#joy by patou

[gatabella]

Ava Gardner by Clarence Sinclair Bull, 1944

"The only kind of makeup she uses is lipstick, and she’s a big perfume addict. Perfume goes behind her ears, on her hair, at the nape of her neck, and in the crook of her elbows. Some days, she changes her perfume two or three times, to fit her moods. She likes “Joy,” “Blue Hour,’ and’ “Mitsouko.” Before a big date, she takes a bubble bath—Elizabeth Arden, usually—but her housecoat is tailored, coolie-style, and she owns only two strapless formals. They’re both black, and she wears them when she has to appear at publicity functions, premieres and so forth."

-Modern Screen magazine, July 1948

#ava gardner #perfume #mitsouko #l'heure bleue #joy by patou #elizabeth arden #bath #clarence sinclair bull #mirror #quote

[forever70s]

Joy perfume by Jean Patou ad, 1971

#retro ads #retro perfume #perfume #1971 #France #jean patou #joy by jean patou #french

[djservo]

💆‍♀️

#revisited dogeaters for the perfume mentions (tigress - mystere de rochas - shalimar - joy de patou - mitsouko - fleurs de rocaille) #books that mention perfumes should include scratch n sniff cards #reads

[parfumieren]

Joy (Jean Patou)

Believing firmly that more equals merrier, I recently invited a friend to join me in a decant spree. She pored over the Perfumed Court website in search of a likely first-time scent adventure, finding one in the "Old Hollywood" sampler-- three perfumes of your choice, each linked to a famous big-screen glamour girl. Among her selections: Jean Patou's masterwork Joy, the favored perfume of Vivian Leigh and Olivia de Havilland.

Created in 1930 by Henri Alméras, Joy condensed twenty-eight dozen roses and over ten thousand individual jasmine blossoms into every golden ounce of parfum. In its day, there was no perfume in the world more expensive to produce, and while costlier (and more conspicuous) fragrances have since arisen, few remain so indelibly linked to the mythos of luxury.

According to the keepers of perfume lore, Joy has been cherished by Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Josephine Baker, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Elsa Maxwell, Jacqueline Onassis, Joan Rivers, Julia Roberts, and no less a personage than Queen Elizabeth II. Anjelica Huston? Not so much. "Joy never did it for me," she once told an interviewer. Her preference: Jean Patou's 1000-- "Mille", as she properly and affectionately calls it.

Stoked by these tales of Joy's glamorous history, my friend and I waited breathlessly for our package to arrive. And when it did, you could tell for miles around.

Now, I've had perfume samples leak before -- notably Muscs Koublaï Khän -- but never have I experienced such a stab of uncontrollable panic as when I thought that Joy had burst open in transit. Its appearance in my mailbox was accompanied by a fanfare of jasmine-- immediate, unmistakable, and thoroughly discomfiting. A frantic examination showed no sign of breakage or seepage; simply put, Joy would not be contained-- not by the most tightly-sealed vial, not by the most careful packaging. I should have heaved a sigh of relief and enjoyed the free olfactory sample. Instead, my terror took at least a half an hour to shake, as I kept checking and rechecking for signs of a leak. Later that day, when I handed the vial of Joy over to its delighted new owner, I felt as relieved as if I'd managed to pass off a bottle of pure nitroglycerine.

Why all the fuss? Once again, fragrance had unlocked the warehouse of memory and pulled a long-forgotten incident into the light. I will tell it to you as I told it to my chum, and hope this puts it to rest.

In my review of Ralph Lauren's Polo, I wrote about my uncle's family and the ambivalent memories I retain of them. One such cringe-worthy memory involves the bottle of Joy De Luxe Pure Parfum my aunt kept on her bedroom dresser. I can't say whether it was the sparkly, cut-crystal bottle or its mysterious contents that drove my five-year-old brother to investigate; all I can tell you is that he knocked it over. A single ounce of the world's rarest extrait -- a fabled field of roses, a veritable jungle's worth of jasmine -- dribbled across the polished wood and spilled onto the carpet, sending hosts of hypnotic scent-tendrils spiraling in all directions. The disaster smelled heavenly-- and brought all the adults running. (It also stripped the finish clean off the dresser -- which says much about the strength of ten thousand jasmine blossoms.)

