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Once coveted, the shawls are now out of fashion with the bourgeois, their distinctive patchouli scent a victim of their downfall. Adopted by misfits and courtesans, the shawls add a note of exoticism to bohemian rooms, mixing their decadent scent with French lavender, musky ambers and heady balsams. The fine wool shawls would be packed with patchouli leaves in their folds to protect them from moths during their journey from India into Europe.
Their distinctive scent became a mark of their artisanal quality and exotic origin. Needless to say, they cost a fortune. By , French and British manufacturers decided to get in on the trend, and started copying them. Their quality was good, but there was something missing: the scent of patchouli. French manufacturers then asked perfumers to create scents that could be added to the shawls, in order to make them pass as authentic -No longer as exclusive, the popularity of these shawls with the elites declined in the s, due to the reduction in price, the increase in availability, and also to a change in women's fashion: the addition of the bustle, meant that a shawl would no longer drape in the same manner.
Patchouli was no longer the hottest scent in aristocratic circles It became the olfactive signature of counter-culture. Setting it in Marseille, the traditional port of entry for the shawls, gave us the lavender and rose waters used in the 19th century beauty regiment. Skin remedies with ingredients such as ambrette seed and tolu baslam were used for medicinal purposes to cure rashes and even venereal diseases.
Those became important parts of the fragrance foundation. Interestingly, tonka bean was used in both perfumery and French desserts ISBN Close search. Shipping calculated at checkout. Add to cart. Payment Methods. Olfactive pyramid. More research. Back To All. History September , Port of Marseille, France. Developed with Rodrigo Flores-Roux. Estimated burning time: 55 to 60 hours. More -The scent of patchouli first reached Western noses with the Kashmir-style shawls fashionable in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
