Celebrate 15 years with the "Springing into Joy" contest!

March marks the 15th anniversary of the Passage's opening; let's celebrate 1, 500 posts, and uncountable— but just as important—comments with a fragrance draw. Thank you, honeybunches!

There is a natural lift built into spring, a surging, optimistic mood. Gwen of perfumeniche and I are treating three winners to five1ml decants of spring-delight fragrances. Florals, as you'd expect, but also some surprises, just like the season here.

The "Springing into Joy" Decants (1ml)

Angels of Florence (Santa Maria Novella) is a cologne of tender beauty, as Gwen says, "light and ethereal", with notes of jasmine,  lilac, bergamot, gardenia. Created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the flood of the Arno in 1966 and the "angel volunteers" who arrived from all over the world to help.

34 boul. St. Germain (Diptyque) opens with cassis, moves into cardamom, cinnamon and clove, and drops to soft, woody iris. The scent is informally chic, like the flagship Diptyque boutique at that address.

Mon numéro 6 (L'Artisan Parfumeur) is a limited-edition scent that takes us to Asia, where spring monsoons release aromatic lychee, mango, magnolia flowers and the woody notes of sandalwood and amber, alongside aquatic notes of rain falling on earth.

Eau de Céleri (Monsillage) does not suggest celery; it unfurls notes of bergamot, lemon, grapefruit and cut grass. This fresh, bright beauty by Montréal parfumeur Isabelle Michaud has gained such a following that few question the name.

Roses: there have to be roses! La fille de Berlin (Serge Lutens) presents a sumptuous rose. I imagine a woman in Berlin, wrapped in her thoughts, a caramel-coulored jacket, and this scent, while she strolls past squares and then stops at a bookstore. Deep, rich rose, with notes of violets, pepper, musk.  

How to enter:
Qualifying entries will be chosen by a draw, executed by my dapper neighbour Bob, who has come to relish his role.

1. Send an email to gwen@perfumeniche.com with the header "Springing" by 12 midnight EST, March 28, 2023

2. In the body of the e-mail, answer the skill-testing question, "To Duchesse, what does WWJD stand for?"

3. Sign the email with your name, e.g., Suzanne G., or username., e.g., "gingercat"

Qualifying entries will be selected by one draw per prize; three prizes will be awarded. 

Duchesse will announce the winners in Passage's April 4, 2023 post.

Winners may then contact Gwen with a postal address. (The value of the prize will not require winners to pay any tax or duty.) Offer void where prohibited by law.

I have more to say about the differences fifteen years have brought, and that's the next post! And, if you  are not among the winners, or simply want more of these bosky beauties (what a terrific gift!) Gwen will offer the decants as a "Springing into Joy" pack on perfumeniche.

In March 2008, partly as respite from the uncertainty and bleakness of a financial crisis, I sat down to write what I wanted to read, and could only rarely find online.

The shutters swung open with two now-familiar posts: one on Indian shawls, the next, on pearls. I worked then, had red hair, and was a size or two larger and an inch taller than now. Fifteen years later, I'm retired, grey-haired, and still besotted with pearls and textiles.

Your support has kept me going, and by "support" I don't mean "agreement". There are so many Eileen Fisher admirers out there that I should still watch my back. OK, I'll give it to you on EF's quality and sustainability, but a dolman sleeve flatters no one.

What hath fifteen years wrought, style-wise? 

Bad news:

1.  Despite interest in circular production, we are making ever more polyester; recycled polyester is not the surefire alternative. Companies that once made pure-fibre clothing now sneak in acrylic and even more evilly, describe that blend as "supersoft yarn", with no mention of the content until you search.

2. Quality has eroded; therefore, clothes don't last as long. One industry analyst says the impetus was that 2008 financial crisis, when brands were drowning in unsold inventory. This report by Emily Demkes on "The Correspondent" includes studies that prove it (shades of Home Ec class, 1966!). I'd love to see more product testing made public, a kind of "Cook's Illustrated" for clothes.

3. Inflation has crept in and prices will not revert. Even designer brands price goods knowing they will discount them by around 30% within a few months. The highly-saturated luxury segment, which cannot discount without denting their reputation for exclusivity, has raised prices more than the tier under it. 

Good news: 

1. More democratization: there is no longer one aspirational look. We have everything on tap: dark academia, coastal grandma, grown-woman skater. We can flit among eras and styles via endless sites— what one article called "The Big Flat Now". Sometimes, though, this vast choice breeds decision fatigue.

2. The resale market continues to gain traction, and the attitude toward buying secondhand turned around for good. Online rental, that evil spawn of layaway and secondhand, was born in the mid '00s and stuck around.

3. Consumer awareness of the true cost of clothing grew, especially that of fast fashion. The bigger picture—the role of possessions in one's life—gained prominence; we met Marie Kondo. Though anecdotal, by 2021 nearly every woman I knew well enough to glimpse her closet had cut back.

In that spirit, a few 15th Anniversary things in the window today; let's look before we have a coffee together and catch up. Not a coincidence that these echo the things I wanted to share when the Passage opened fifteen years ago!

A two-sided silk kantha scarf, from Etsy seller VastraIndia. The ochre and blue is a vibrant spring combination, the weight of these make them excellent transitional pieces, and they are hand-washable. Price, $CDN 71. (Price to ship seems high—$42— it is probably by air.)

A cool floating Tahitian pearl ring: a gray Tahitian 'floats' on a silver band. simple and dramatic piece. Made by Marc Goundard, whose studio is in his catamaran, docked part of the year in California. He has made pieces for Kojima Company as well as his own designs. Isn't it wonderful to see these Tahitians in an entirely hand-made setting instead of plunked into manufactured blanks? Price, $CDN 362. If it is s/o, consider a commission.

Meltingly tempting, and ready for years and years of wear: Aethel Crucial Cardigan in "Primrose", for spring. Let us pause before the details: the deeply-ribbed hem and cuffs, the wink of cabling at the side, the horn buttons. Made of Loro Piana yarn, knitted and finished in London. Price, £315.