Paralyzed by terror, my mother stood trembling in the hallway. How could she afford to replace it? Not the dresser, not the carpet-- the Joy! Three hundred dollars! Who (besides my uncle) had three hundred dollars to throw away on a single ounce of perfume? She -- who bought her Jean Naté off the shelf at McCrory's -- burst into horrified tears.

My aunt reacted with an unperturbable grace indicative of the natural aristocracy of her spirit. She shrugged, embraced my mother warmly, told her that wouldn't hear of us replacing what had been lost. Artie will just have to buy me more for my birthday, she said with a sly grin. Doesn't it smell wonderful? Now I can enjoy it all the time.

She wasn't kidding. For years, one could stand in the doorway to her bedroom and smell the ghost of Joy. And thirty years later -- even though my brother had knocked it over, not I -- the merest hint of this scent clinging to the outside of a sample bottle was enough to trigger an irrational feeling of culpability in me, as if I had committed some unknown, unseen trespass.

I recently expressed my unease with jasmine to a friend, confessing that in the past I have summarily rejected perfumes that listed "jasmine absolute" as an ingredient without even giving them a try. I've characterized the scent of this innocuous white flower as "cloying", "syrupy", "overbearing", even "raunchy"-- all to justify a baseless aversion which, if truth be told, is nonexistent.

Because I love the scent of jasmine. I really, really do.

That this love comes mingled with shame and mortification has not diminished it. No-- on the contrary; it's made it more powerful, almost to the level of a superstition. I believe it all stems from that spilled bottle of Joy when I was a child. Could it be that a three-decade-old family embarrassment has prejudiced me against an entire botanical genus? Will I ever be able to let go of my fear of this flower?

Putting all talk of childhood olfactory trauma aside, I will say now -- as I probably said then -- that Joy is gorgeous. It's the perfect marriage of heaven and earth, animal and floral, light-hearted optimism and down-dirty sensuality. I can see why someone would bankrupt themselves for one tiny ounce.

Most perfume notes conform to a simple pyramid structure: top, heart, base. Joy, on the other hand, employs a clever fulcrum-and-lever system to launch a jasmine note as big and dense as a planet into space. The tools needed to lift such an object must be formidable in their own right-- and so they are. Ylang-ylang, tuberose, and civet form a sturdy indolic base, while the lever -- forged out of a peppery-sweet rose otto -- fits exquisitely into an orris-root fulcrum.

And the elbow grease? An unusual green note attributed to the calyx-- that leafy structure which encloses the unopened flower bud and cups the full-blown blossom at its base. Its crisp, vegetal astringency gives the whole equation a strongman's boost, effortlessly launching that jasmine giant into the air as if it weighed no more than a beach ball. As it rises, you finally notice the sparkle of aldehydes in its wake-- the factor I believe most responsible for the "joy" in this equation.

The only useless reminiscences are those that spoil our forward view. Perhaps one day I will learn to love Joy unalloyed by the burdens of the past. It asks no more of me, and offers no less in return than the gift of beauty, which possesses the power to right every wrong, even in retrospect.

Scent Elements: Rose de Mai, jasmine, ylang-ylang, calyx, peach, orchid, tuberose, lily-of-the-valley, civet, orris, sandalwood, musk, aldehydes

#joy #jean patou #perfume review #parfümieren

[house-of-crows]

Many of you know that I collect Vintage Scents. Some of you know that I have "Holy Grail" or "Unicorn" bottles that have been discontinued or reformulated past all recognition. What I hold in my hands tonight is one of those nigh-unobtainable Unicorns.

As some of you may know, I have been chasing a bottle of Joy; or it's 'lesser' flankers; for almost ten years now. Fewer of you know the story behind why. But tonight, through my grateful tears, I want to tell the story.

