Arquiste for J. Crew No. 57 and No. 31 bottles
I have to confess that J. Crew is not a store that I shop in often, usually with my slender sister who can fit into things.. Sometimes I will comb through the catalog. Mostly I remember too many things made of wool (makes me itch). I hadn't checked out their website in a while so i did today, and they still have those great classic pieces that you can wear for the rest of your life, as well as more trendy styles. When I first thought about perfumes for J. Crew, I didn't know if they would be nice but typical, or more interesting. Lucky for Executive Creative Director Jenna Lyons and Head Womenswear Director and VP Tom Mora, they picked the creative team behind Arquiste: Carlos Huber, Yann Vasnier, and Rodrigo Flores Roux. With Carlos's skill as a creative director, combined with the masterly work of Yann and Rodrigo, the new scents, Arquiste for J. Crew No. 57 and No. 31 are anything but typical.
Carlos Huber in the factory, from J. Crew website
This is not a set composed of one pour homme and one pour femme, but is interestingly unisex (they are both offered as women's) Carlos was inspired by well-known Peggy Guggenheim's W. 57th Street gallery called Art of this Century. On January 5th, 1943, Ms. Guggenheim threw a party to celebrate the first all-woman art show in the US, called "Exhibition by 31 Women", featuring a plethora of the top female artists of the time. With No. 57, Carlos wanted to capture the rounded oak wood walls of the gallery; No. 31 is meant to evoke the full-bodied perfumes he imagined the artists wearing, as well as the 40's cocktails that would have been flowing freely.
Peggy Guggenheim, photographer not known
On to the perfumes. No. 31 opens with a rich, plummy aroma that morphs into a seductive rose. There is a deep boozy quality that keeps the perfume on track to remind us of well-perfumed, creative, maybe a bit eccentric artists and their patrons. Divinely feminine, this takes you to a place where tipsy ladies crush you to their velvet-clad, profoundly perfumed bosoms and leave you smelling amazing.
Notes: red vermouth, eau de vie accord, Bulgarian rose and damson plum
The Art of this Century Gallery
As pretty as No. 31 is, I was drawn to the more avant-garde No. 57. The first whiff is full-on whiskey, actually a Manhattan, with the sweet vermouth and essential cherry. This is supposed to be the walls of the gallery, but I think a bit of merriment has soaked into the oak. I wore it to work today and enjoyed its sweet/tart aroma until it fully dried down to a soft vanilla, which was perfect for my stressful day. No. 57 is the more unisex of the two.
Notes: aged whiskey, cinnamon bark, labdanum and vanilla
Rodrigo Flores Roux and Yann Vasnier
The Arquiste for J. Crew perfumes are not part of the Arquiste line at all; they are separate entities. I hope they are a success, as I would enjoy seeing where the J. Crew team and Arquiste team would go next.
I received my samples from Carlos Huber. Arquiste for J. Crew perfumes are available online at J. Crew and in-store for $78 for 1.75 oz. and in a 10 ml rollerball for $25.
Tama Blough, Managing Editor
We have a US reader’s choice draw of 7 mls of either No. 31 or No. 57. Let us know which one you’d like and why, and where you live. Draw ends August 30, 2014.
We announce the winners only on site and our Facebook page, so like CaFleureBon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will just be spilled perfume.