mitzah even more. But it needs to cool off a little before it feels like the right choice for me.
Dearest U
The Dandy is Chartreuse with envy!
Now tell me, isn’t there some supposed rule (no doubt invented by magazines) that white shouldn’t be worn before Memorial Day or after Labor Day… or have I just made that one up entirely… really it wouldn’t be beyond me!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
The only one I can remember (but do not hold me to it: as you might remember, it’s not my native culture): don’t wear white (shoes?) after the Labor Day. It’s definitely not applicable nowadays in urban areas and especially in California: our summer has just started 😉
Dearest U
Yes… that is it! No white shoes after Labor Day… how deliciously dictatorial those fashion pundits were in days passed.
I shall have to find out whether we had any equally foolish rules here… apart from the excessive ornament of Victorian mourning that is.
Oh yes,,,, Mitzah, it really is just about the only truly sweet (on my skin at least) scent I can endure. Quite lovely.
Your ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Lovely, my dear Beau Brummell, and so much fun! I enjoyed trying to catch some of the associations, though I don’t know enough of the fragrances to guess many of them. I loved the choice for Equipage! As a wild guess, I assume that something like ISO E Super is responsible for Lalique’s association with motor cars? As for Mitzah, it’s not sweet on my skin, so I personally wouldn’t opt for candy floss, but for something more nutty and smoky. Unfortunately, I don’t think British faires or carnivals have any Asian incense temples…. 😉 😛 As for Cuir de Russie, it must be lovely on your skin to warrant that imagery. The Cuir de Russie that my skin brings out deserves a photo of a stable stall filled with droppings and covered in foam. 😦
Dearest Kafka
Your description of Cuir de Russie is too, too funny.
Though I must confess a predilection for leathers, so am biased, and equally am not wholly adverse to a slightly fecal quality in scent… the foam! I’d never thought of it as soapy at all. The image though is divine.
As to Mitzah… it’s strange but on The Dandy’s skin it is pure sweetness (my dermis seems to have the effect of amplifying the honeyed aspect in anything). But a very good sweetness, like smoky fudge if that makes any sense at all!.
Spot on with Lalique. I don’t dislike the fragrance, nut there is something rather planned about it, like the aroma of a high end sports car… I wonder if they spray them with ISO E?
Always a joy.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
It makes absolute sense about the Mitzah, not only in terms of the honey but the smoky fudge. 🙂 That is how it is on me, too, though my nose interprets it in part as “caramel” when you consider the mélange with labdanum’s honeyed side. Like you, my skin amplifies not only basenotes but anything sweet or smoky. Ultimately, I suppose “sweetness” is a question of semantics, definition, and degree. The sweetness of labdanum doesn’t translate as actual sweetness to me, as compared to say, grape juice notes, for example, or gourmand sugar fragrances. (Or even one of the new MFK Ouds which smelled of *actual* candy floss, and made my teeth hurt. Stay far away, my dear.)
As for the foam and suds in Cuir de Russie, another thing my skin amplifies: Aldehydes. It turns them into a geyser of soap suds. You have no idea how much I curse my skin sometimes, dear Beau. I would love to experience the Cuir de Russie that drives so many to swoon. Instead, I feel like Heathcliff being punished by mucking out stalls. *sigh* You’re so lucky that you love aldehydes and that they work well on you.
Oh I love the carnival! What you call The Dodgems we call “Bumpy Cars”! You dodge them over there and we hit them over here. This was a great treat! I think I will put on some Candy Floss…I mean Mitzah today.