When I was but a Youngling, I worked at an "upscale" shoe store in a rather upscale outdoor mall; back when those were a new thing in Midwest America. There was nothing I liked better than to peruse our stock; in store and out; and maintain my knowledge of styles, brands, fit, material, and how they were produced. At my height, I could have told you almost anything you wanted to know about where brands held their warehouses and factories, what sort of leather or vinyl was used, stiching vs glued vs both, what brands fit what sort of foot best... I was on every forum, every brand website- And my return customers appreciated the breadth of knowledge.

And then there was the Lady. In all my unfortunate bouts of amnesia and memory loss, her name is the one thing that still escapes me. I could tell you about her home, her incredible closets, the art on her walls... but her name is lost to me. So I simply call her the Lady. She was in her late 80s by the time I knew her, and was born somewhere in-between 1929-1934. (A Lady never reveals her true age and all)

~*~

We met in the middle of a shift, and I was already exhausted by the droves of teens 20-somethings and their petulant mothers looking for prom shoes and wedding heels. Twas the Season. And then I saw Her. Standing all of 5'7", in elegant tango-style pumps, and neatly kept, immaculate vintage Chanel suit over a powdery blue blouse. Her silver-white hair was elegantly done up in a loose knot, and the only jewelry I saw on her was an understated gold wedding band and a pair of drop pearl earrings.

Her voice, up close, was cultured. I never could place her accent, but her tone was modulated, warm, and kind. She never took her upset out on any of the workers in the building, and was always ready to go out of her way to find me to do her shopping for her while she sat on one of the benches. She was everything I ever hoped to become as I age, and I know I fall quite short of her grace and poise... But she was so inspiring.

I found her shoes for weddings. Shoes for evenings out. Shoes for dancing, for walking, for travel, for boating... and while I shopped, we talked. We discussed fashion, art, preferences in style and the difference between being stylish and being fashionable- She taught me so much, and then... a day came when the stress of working a public-side job got to me.

It was only pure luck that she was in the building at the time. It doesn't matter what the upset was, it's been years now- but she was there, kindly but firmly taking my arm and walking me towards the employee room. "Don't come back out until you've had a chance to get it out, and fix your makeup. I'll tell them I sent you, if they cause a fuss." No one did.

And when I'd dried my eyes and had a water, I went back out. And she offered me a job. It didn't pay a lot, but neither did my retail work. She gave me more money for less hours, and at 20hrs/week at 7.25, well~ I was ready to move up even if it was less guaranteed.

She made sure I had access to vehicles, the shops she enjoyed, and her home while someone was there. And while I worked, she taught me, intentionally and not, how to be a person who moved through the world with grace and poise and compassion... even if one was not always KIND. She taught me that Good is better than Nice, before I'd ever heard about Into the Woods or Sondheim.

~*~

I could tell a lot of stories about the Lady. But, what happened at the end of our arrangement is most important. When she exited my life as gracefully as she had entered, she gave me a box, and she quietly wished me a life full of joy. She hugged me, as she'd never done before, and wished me well, before she called me a car and sent me back to my little section 8 apartment.

I opened the beautifully wrapped box at a dinged and scratched up coffee table, on a couch that smelled of dog, and was presented with my first-ever taste of Luxury.

The lovely cream box held a neatly folded vintage Hermes scarf, and a small bottle of Patou's Joy. It smelled like a garden at noon on a summer's day with a breeze running through it, and I cherished it mightily. It made its way with me across the country when I ran from my abusive family for the second time, and on the night I left my husband; moving too quickly in order to pack all my things before my father in law came home from taking him to work-

I caught the edge of the bottle on the shelf, it fell from my hands, and broke on the desk below. I didn't have time to clean it up, or to gather the pieces, or even to cry over it before I was running down the stairs and out the door.

This isn't the same bottle. It's not quite the same bottle or vintage. But what this is is a beautifully emotional, kindhearted, and compassionate gift from someone very dear to my heart. This is a lovely piece of my past returned to me, and all the memories that go along with it, good and bad, and in-between. My little piece of Joy.

