Chypre Rouge: the mystery continues

Last week, I e-mailed Serge Lutens in Paris about the Chypre Rouge mystery. Why did my sample bottle smell completely unlike the Chypre Rouge sample I had from some years ago? Did they change the formulation? Is the export scent different than the scent sold in Europe?

I received a reply to my question within an hour of sending it. There was no reply, actually, but an offer to send me a new sample.

When I got home today, my neighbor stopped by with a package that had the wrong address on it and had needed a signature. Thank goodness she was home, for it would have been sent back! I was stumped as to what the package was. It was sent overnight mail and the return address was JFK airport. When I opened it, there was another padded envelope inside. And inside that, was a beautiful velvet pouch containing 15ml of Chypre Rouge, a regular sample of Chypre Rouge, and a holiday card from the Serge Lutens shop in France.

Well, the sample and the decant both smell like the Chypre Rouge I remember; rich, sweet and complex. So, the mystery still remains. Why did the other sample smell so different?

I'm glad I asked, for I've now got a lovely small bottle of Chypre Rouge. And I must commend their customer service for sending me not just one sample, but two, so I can compare. They are both the same. Thank you, Ms. Ardant, and thank you to Maria, who suggested I contact the company directly.

As for the tassel, I'm not sure why, but when I asked myself "what image do I want to use for this post?" I thought "tassels!" I wish I had found a more complex tassel to display, but I gave up after a few minutes. The art of tassel making is a wonderful one. If you like tassels, I recommend The Tassels Book. You can buy it on Amazon for only $4.95. I tried my hand at making small tassels some years back. It was a lot of fun, but when I started to want to make some really big ones, the price of supplies seemed exorbitant, especially when one can find some truly baroque and beautiful ones at TJ Maxx for under ten bucks.

The chip on my shoulder is covered with a wool scarf

Yes, I do have a chip on my shoulder. It started to form when I was a kid, when I'd go with my father to the homes of clients who had bought paintings. I don't know why he had a policy that he'd hang the paintings for these people, especially since it made him so angry every single time, but he did. Some people would make us come in the back door (the one for servants, if you don't know). Other people would make him stay for hours, unable to make up their minds where the painting would go. Some would argue over whether the painting was indeed straight (and why he didn't bring a level is beyond me). But the single most annoying thing was the people who wanted to return the painting when they discovered it didn't match their sofa.

The chip also widened as I heard about and saw many a fine artist not sell at all, while the worst crap imaginable would be snapped up.

Just now I saw something online that made me want to throw the laptop across the room, but I need my laptop and I'd only be hurting myself. That's the line policemen who talk people down say, isn't it?

What was this horror? A gallery of "scarves". Now, I love plain fabric, so I found the fabric to be quite nice. All the so-called scarves were dyed in shades of gray or light brown. That's great. No problem. But, here's the thing. They were just pieces of cloth. They didn't even have hems. Okay, I get that, too. The unraveling will add a nice touch. It's that post-apocalyptic look, which made watching the Matrix a visual treat (latex and ripped clothes. . .mmmm). But, sorry, I got very angry. A yard of fabric, plainly dyed, does make a scarf, but the idea of selling it, well, it makes my blood boil. It seems like "the emperor has no clothes" indeed.

And I keep thinking, yes, the cloth is beautiful and looks amazing hanging against the white wall of the boutique gallery. But I also can't help thinking of all the craftspeople who can't make a living, who put so much into their work, and then this person just dips some yardage in a pot and calls it a day. I would wear a scarf like this, no problem. I'd make it. And anyone, absolutely everyone, could make this scarf. So, I suppose I wouldn't be all up-in-arms if this "artist" (okay, that irks me too) had given people instructions on how to make one.

This reminds me that I once made the most raggedly look scarf one can imagine and a woman stopped me on the street, asking me if I made it or where I'd gotten it. She offered to buy it off me. I couldn't think of what to ask for it. We were standing in front of a gallery where there was an old lithograph that I liked. I said, "I'd like that for it." So, she bought the lithograph and I gave her my raggedy scarf. The print was almost fifty bucks. I felt like I'd ripped her off, but later that week someone in my knitting group said raggedy scarves were selling in Houston for one hundred and fifty bucks.

Ah, money and art. I have some serious issues with this topic.

Image note: I am not a total jerk, so I'm not posting a picture of said scarves nor providing a link. Instead, here's a labor of love that is quite something, brought to you by the International Fiber Collaborative. The Gas Station Project (hat tip to Mary Jane, knitter extraordinaire).

