Words & Images by Stephanie Burt
While on my holidays at the French Riviera, I was fortunate enough to visit the capital of Perfumery, Grasse. A small, quaint French town high up in the mountains that looks over the bays of Cannes and Nice, where I visited the various perfume museums and exhibitions including an exhibition of bathing and washing rituals from the 18th Century onwards. One may ask, how is bathing related to fashion? But bathing has continually integrated into the art of fashion and perfumery from the ages of Marie Antoinette, to the birth and rise of Fashion Week. Due to the fact that this link between fashion and bathing has diminished, I was intrigued to learn more about the history of bathing and perfumery, and where else is a better place to do so other than the French capital of Perfumery?
This exhibition, ‘Bains, Bulles and Beautés’, situated in the International Perfume Museum, is a small but fascinating display incorporated within the marvelous beauty of this historical and important building that is surrounded by beautiful sculptures inspired by the nearby perfume factories. While passing through the gift shop, crammed with various posters, soaps, bottles and books, you are simply told to “follow the arrows”, permitting a sense of adventure as you wind between large brass perfume vats and antique distillers, guiding you towards an elevator. As one leaves the elevator and steps into the entrance of the exhibition, playful arrows guide you towards, and throughout, the exposition. A labyrinth of vintage beauty posters, cases of antique soaps and various styles of baths lead on you, accompanied by shower curtains filled with historical facts and information, (who knew shower curtains could be so innovative and helpful?) After the maze of artifacts, a room, submerged with glistening blue lighting that resembles running water, greets you with a large case of luminous perfume bottles and bejeweled soap dishes. However before one leaves this small presentation, a grand wall bursting with large and colorful perfume bottles of all designs, from the timeless Chanel No. 5, to the brand new Cartier’s Baiser Volé, evoke a stained glass window that entrances you, as you step out into the old cobbled streets blinded by the sunlight once again.