#Patou's Joy #Vintage Perfume #The Lady #personal shopping #perfume #vintage scent #relationships #long post #Grey tells Stories #Personal Lore

[moratoirenoir]

#jean patou #joy #henri almeras #gone with the wind #margaret mitchell #george cukor #victor fleming #sam wood

[mariesrbouipochodian]

#joy #perfume #jean patou

[excalisbury]

I used to be like “why would Marilyn Monroe wear Chanel N° 5 to bed.? Like what is the point? Who’s gonna smell it? Your lover I guess? But isn’t bed mostly for sleeping? Why be fancy?”

But now I Know. ‘Cause I wear Joy by Jean Patou to bed pretty often these days and I’m like “aaaarrrgh I’m so crazy so wild so intense I can’t handle it I am amidst a whole meadow of hundreds roses and 10000 jasmine blooms” and it sends me to joyous dreamland. This is not for my lover it is for ME 💁🏼

#no one is on my blog for this but my review for Joy by Jean Patou is that it’s really all that. it’s joy in scent form??? #I suppose I’ve always been jasmine-obsessed so this shouldn’t be a surprise but like. #it makes me feel like a mcfreakin fairy #abbysurdities #joy by Jean Patou #perfume

[kitsunetsuki]

Guy Bourdin - Jean Patou "Joy" Perfume Ad (Vogue Paris 1969)

#guy bourdin #jean patou #vogue #photography #fashion photography #vintage fashion #vintage style #vintage #retro #aesthetic #beauty #sixties #60s #60s fashion #1960s #1960s fashion #swinging sixties #editorial #vogue paris #perfume

[cleolinda]

In which we try to do something with the Patreon

I'm gonna try something tomorrow: the first of the month is when the Patreon billing cycle starts, so on Sunday (October 1st), I'll open a $5 level. (Right now I just have a $1 level with tumbleweed rolling by as a tip jar sort of thing.) There, you'll be able to see Effort Posts, you know, the essay-length things about vampires or perfume or music, or anything else that strikes me, early. At least 24 hours early, in a handy PDF file, and also, I can see if people like the piece before I post it here on Tumblr. Some personal pieces may stay Patreon-only, depending on the topic (do I want Tumblr at large commenting on my genealogical research? Probably not!), so there's also that. Similar things I've already posted are the Varney recaps, Donna Summer and Disco Demolition Night, Sparking Joy (Jean Patou, 1930), or my retelling of Tiny Moist Hand, so that's the kind of thing you'd see early.

That up there, in screenshot preview format, is a two-part (true) story called "I Grew Up in a Haunted House and I Didn't Notice"; it's about 5300 words all told. (Question: would you rather have the pdf in the larger font size, which I found easier to read on mobile, or the standard 12 pt, both shown above?)

After a day or so, I'll put the story here as two normal tumblr posts. So you will be able to see them here, but if you want to know how tf I could have been haunted and not known it and then my sister said I had it all wrong anyway, you can see it tomorrow on Patreon Dot Com Slash Cleolinda.

What I would also like to do is start posting weekend links as free/public posts on Sundays--kind of like a newsletter you can get whether you chip anything in or not. I'm more concerned with people knowing where I am while all these social media platforms crumble into the sea, honestly. I'll also archive some older posts as PDFs as well, although that might take a minute, so there'll be a back catalogue to browse.

As we go along, I'd like to see if I can either record some readings or just do short (under five minutes) voice posts, but I would also want to type up transcripts for those, so I need to get a feel for how much time that takes. I miss doing podcasts, although I deeply need to get a new headset. And some Throat Coat. I'm already looking over the two short Halloween stories from Livejournal that people mentioned, the ones I read aloud years ago; I'll repost those as we get further into October, and I have some posts about scary movies in the works. And you'd get those delivered to your inbox rather than them be solely awash on the waves of Tumblr.

Anyway, I'll reblog this tomorrow once the $5 level goes live, but I thought I'd get some feedback a bit in advance.

