It seems the idea of a seductive perfume has changed drastically over the years. Had anyone were to make a perfume today and name it "Will You?", it would probably not be a somewhat haughty floral with plenty of green, hyacinth, rose and a light aldehydic opening in the style I think of as very French (and the husband as "very vintage").
Voulez Vous by the house of D'Orsay was first launched in the mid thirties and probably smelled different than the juice in the (circa) 1960s bottle I found last year. My Voulez Vous is pretty, has its hair in a perfect chignon and wears racy lingerie under the buttoned-down silk blouse. Stereotypical? Yes, definitely, and so is this D'Orsay perfume, but it doesn't make Voulez Vous any less enjoyable for those of us who like this style.
My bottle is of the extrait de parfum, and as such I would have hoped the longevity would be better. I get about 3-4 hours before Voulez Vous dissolves into a powdery green with a touch of vetiver. It smells rather fresh, so i'm not sure if it has deteriorated (I bought the bottle sealed in box at a flea market). I don't really mind- it's another small memento from the perfume world of yore.
I was trying to find more background information about this perfume and the house of D'Orsay and happened upon this article from 2002. I thought you might get a chuckle for several reasons.
D'OrsayVolez Vous perfume ad from 1943: paperpersuits.com
1960 ad from an online auction.
What a great article. I guess those were the days before the Internet and ebay :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I live within a few miles of this woman! I'm surprised she isn't operating her business through a website nowadays - did a search for her but didn't find anything but articles like this one.
ReplyDeleteI have an Edt bottle of this lovely fragrance. In perfect condition , including the top notes. I find the extract too organic and don't enjoy it as much. Also it didn't survive the time challenge too well. I can send a decant. :)
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I have a lovely decant of this from a very generous perfumista. You're right, it's does smell 'vintage' in style. The sex is all quiet innuendo, which seems the polar opposite of what is on offer today - someone wearing this now to seduce...hmmm. Prolly not.
ReplyDeleteLovely, though!
Voulez Vous is sexy in an androgynous Marlene Dietrich kind of way, quiet and smoky. I own two minis, one from the 30's and the later twist bottle. The first I bought on an Ebay estate auction, and they had a cute little coffret with drawers that had resting places for an amazing collection. Some of the bottles were missing, and others had people bidding quite high. I won three: Bandit, Le D Givenchy and Voulez Vous. Yes, the 30's version is superior, though I love the twist bottle. But the earlier is more floral, less aldehydic and smokier. I wish I could find any information on the ingredients.
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