The Idol and the Replica

How funny and sad it is to come upon the original and the reproduction, the inspired and the aspiring, to spot a déjà vu! When idols take their place in the pantheon, mere mortals can only aspire to get some of the fairydust, with a whiff of something fragrant atop.
Lindsay Lohan recently posed as Marilyn Monroe, replicating the series of photographs code-named "The Last Sitting" (1962) by Bert Stern, for the New York magazine. "Last Sitting", because six weeks after she had posed, Marilyn was found dead due to -apparently- a barbiturate overdose which remains a mystery to this day. We hope that won't be the case with Lohan, although who can bet their neck on it?
Reportedly Hugh Hefner was so impressed with Lindsay Lohan showing it all as Marilyn that he wants her to do the same for Playboy.

We won't be mean and won't wish her good luck in the replica career. After all, a short perusal of the photos in question, especially contrasted with the original ones {click here to compare}, proves that apart from the ample bosom, miss Lohan, sun-damaged skin and all, is a poor substitute for the intrisically feminine guiles of Marilyn, but perhaps she is too young, too reckless and might grow to learn.

However olfactorily speaking, this gave me pause for thought. Thoughts run to the fragrance profile of the two women.

Marilyn immortalised her signature scent when she replied to what she wears in bed to a cheeky reporter : "A few drops of Chanel No.5". But that wan't all. What is less well-known is that she also enjoyed Joy by Jean Patou and the tuberose daredavil Fracas by Piguet. That leads me to believe that she consciously designated an erotic role to No.5, obviously the drops hinting at the extrait de parfum; a role that is manifested through No.5's marriage of aphrodisiac ylang-ylang and warm musk with the spike of soapy-waxy notes sizzling throughout. This shows both calculation as well as consiousness of the role of perfume as amunition in the seduction stakes. This is the stuff of dreams.

Lohan is famous for her fondness of Child perfume oil, buying five bottles at a time, a cult favourite by Apothia made of pikake essence and little else. Blogdorf Goodman does quite a decent job of delineating its history here.
It's ironic that Lohan won't be able to immortalise this fragrance, despite the name that firs her behaviour, because it has already gained notoriety thanks to Jennie Garth who uttered the famous line "it drives men gaga". Plus all the 20somethings in Hollywood are known for wearing it as you can see in Perfume Shrine's celebrity perfume list. Lohan also wears Coquette Tropique, another favourite white floral fragrance worn by numerous other starlets as well. So her chances of making a particular fragrance be forever associated with her are dim and left to the future. She can at least hope.

Like many things in modern life, there is something forced and coerced about the whole affair which detracts from the intimacy and tension that accounts for the stuff of legend. A fabrication instead of spontaneity and a fad rather than a choice for a reason.
Like New York Magazine succinctly notes:

"In the first session, Stern persuaded the entourage of stylists to leave him alone with Monroe. The shoot thus took on the symbolic (if not the actual) contours of a liaison. The rise of the celebrity industrial complex has rendered this sort of tense pas de deux all but impossible. At the Lohan shoot, the crowd included Lohan’s manager, her security guard, and her younger sister, Ali; a makeup artist and assistant, a hairstylist and assistant, a stylist, a manicurist, a sentry to watch the borrowed diamonds; Stern, his manager, and two photo assistants. Lohan and Stern worked in an adjoining room, while the rest of us hovered outside like groupies at a backstage entrance".

Perhaps for something to gain the credence that only the patina of time can give one needs to wait several years. Even almost a few Saros cycles in some cases...

Pic of NY Cover courtesy of celebitiot. Pic of Marilyn Monroe originally uploaded on POL.