The Way

When I noticed that my last post included various forms of the word hate, I figured it was time to re-post another entry from my abandoned blog:

The Great Way is not difficult

for those who have no preferences.

When love and hate are both absent

everything becomes clear and undisguised.

Make the smallest distinction, however,

and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.

- from the Faith in Mind Sutra

I was looking over my posts and noticed that I use the expressions "I hate" and "I love" an awful lot. It's interesting to notice it. One other thing I notice is that as some of my notions of what I "love and hate" fall away, I am getting more creative. For instance, there was a time I would have not, absolutely not, put glitz or fringe on anything. Period. I "hated that kind of thing". Well, now I just make stuff and see what happens. Funny what places one finds Zen. Everywhere, actually. Not just on the cushion, that's for sure. And lately for me, that's the last place I'm finding it!

Photo note: You may have asked yourself, "what does this bunch of beads have to do with Zen?" Nothing, except I made it (a necklace) last Spring, when I started allowing myself to try things I've always thought weren't "me", as mentioned above.

The color purple

A few years ago I started knitting a purple sweater (and I've yet to finish it, but that's another story). It was a breakthrough of sorts. I have had a prejudice against this color (almost) my entire life.

My mother loved purple. The clothing store that she owned had walls covered with yards and yards of purple cloth. She also seemed to carry more than the usual amount of purple clothes. I hated those walls and I hated purple clothing. Until a few years ago I wouldn't have worn purple or owned anything purple unless one paid me a good deal of money.

I hate that poem that starts with the line, "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. . ."
Yes, it's just great to finally realize that what others think of you isn't all that important and one is more free than one thinks. But is it always an invitation to be a kook?

I used that word in the last post and I use it again, for the entire concept of being a kook just gets under my skin. It assumes a type of normalcy that is drab and boring and a type of non-normalcy that is "colorful" (a synonym for kook) and fun.

There are plenty of non-normative people who wear gray suits or jeans and a tee shirt. Are they just repressing their inner kook? I think not!

So, I refused to wear purple. Just because other people think I'm weird doesn't mean I have to wear purple. What makes me weird, anyway?

My nine year old neighbor told me I was weird because I wasn't interested in trying a four-wheeler. I said "I don't like being outdoors in things that make a lot of noise" and she said "You're weird". When I was nine myself, all the other kids said I was weird, but there wasn't anything as obvious as not liking noisy outdoor activities. It was subtle and I still don't know what it was (or is).

I did notice today, in a room full of other women, that I was indeed the most colorfully dressed person there. Right now I'm wearing red socks, a red headband, and a red turtleneck with a flowing sweater of red, pinks and orange designs. My watchband is red, too. However, I do have a pair of jeans and brown shoes on. My hair is a terrible mess, which I happen to like. Is this "my purple"? Hmmm.

For years I only wore black, or blue jeans and white, black or blue t-shirts with denim jackets or shirts over them (except for work or dressy occasions). Is my preoccupation with what I'm wearing when it's so ordinary a sign of weirdness?

Hold on - I'm going to look up the word weird. It's rather bugging me that I am sure that it is not what it seems (or I've forgotten its real meaning). Here, from Merriam Webster's Dictionary:

weird (wîrd)
adj. weird·er, weird·est
1. Of, relating to, or suggestive of the preternatural or supernatural.
2. Of a strikingly odd or unusual character; strange.
3. Archaic Of or relating to fate or the Fates.

That didn't help much. Strikingly odd is a bit much. I also thought weird just meant different. As in "I like four wheelers and so do my friends and family. If you don't, you must be weird."

Purple is the color that tells others "I'm weird and I'm proud." I hate that. There's something so ordinary about picking the same color as every other weirdo. What's more, it's conformist.

And how 'bout the "sick and weird", those people who like purple and clowns?

I am going to try to reign myself in here. The subject of conformity is one that I have much to say about and my thoughts are quite scattered this evening. But I figured I'd start the dialog on weirdness and introduce conformity (hey, pleased to me you, conformity!). What other things besides the color purple denote weirdness? There are many. If you can think of one, leave a comment.

Photo note: I now enjoy purple quite a bit, especially since I enjoy dyeing wool. This photo is from my abandoned blog and under it is this paragraph:

"In an earlier entry, I mentioned that I used to abhor purple. I don't think I owned anything purple until a few years ago. I finally got over my prejudice. Because it's a secondary color it's got a zillion possibilities. Anyway, I am finally starting to do something besides crochet bags. Here's some yarn I dyed up this winter; purples, lilacs, blues and mauves. Oh, you can see that, can't you? Silly me!"

Ah, I'm still struggling with this color, aren't I?