The Niff of Nihilism

[smokingboot]

Before this virus thing nearly killed me, I had a strange experience courtesy of theoclarke. I do not know this gentleman nearly as well as I would like to, I met him through mutual friends at a party and have found him to be an excellent chum in all things. So when he recommended the perfumes of Commes Des Garcons to me, I decided, in the spirit of olfactory adventure, to seek them out.

I love getting lost around Bond Street, where everything glitters in a slightly less cheapncheerful way and the allure of shop windows has mortgage eating capacity; Sothebys, Bulgari, Van Cleef and Arpel, Cartier, times and worlds I always associate with my mother. Away past all these wonders, I went to the Doverstreet market, to find the home of Comme Des Garcons, where I found a pyramid of perfumes. I tried Odeur 71 because it's got the most irresistably peculiar marketing, a perfume 'for an alien on an olfactory odyssey across the earth.' Apparently Odeur 71 incorporates smells such as 'photocopier ink, burnt out toasters, tyres, dust on a lightbulb...'Wow. I had to try.

And yes. It really does smell of electric short circuits and tyres, manga future, metal landscape. I'm impressed that they could do it, but they needn't have bothered on my account. It's anti-fairy, wear this and no hippy will ever cross your threshhold again. For some it may be worth the 70 quid they're asking. I personally discover I am not as sophisticated in my tastes as the gallant theoclarke considers. In the end I'm an old softy whose cutting edge is easily blunted by prittifings. I left CdG, niffing vaguely of burnt out white goods, and lurched my way towards illness without a single fairy guardian, all of them mortified by my eau de cold ironing board.

The weefee are back now, saving me from the edge of pneumonia. My temperature is now normal, and an awful lot of gunk seems to be emigrating from my lungs. Time to pull myself together and think. There is stuff to do.

Comments

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

They are touted in the main as unisex fragrances - Commes Des Garcons in White smells like a Christmas air freshener, all orange/cinnamon/fir trees etc, very pleasant and innoffensive for anyone, anywhere, possibly excepting very hot weather. I was surprised at its homeliness, the boss will like it, the boy next door will like it, his sister will like it, mum, dad, gran and grandad will like it. So why don't I like it? CdG don't seem to do allure or sexy. They do interesting and that's not enough for me. Male or female, I want perfume that beguiles.