A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (19 page)

Although many a workhorse can go almost year round, the lightest of summer clothes—especially when on vacation or out of the city—require a lighter bag. This is the time for woven straws, raffia, or even canvas. A straw or canvas bag that has some structure and dressier detail can go to the beach and the office. Mind you, when we say go to the beach, we mean for a walk. For actually carrying towels and Bain de Soleil, dive in and get something cheap and cheerful. It’s summer!

Few things cause anxiety like the realization that the one evening bag you bought for prom doesn’t work with the vintage Grès gown you are currently wearing. Or that the minaudière you have that looks like a sparkly eggplant clashes with your cocktail dress. To always be on the safe side, buy a simple black evening clutch. There are a million variations to be had, of course, but keep in mind you want
this to go with all your formal and semi-formal wear, not just with what you are wearing that evening. If you’d like to experiment a bit, an evening bag is an excellent item to look for in vintage shops.

Oh, where to begin? We recently visited the grande dame of tri-state area malls, the Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills, New Jersey. Notice the structure of the name; under no circumstances should it be called the Short Hills Mall. We say this half in jest, but even the most mild-mannered resident of the area will correct you. We circulated quietly through the Neiman Marcus shoe salon, furtively glancing at the shoppers in an attempt to gauge their shoe-buying habits. We can now confidently say this: People are willing to spend an ungodly amount of money on shoes. We could have stayed home and watched reruns of
Sex and the City
and come to the same conclusion, but we enjoy fieldwork. Shoe buying is intensely personal; one woman’s walking shoe is another woman’s high heel. We were once at dinner with a woman who slipped out of her Prada heels after the meal and into a pair of patent leather Gucci kitten-heeled sandals for the walk home.
À chacun son goût
, and to each their own podiatrist’s bill. Regardless of taste and budget, every closet should have the following:

1. Two pairs of boots—one dressy, one casual.

2. Flats that can go to the office, but work with jeans as well.

3. One pair of daring, dress-anything-up evening shoes.

For many years, scarves and wraps were not as popular with American women as with their European counterparts. Of course people wore them, but not everyone was slinging something jaunty around their necks every day. Then came the great pashmina boom of the ’90s. Suddenly they were everywhere, and with them came whispers of secret “special” stashes made from illegally harvested goat-hair fiber. Evidently this harvesting did the goats absolutely no good and was banned. Today pashminas are ubiquitous. They can be purchased on Seventh Avenue, literally right next to the guy selling sugared peanuts. You can get them online or at any department store, and a casual survey suggests that many, many women have. The quality varies tremendously and, generally speaking, proximity to sugared peanuts is inversely proportional to quality. We love a pashmina and feel that it is a wonderful way to add interest to a winter coat. Yes, they’ve gone from a trend to a staple, but there are a few rules that should be observed.

First, neutral, softer colors are the best choices. We’ve found that they look good even if they are not of fantastic quality and will be the most versatile. Since this is going around your neck, you don’t want a lurid color fighting with your complexion. The richer and deeper your skin tones, the richer and deeper your wrap can be while remaining neutral. Spice shades can be especially flattering to deeper complexions. Pale folk may want to experiment with ivories, taupe, and camel. The desired effect is one of quiet luxury; a soft, sensuous drape of fabric framing the face.

Second, if you plan on wearing a light-color pashmina with a dark coat or sweater, do a test at home to see if you are going to have lint problems. If so, be prepared with a small lint brush in your bag. In fact, always have a small lint brush in your bag.

Third, if you are planning on wearing your pashmina as a wrap for your shoulders, especially to a dressy event, invest in the best quality you can. The lesser quality versions may look great around the neck but appear flimsy when draped over the shoulders. Always make sure that you are draping artfully. You do not want to appear to have thrown a tablecloth over your shoulders. A gentle knot in front and some arranging of folds should do the trick.

The fourth and final pashmina rule involves proportion. Make sure that it is long enough to comfortably knot around your neck, with plenty of fabric left over. There is something melancholy about fringe hitting the breastbone. It looks as if the owner forgot about her scarf in the dryer. Just as in entertaining, you want generosity without over-the-top super-abundance. In this case, over-the-top super-abundance occurs when the pashmina is so large that, if knotted under the neck, the wearer cannot look down at her shoes. That situation is impractical and unnecessary.

A quick note on lightweight versions. The pashmina as winter staple has whet the appetite for year-round neck-bourne textiles. This is another market once cornered by European university students. While there is nothing wrong with a crinkled cotton version, be aware that the look is extremely casual. At its best it says insouciant
urban nomad: You can use your scarf for an impromptu picnic blanket if the mood strikes. At worst, it suggests you just left the hostel.

King of this category is the Hermès scarf. Available in a multitude of patterns and colors, this is a scarf that comes with connotations of wealth and luxury. That combo, though infinitely popular, can read a bit staid. The silk scarf is a piece that definitely benefits from a “This old thing?” approach. You know, running to catch the train, you dash out of the house and knot it carelessly around your neck. You arrive looking flushed and fabulous. Although women of any age can pull off a scarf, we once saw a girl of twelve or thirteen wearing a Hermès scarf as a headband. Her black hair was perfectly combed and she was wearing large dark glasses. She looked like she was about to trick-or-treat as a tiny Gloria Guinness. Assuming that you are not twelve, experiment with a scarf.

There is no accessory greater, or more intimate, than scent. Before we begin to discuss the power of perfume, let us first outline a few useful terms. Keep in mind that you could spend years learning about scents and the chemical structures that compose them. This is just a very brief sketch to help you as you begin your study.

Notes

These are the different elements that one can smell in a fragrance. Most perfumes are composed of top notes, what you smell as soon as the perfume is applied, followed by middle notes, then anchored by base notes. These base notes often give the impression of warmth and help the scent to last. As the scent evolves after application, it is said to “drydown.”