#me for some reason #odds and ends #I've spent eight months being nervous about this #THE BRAVEST GIRL

[taylorswiftstyle]

Out and about | New York City, NY | June 26, 2023

Patou 'Le Petit Patou Bag' - $795.00

I take joy, in equal measure, seeing Taylor rely on tried and true brand favourites as much as I do when she branches out to wear (or carry) new-to-her brands like this one by #Patou.

In terms of colour, I actually like the midtone balance this stone grey bag casts on the rest of her ‘fit (which is already receiving sandwich style coordination from her black baseball cap and black oxfords). Introducing a neutral to bridge the gap between her crisp white button down and other black accessories feels like a good balancing point.

Worn with: Catbird NYC necklace, The Row shirt, Free People skort, Malone Souliers oxfords

Get the look: Monk & Anna, $91.99

Photo by Gotham ℅ Getty

#taylor swift #candid #bag #patou #june 2023 #get the look

[dozydawn]

Joy by Jean Patou, 1992.

Model: Trina Chambers.

#trina chambers #jean patou #1992 #1990s #perfume

[dandyads]

Joy de Jean Patou, 1975

#oh luxury #jean patou #perfume #1970s #1975 #vintage advertising

[chicinsilk]

US Vogue March 15, 1969

Michel Goma for Jean Patou Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1969 Collection. Bright smocked, rounded, raglan tops, gathered at the small necklines, cut in a deep U and buttoned high. Blue or yellow wool on matching suits. With white patent ankle boots. Gerondeau fabric. Andréa for the Patou ankle boots. Carita hairstyles, Perfume by Patou: pure Joy. Models: Kellie Wilson and Moyra Swan.

Michel Goma pour Jean Patou Collection Haute Couture Printemps/Été 1969. Hauts smockés vifs, arrondis, raglan, froncés au niveau des petits tour de cou, coupés en U profond et boutonnés haut. Laine bleue ou jaune sur combinaisons assorties. Avec des bottines vernies blanches. Tissu Gérondeau. Andréa pour les bottines Patou. Carita coiffures, Parfum par Patou: pur Joy. Mannequins : Kellie Wilson et Moyra Swan.

Photo Bert Stern vogue archive

#us vogue #march 1969 #haute couture #jean patou #michel goma #fashion 60s #spring/summer #printemps/été #kelli wilson #moyra swan #bert stern #carita #gérondeau fabric #vintage vogue #vintage fashion

[forthegothicheroine]

Which perfumes would you recommend to smell a) pretty, b) expensive and c) seductive? 🧴🌷💖

It looks like those ads had eight perfumes per category, so let's see if I can meet that!

"You smell so pretty"

Alice by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Gin and Rosewater by TokyoMilk

Magnolia Bliss by Juliette Has a Gun

Doe in the Snow by 4160 Tuesdays

Fox in the Flowerbed by Imaginary Authors

Enchanted Forest by The Vagabond Prince

Haunted by Deconstructing Eden

Tea Rose by Perfumer’s Workshop

"You smell so expensive"

Baccarat Rouge 540 by Maison Francis Kurkdjian (this one was in those adds!)

Liu by Guerlain

Fracas by Robert Piguet

Angels' Share by Killian

Joy by Jean Patou

Velvet Rose and Oud by Jo Malone

Lilac a Day by Vilhelm

Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford

"You smell so seductive"

Snake Oil by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Tombeur by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Portrait of a Lady by Frederic Malle

1940 by Besame

Mitsouko by Guerlain

Gingerbread Whorehouse by Possets

Tainted Love by Tokyomilk

Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens

#perfume

[fruitchouli]

ok the ones this week that make me go Omgg this is soooooo good 😍 are Miss freaking AP, a rich intoxicating dreamy rose oriental, and Organza Indecence, the ORGASMIC 90s spicy woody vanilla… they don’t make vanillas like that anymore sister let me tell ya.. both make me feel very gwen stefani luxurious. i also love Van Cleef First more than ever.. it’s easily one of my favorite aldehydic florals, and it made me realize, u know what? Fuck Hermes Caleche!! i don’t need that SHIT!! First is cheaper and slays harder.. disgustingly glamorous.. u know what fuck Jean Patou Joy too