FIDM Museum Blog

L'Aimant by Coty, 1950s

According to this article, downtown Los Angeles (home of the FIDM Museum) has experienced snow only 6 times since a January 1949 snowstorm sprinkled downtown with less than 1 inch of snow. The last recorded snow downtown occurred in 1962, so it's unlikely that we'll get any this year. Instead, we'll just have to enjoy this charming promotional photograph for Coty's L'Aimant perfume.  The photo features a swan sled carrying two bottles of L'Aimant across a frozen pond dusted with glittering snow.

L'Aimant by Coty
Promotional photograph
c. 1950-59
Gift of the Annette Green Museum at the Fragrance Foundation
F2005.860.1372

Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection

The Annette Green Fragrance Archive Presents:
Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection

Shoes
Europe, c. 1800
Leather, canvas & ink
Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection
L2011.13.534AB

We are delighted to announce the opening of Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, now on view in The Annette Green Fragrance Archive. This new exhibit complements A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, 1820s - 1920s. Both exhibits are drawn from Helen Larson's exceptional private collection. Surveying footwear, fans, gloves, purses, and hats, these objects demonstrate Helen Larson’s acquisition prowess and appreciation of fashion history. From a pair of 1860s men’s floral Berlin woolwork slippers to a 1930s crimson reptile skin handbag, the importance of adornment is not lost on the viewer of this visually striking installation.

Accessories from The Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection is FREE and open to the public Monday through Saturday, 10am–5pm. The exhibition is located in The Annette Green Fragrance Archive, on the second floor of FIDM's Los Angeles campus. Check-in is required at the security station on the ground floor. 

*There are no fragrance related objects on display at this time.*

From the Archives: Discovering Counterfeit Chanel No. 5 in a Museum Collection

For the next two weeks, we'll be featuring posts from our extensive blog archives. Today's post was written by Meghan Hansen, FIDM Museum Registrar, in 2009. In this post, she dives into our fragrance archive with an investigation into a counterfeit Chanel No. 5 box and bottle.

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“Bathtub Perfume Traps Pool Shark”¹  “Pair Arrested in Sale of 11c Perfume for $15”²

These headlines suggest the rampant problem of piracy in the perfume industry, a criminal activity prevalent in any field in which luxury goods are involved. For an example of the legal battles that can ensue from the selling of pirated fashions, check out this New York Times blog post. Though Chanel’s fragrances were not the only French perfumes targeted by counterfeiters, Chanel No. 5 consistently turns up in smuggling arrests, counterfeit busts, and consumer warnings about cheap perfume scams. Chanel No. 5 has a cachet that everyone wants, but where does this reputation come from?

Counterfeit Chanel No. 5 Bottle and Box
c. 1950-1959
Gift of Annette Green
F2005.860.986AB

Mae West objects on display

 

Originally posted in 2009, this post explores Mae West's larger-than-life persona. Visit the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition to see one of Mae West's corsets and a pair of her platform shoes on exhibit. The exhibition closes on April 28, 2012.

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Mae West's (1893-1980) most famous attribute was her figure. Buxom, rounded and held in place by rigid corsets, West's silhouette provoked a degree of outrage, while also serving as her best publicity. Her hourglass shape was immortalized in 1937 when the couturier Elsa Schiaparelli used West's silhouette as the basis for her Shocking perfume bottle. Hired to design costumes for West's 1937 film Every Day's a Holiday, the Paris based couturier would not travel to Hollywood and West could not travel to Paris. A solution was reached whereby a torso based on West's measurements was sent to Schiaparelli's Paris workshop. The resulting perfume bottle serves as an iconic representation of both Mae West and Elsa Schiaparelli.

Shocking by Schiaparelli
c.1937
Gift of Annette Green
F2005.860.820A

Parfums Lucien Lelong: The Peter Fink Collection

 

 Parfums Lucien Lelong: The Peter Fink Collection

10 a.m.–4 p.m., Monday-Saturday

Free!

The FIDM Museum is delighted to present an exceptional collection of fragrance, cosmetics, and ephemera from the house of Lucien Lelong. Some of these objects, including a fur-covered lipstick and the Full Dress and Golden Grotto lipsticks, have been featured on our blog. This group of objects was graciously donated by Monique Fink, wife of artist Peter Fink, who worked for Monsieur Lelong as package designer and interior decorator. Mr. Fink went on to discover the camera, and became a reputable photographer and artist of the twentieth century. Parfums Lucien Lelong: The Peter Fink Collection, a new exhibit in the Annette Green Fragrance Archive, highlights selected examples of Peter Fink's work for Parfums Lucien Lelong.

