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What would you think if you were called a designer's "devilishly aware clientele"? Flattery goes a long way, that's a given. But when it comes to Yves Saint Laurent in particular, it's such high praise that one has to swallow hard a couple of times and seek what the advertisement indicates immediately. "The invisible dress" is also a great term for a perfume; something to make you "dressed" in the dark; dressed but also flatteringly revealed, mise en valeur as the French say.
The vintage advertising for Saint Laurent's formidable first perfume, a cool dry chypre like they used to make them, is noteworthy. [You can read my fragrance review of YSL's "Y" perfume on this link.]
Enjoy two versions of it. One insinuating, the other more explicit while still classy. As befits the designer of designers.
Further reading on PerfumeShrine: Yves Saint Laurent news, history & fragrance reviews
Not sure what to make of a fragrance as 'an invisible dress' being presented to us by a fully clothed man. I actually prefer the second, much more explicit ad. A woman can enjoy that on her own terms.
ReplyDeleteAh...IMHO the second is more "open", the first one however has its charm in that it supposes a dictum, "a command" and that in itself is suggestive. On the one hand the command of a super-elegant couturier, on the other the daring of the special woman who dares wear YSL by the gallon (a perfume, in that case). It's all food for the imagination.
Deletethats not a very friendly expression is it? I would call it stern. Its as though he's saying Well here's my perfume, but if it's you that's buying I think I might retract it. No, no I don't think its for you at all.
ReplyDeleteHa, I didn't quite see it that way but you have a point!
DeleteI suppose he's being "French" (i.e. determined and not trying to play nice) for American tastes.
But, really, YSL was the Benedict Cumberbatch of his day, impossibly elegant, a fine stem of a man, so any expression he assumes is fine in my books.
Oh how utterly divine Mr.YSL was in his approach to everything. So so missed...
ReplyDeleteIndeed... :-(
DeleteHe was the apex of elegance and imaginative creativity in my books.