On the top of the stack of books I’m reading now is Irène Némirovsky’s Suite Française, a novel that takes place in France just as the Germans seize Paris in June, 1940. I’m only halfway through the novel now, but I’m engrossed in its contrast of the war’s crazy beauty and horror, certainty and improvisation, and, of course, good and evil. Living my insular life as an American so many years later, it’s hard to imagine what World War II must have been like for the average Parisian. Jean Patou L’Heure Attendue and Lucien Lelong Orgueil, both released in 1946 to commemorate the end of the war, bring an inkling of the feeling of relief and joy that the war’s end brought…
A favorite parlour game among perfumistas is to list the discontinued fragrances they’d most like to see brought back from the dead. Coty Chypre and Shiseido Nombre Noir often top such lists, and while either would warm my heart, let’s face it, neither would make a killing on the department store shelves. Coty really ought to bring back Chypre, even if only for the prestige factor, but they’re never going to sell a gazillion bottles of Chypre no matter what. And I don’t think we need hold our breath waiting for Nombre Noir.*