When sniffing, for instance, a scent called Chat Sur L’herbe you might say, “I’m getting distinct notes of patchouli, fruit, and kitten fur.” Since scent and our responses to them are intensely personal, your best friend might say of the same scent, “I get the patchouli note, but also a maple syrup note.” An hour later when you both sniff, she might add, “But the drydown is musk and Abba Zabba notes.”

Talking about perfume is very similar to discussing wine—the more vocabulary you have, the more fully you
can articulate how you feel about the juice. One way to educate your nose is to start sniffing everything around you. People have far, far stranger habits, so if anyone looks at you askance, politely tell them that you are expanding your olfactory horizons. As you crack open a new hardback book, breathe deeply. It smells different from a book that’s been on your shelf for years, doesn’t it? Before you begin eating pad thai, think about the crisp lime juice and the sweetness of the tamarind paste and the salty tang of fish sauce. Not only will your nose benefit, you will enjoy your take-out far more. Once you begin sniffing you will be able to better identify how certain scents make you feel. Perhaps the smell of suede is comforting because of a loved one’s jacket or the smell of oranges stresses you out because it reminds you of the holidays and it’s already October and you haven’t even begun to start shopping and . . . you get the picture.

We are all exposed to our culture’s idea of what smells “good.” Part of becoming an accomplished sniffer is learning to transcend those barriers. No need to start sniffing the neighbors’ garbage, but do keep an open mind. Many people admit to liking “strange” smells, like a whiff of road tar or a hint of gasoline. Certainly you wouldn’t want a tar-scented candle, but the occasional whiff has a certain piquancy. Many fragrances contain notes that add a bit of a jolt, the equivalent of a whiff of gasoline. Some, like Comme des Garçons’ Odeur 53, are composed of a series of jolts: notes of nail polish, burnt rubber, and copy-machine toner. Together, they smell pleasant, synthetic, and clean.

Scent Families

Perfumes can be broken down into four extremely broad categories. The first category we will discuss is the Chypre. Oak moss, leather, and wood are the backbone of many Chypres, along with a fruit note or a floral note. The fruity Chypre par excellence is Guerlain’s grand classic Mitsouko with its luscious peach note. An example of a lovely floral Chypre is Agent Provocateur. In its case, the floral note is rose. To the uninitiated, Chypres may smell “old” upon first sniff. That is because this family has been pushed aside by their far more accessible cousins, the fruity Florals. Spend some time with the Chypres, though, and you will be won over. They have character—and that’s something we all need. For those of you who like wit with your scent, remember that Dorothy Parker was famous for dousing herself with the 1917 Chypre that started it all, Chypre by François Coty.

The Chypres’ next-door neighbors are the Orientals. These are the scents that are usually described as spicy and warm. Notes like amber, musk, vanilla, balsam, and tonka bean often play large roles and give the scents a languorous feel. Some Orientals are extremely rich and potent, like Yves Saint Laurent’s ’70s classic Opium, while others are austere and redolent of incense, like L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Passage d’Enfer. Still others seem almost edible or gourmand, like Thierry Mugler’s Angel or another Guerlain classic, Shalimar.

Sunning themselves in the orchard out back is the Citrus family. Light and refreshing, this family makes up many eau de colognes and often socializes with herbs
and spices. These scents can be light and stimulating, like 4711’s Eau de Cologne No. 4711, or spicier, like Acqua di Parma’s Colonia Assoluta. Although almost any fragrance can be worn by a man or a woman, Citruses are especially flexible.

And finally we have the Florals. A huge, sprawling family that encompasses everything from the shyest violet
soliflore
—a scent composed of a single floral note—to the lush and heady jasmine, rose, and ylang-ylang of Jean Patou’s Joy. Some Florals are lighthearted and playful, seeming to jump around and scream, “Youth!” Others are world-weary and ready for another round of gimlets.

What to Wear

Just because you happen to be ready for another round of gimlets does not mean that you must wear a fragrance that evokes the same. Ask any perfume aficionado, and they will tell you that just as the marketing of a fragrance to a particular gender is nothing more than marketing—so are suggestions that something might be “too young” or “too old.” We will concede that the twelve-year-old we mentioned in her Hermès scarf might have been compounding the problem if she added a healthy spritz of the 1981 Oriental blockbuster Must de Cartier. However, barring babies getting into the benzoin, your fragrance choice should not be dictated by your age.

It should, however, be dictated by the constraints of common courtesy. Always apply with a light hand if you are leaving the house. Keep in mind that the nose becomes accustomed to something it is constantly exposed to.
While you may think you are in need of a touch-up spritz, the people breathing through their mouths at the next table may find you quite potent.

Seasonal Scents

Depending on where you live, this may not be an issue. Furthermore, there is no hard-and-fast rule that all light Florals must be dropped, along with your white shoes, on Labor Day in favor of things that smell like black pepper, gingerbread, and pine trees. However, if you live in a place like New York City, where the summer sun beats mercilessly down through the humid air, you may not always feel like wearing Chanel Bois des Iles. On a sticky August day, a refreshing splash of Hermès Eau d’Orange Verte will hit the spot. Think of it as an icy glass of lemonade versus a steaming glass of mulled wine. Fast forward six months as you walk down the same street you walked down in August, but it is now freezing and absolutely covered in snow. That warm, rich Bois des Iles will cling beautifully to your scarf and your skin, providing a glow on a frigid day. Would you want lemonade now? Of course not! Well, we wouldn’t, but perhaps you just have an unquenchable thirst for lemonade. By all means—drink it year round. Our one request would be that you mulled wine lovers apply very sparingly in the summer, especially if you plan to sit next to us on the subway.