Coco Chanel 3 part of 5 – Chanel N°5

“Happiness is nothing more than the scent of our soul.”

“Perfume is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion . . . which heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure.”                                                           Coco Chanel

In 1921, Coco created his perfume “Chanel n ° 5”. Assigns Ernest Beaux, the tsar’s perfumer, to create a unique perfume “at the height of his clothes”. Thus was born Chanel N ° 5, an innovative fragrance that, unlike the perfumes of the time that enhance the fragrance of a single flower, is composed of more than 80 essences and synthetic components that enhance the aromas and make Chanel n ° 5 even more mysterious and indecipherable.

“A feminine scent that smells like a woman; because a woman must smell of woman and not rose” said Coco “a woman should wear perfume wherever she would like to be kisses”.

It took several months to perfect a new fragrance, but in the end, when 10 samples are taken, from 1 to 5 and from 20 to 24, to choose the one that will become the most famous fragrance in the world, Coco chooses the sample N ° 5, according to some for its magical qualities. It is from here that Chanel N ° 5 takes its name.

The bottle with simple lines, unlike the vials of the time, seems to have been design to resemble a decanter for whiskey, while its octagonal stopper, cut like a diamond, takes inspiration from Place Vendôme (Paris), which is the square where the hotel Rits is located, where Coco Chanel lived.

Despite the Second World War, Chanel N ° 5 resisted, and during the liberation of Paris many American soldiers lined up in front of Coco Chanel’s shop (on Rue Cambon) to buy the Chanel N ° 5 perfume to take to their mothers or girlfriends.

The fame of the perfume becomes worldwide, but turns into legend when on April 7, 1952, Marilyn Monroe, during an interview for the magazine “Life Magazine” who had dedicated a cover to her, declares that she goes to sleep wearing only a few drops of Chanel # 5.

The following year she will be photograph for the Marie Claire magazine in bed, with a bottle of Chanel N ° 5 on the bedside table.

Word of mouth…Scilla 

                                                     to be continue…

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