A couple of weeks ago I was surprised to hear a colleague
describe several perfumes as “sophisticated”. My surprise was due to the fact
that I personally perceived these compositions as being random mash-ups of common
materials without regard to balance or overall wearability, and not very
enjoyable. I’m sure we all have our own definitions of “sophisticated”, but the
first ones I found in a Goggle search are as follows:
1) having, revealing,
or proceding from a great deal of worldly experience and knowledge of fashion
and culture;
2) (of a machine,
system, or technique) developed to a high degree of complexity.
Did the perfumes in question fit either
of these definitions? Not in my book. The first definition would imply that
they fit into some highly developed socio-cultural schema that is the result of
everything that has preceded them, and that each makes a coherent additional
and novel statement based on that body of knowledge.
In all cases, “sophisticated” is in
many ways a moving target, very much of the moment, but in other ways a fixed
quality. Junk is junk and kitsch is kitsch no matter when and where it was produced,
but does that mean that the junk and kitsch are not sophisticated? Is a perfume
with 942 ingredients more or less sophisticated than one with 15? Or one that
consists of a single material? Is a creation designed to shock sophisticated?
Is it sophisticated the second or third time around? Is a badly constructed
perfume made by an upscale designer house more sophisticated than the same
perfume made in a dilettante’s kitchen? This question is analogous to the
question I often ask myself when I see pictures on Vogue of designer garments
that look like they were failed experiments in an elementary school sewing class,
or embarrassing Halloween costumes. Can context create the aura of
“sophistication”, or is some intrinsic quality necessary? Can something be too “sophisticated”
to be of any practical use?
I know this is an unanswerable question
given that we cannot really even define “sophistication”, but to me it’s an
interesting issue to think about. Readers, how do you define “sophisticated”? Can a perfume be “sophisticated”? If so, what
would make it that way? If not, why not?
[First cartoon by Rube Goldberg; beetle wings from Wikimedia; fashion photo one of the first that I found when opening catwalk images on Vogue - it's good enough to make the point]
I compare sophistication in perfume preferences to sophistication in food palate. A young, immature palate goes for uncomplicated, sweet tasting things. My nine year old thinks the apex of taste is overly sweet white cupcakes with a thick layer of white frosting and sugar sprinkles. A older person with a more mature palate would most likely lose their taste for so much sugary sweet, preferring a complex balance including salt, bitter, sour and umami. I think this is reflected in the preponderance of fruity florals and bakery style gourmands that are targeted to young people. I think the key to a sophisticated scent is balance. So a perfume that is not well blended would not qualify as sophisticated no matter how many notes they decide to throw into it. Similarly, I also wouldn't call fragrances that set out to be daring or discordant (i.e. some in the etat libre d'orange line) sophisticated. Some of these I personally like but I like them for their oddball nature not because they're elegant or sophisticated.
ReplyDeleteAnne, I agree that you could define "sophistication" as changes in preference that come with experience, so that would be one way to look at it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose a sophisticated perfume should have certain features such as harmony and smoothness. High quality of the ingredients is also a must: it could be a simple composition but if something sticks out (like a note of wet newspaper or a musk that just cannot go away), it ruins the impression.
ReplyDeleteDiana (for some reason I can't use my LJ account)
Diana, I agree with what you say. However, there may be perfumes where the intention is to have one dominant note, and I don't think I'd like to exclude those from the definition of "sophisticated", if that even means anything.
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