"Ting-a-Ling" Perfume Bottle
Lucien Lelong
c. 1949
Gift of Monique Fink
F2006.877.45AB

Ecarlate de Suzy, 1940

 

This Baccarat perfume bottle contains Ecarlate de Suzy, a perfume that was described as heady and provocative. In the shape of head and neck topped with a red hat, it has the same whimsical quality shared by many of the mid-twentieth century perfume bottles in our fragrance archive. The Suzy referred to in the name of the fragrance is Madame Suzy, a prominent Parisian milliner. This late 1930s Madame Suzy red and white hat is reminiscent of the hat perched on the Ecarlate de Suzy bottle.

Ecarlate de Suzy
Madame Suzy
c. 1939
Gift of Annette Green
F2005.860.349

Straight to the heart

 

Forget roses, forget chocolate! We've got a better gift for you this Valentine's Day--a selection of objects that address the theme of the day, love.

Paul Poiret evening gown from La Gazette du Bon Ton
1922, No. 22
FIDM Museum Special Collections

Published between 1912-1925, every issue of the French fashion periodical La Gazette du Bon Ton featured witty illustrations of the latest fashions. Penned by Georges Barbier, Erté, Paul Iribe, Georges Lepape and others, the illustrations placed the garments within an intriguing narrative. Was it a romantic mishap, or fashion rivalry that put the arrow through her heart? Additional illustrations from La Gazette du Bon Ton can be seen here.

 

Holiday greetings from Lucien Lelong

 

Greeting card sent by Lucien Lelong
1935-1940
Gift of Monique Fink
F2006.877.155

Images of Men: A Look Through Fragrance

 

Dani Killam, Assistant Registrar at the FIDM Museum, brings you this post examining how masculine archetypes are reinforced through the design and packaging of fragrance bottles. The bottles discussed in this post are part of a larger exhibit currently on display in the Annette Green Fragrance Archive. Images of Men: Looking Beyond Fragrance features a variety of classic and contemporary fragrance bottles along with garments and accessories. This exhibit is free and open to the public; make sure you stop by when you visit Re-Designing History.

 

When discussing men’s fragrance in her essay “The Wasteland,” Tania Sanchez states, “[W]hen feminine fragrances are reformulated and cheapened enough, they begin to smell like masculine fragrance.”¹ In the exhibit Images of Men: Looking Beyond Fragrance, we consider this view and put scent aside, drawing our full attention to the name, bottle and packaging of the product. By focusing on the aesthetic components we are able to see different themes brands have invoked to showcase their product.

The typical eau de cologne used by men until the nineteenth century was not drastically different from the scents for women. An emphasis on good hygiene followed by advancements in technology began a split between the two appropriate formulas for each sex to wear. Today there are a variety of masculine scent families with continuously expanding sub-categories. Green, citrus, lavender, spicy, floral, chypre, fougère, woody, leather and musk are the main categories, each having identifiable characteristics.

Like all products on the market, there are sought after target consumers that each item is intentionally designed to reach. This exhibit seeks to show the different roles and images of men that the fragrance industry has focused on in order to seek their lucrative business.

The SportsmanAlaskan Moose Deep Woods After Shave
Avon
c. 1972-76
Gift of Robert Nelson
F2006.528.13AB

Lucien Lelong lipstick packaging

 

The use of makeup by American women grew exponentially during the first half of the twentieth century. In the beginning of the century, makeup was primarily an urban phenomenon, gradually spreading to other areas through increased marketing and a wider range of available products. By the 1940s, makeup application was a generally accepted part of a woman's daily routine. For many women, however, daily makeup consisted primarily of lipstick, rouge and powder, as the more exotic mascara and eyeshadow were worn primarily by the most daring and fashion forward women. During World War II, wearing makeup was considered almost a patriotic duty for women of the Allied nations. Despite the limitation of some ingredients due to wartime shortages, many types of makeup were widely available.

In the late 1940s, makeup colors and packaging were tuned to seasonal changes in fashion. Women began to purchase specific lipsticks or nail polish for each season, as they did clothing. Packaging was often extravagant and fanciful, as demonstrated by this late 1940s Lucien Lelong lipstick tube.

Lipstick
Lucien Lelong
1948-49
Gift of Monique Fink
F2006.877.63EF