The Work-Away

I spent time in the attic on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, rewrapping and containing 'what is' or 'will be' and purging 'what nots'. In the dim light, I was brave, and stepped into the 1950s vintage leather of Jolie Madame, which still holds it's bergamot, jasmine, patchouli, and oakmoss notes. I truly could not believe it.

After washing a couple of old Cabbage Patch kids for my daughter, I meditated with the aroma for a long time. When I fell asleep, I dreamed I was in a European work-away, a towering drafty Pisan-style stone building with floor-to-ceiling window light in most rooms. I was told by the woman who headed the operations that I could use a large unoccupied wing for portraiture if I helped to pin fabric on women for dressmakers, and strip away sheets from guest beds. The sleep was deep and long, and I felt hard-worked.

As The Perfumed Dandy said in the perfume forum The Black Narcissus there is something 'undeniably grimy about Jolie Madame, in a world-worn way.' World-worn, I like that. Was it a past-life recall, this dream? I don't know, but the nostalgia is sticky like essence of amber on my skin.

Product Photography Pictured (from top to bottom) because I never let dark, precipitous days get in the way of focusing on my craft and improving my state of mind:

Jolie Madame (Vintage Balmain Parfum (1953))

Jolie Madame (Eau de Toilette Spray Mist (1953))

Miss Balmain (Vintage Balmain Parfum (1967))