Tag Archives: christian dior diorissimo

Weird Science (1985)

17 Oct 2021 Born Unicorn Leave a comment

Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) and Gary (Anthony Michael Hall) are sampling perfumes at L. Magnin.

The refillable atomiser Gary is holding is Eau de Joy by Jean Patou, launched in the 1960s.

Wyatt is holding Cacharel Anais Anais, the romantic white floral scent created in 1978 by Roger Pellegrino, Robert Gonnon, Paul Leger and Raymond Chaillan.

The perfume counter displays other Patou perfumes – Eau de Joy in a splash bottle, 1000 in two sizes and a factice bottle of Joy in a black bottle with coral stopper. 1000, housed in a beautiful jade bottle, is a floral chypre perfume created by Jean Kerleo and launched in 1972. Joy, the “costliest perfume in the world”, was created by Henri Almeras and launched in 1930.

When the camera moves to the other side of the counter, other perfume bottles make their appearance. Right in front of the boys there are two Dior bottles.

The atomiser without stopper contains the eau de cologne version of Miss Dior, created by Paul Vacher and Jean Carles and launched in 1947.

The crystal bottle with brass stopper is kind of confusing: the front label looks white with dove grey details but it looks kind of pink, too. In any case, it’s the travel flacon containing the eau de parfum of Miss Dior (if we assume the front label is white) or Diorissimo (if we think it’s pink).

There’s also Pierre Balmain Ivoire de Balmain, another floral chypre fragrance, was created by Francis Camail and Michel Hy and launched in 1980. The white bottle was designed by Pierre Dinand.

Half hidden in one corner, there’s also Halston, housed in the Elsa Peretti-designed bottle. This creation by Bernard Chant was launched in 1975.

Thanks to Le Petit Civet who first wrote about perfumes in this scene.

perfumes in movies

Klute (1971)

6 Apr 2020 Born Unicorn 2 Comments

Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) is a busy girl: she’s an aspiring actress and model who lives in New York and is always tight on money, so she works as a call girl, too. Her flat is tiny but perfectly shows her personality. Her bedside table and vanity are visible for some moments and this gives the audience the chance to see what’s sitting on them.

On her bedside table there’s a jar of Pond’s cold cream. The leaf logo is positioned at the centre of the front label, but I couldn’t find any picture of this exact jar.

On the vanity there’s a large perfume bottle. The bottle and the stopper are decorated with a houndstooth motif, so it’s a Christian Dior eau de toilette or eau de cologne. The front label is not visible, so it’s impossible to know the fragrance actually present on set [1]. It could be Miss Dior (created by Paul Vacher and Jean Carles in 1947), Diorissimo (the lily-of-the-valley classic by Edmond Roudnitska launched in 1956), Diorama (another Roudnitska creation from 1948) or even Diorling (a chypre creation by Paul Vacher launched in 1963). I think Bree would wear Diorling, the most modern among the aforementioned fragrances. What is your guess?

[1] In case you were wondering why Diorella isn’t among my guesses: it was launched in 1972, one year after the film was released. Diorella would be such a perfect match for Bree!

stars' vanities/make-up cases/cabinets in real life, vintage beauty products

Jane Birkin’s Dressing Table (1964)

25 Dec 2014 Born Unicorn Leave a comment

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg were among the most glamourous, unconventional and sexy couples of the last century. Their scandalous love story filled the tabloids during more than a decade; snapshots of the couple are still admired for their scruffy glamorous style. They met in 1968 on the set of the movie Slogan by Pierre Grimblat: she was a young British actress, while he already was an important figure in French culture. In 1969 they recorded Je t’aime… moi non plus, the song he had previously recorded with Brigitte Bardot, whom he had dated for a while: the “ultimate love song” was destined to become an everlasting symbol of their relationship.

Their affair is well documented but the film-maker Andrew Birkin, Jane’s brother, has been documenting his sister’s life well before 1969. For example, the picture above was taken in 1964, when Jane’s acting career was about to start. The shot, that now would be considered a mirror selfie, includes a dressing table, on which some toiletries can be seen.

The white box with dark trims contained Lanvin Extrait de Parfum – Arpege, My Sin or even Scandal. Right behind it you can see a grey perfume box. That’s unmistakably a Dior perfume, with the beautiful oval label topped by a bow. It’s impossible to read the label but we can dig Dior perfume archives a bit. That was the box of three perfumes launched before 1964.

Diorling, created by Paul Vacher and launched in 1963, was a smooth chypre scent with floral accents of rose, jasmine and lily of the valley.

The classic Miss Dior, created by Jean Carles and Paul Vacher and released in 1947, was a clean leathery scent with aldehydes, gardenia and bergamot in the top notes, giving way to carnation, iris, orris root, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose and narcissus in the middle notes.

Diorissimo, created by Edmond Roudnitska in 1956, was the revolutionary ode to lily of the valley, a symbolical flower in European culture (see the legend of Saint Leonard of Noblac, the dragon slayer).

I can totally see young Birkin wearing Diorissimo. What are your guesses?

Thanks to Elena Vosnaki for identifying the Lanvin Extrait de Parfum box.

stars' vanities/make-up cases/cabinets in real life

David Bowie’s Dressing Table (1973)

21 May 2014 Born Unicorn 3 Comments

These pictures were taken by Mick Rock during David Bowie’s British tour in 1973. On his busy dressing table you can see a Dior houndstooth bottle.

My first thought went to the Diorissimo cologne, but the front label is not visible, so it’s impossible to say what perfume he wore. Plus, many Dior perfumes were marketed in the houndstooth bottle (some examples here).