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]
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