Perfume

An olfactory adventure that explores the trends and crazes that have shaped the way we've spritzed over the past century. Signature scents and now-lost masterpieces, the visionaries who conceived them; the wild and wonderful campaigns that launched them; the women and men who wore them--every perfume has a tale to tell. Join Lizzie Ostrom, the nose behind "Odette Toilette," as she examines one hundred perfumes and scents in all their fragrant glory, revealing a fascinating social history along the way. From the belle époque through the swinging sixties, to the naughty nineties and into the aughts, Ostrom brings intelligence and wit to this most ravishing of subjects. There was the patriotic impact of English Lavender during World War I, and perfumes that captured the Egyptomania of the 1920s. Estée Lauder created Youth Dew and with it, distilled the essence of 1950s suburbia. Patchouli oil, the "anti-perfume" of the 1960s, was sure to keep money out of the hands of corporations and "the man." And who could forget the fervor created by the grunge androgyny of CK One? Scent is truly a passport to memory, making this book both a lush treat and an insightful examination of the twentieth century through the most mysterious of the five senses.--Adapted from dust jacket.