I was kicking around ideas for perfumes for a dame with Angie at Now Smell This and Alyssa at Perfume-Smellin´ Things, and we decided to do a multi-blog post on the topic. I´m looking forward to seeing what they had to say on the subject, and I bet you are too, so be sure to check the links. Here are my subjective, random thoughts on the topic.
Trouser Dames can wear pants, and may even wear the pants in a relationship. Trouser dames include Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Lauren Bacall, Kate Hepburn. They´re a little … bent. Love and fear them. As I type this I am wearing a lovely gift of Chanel Cuir de Russie in extrait, and there, my friends, is a fragrance for a trouser dame. How can you resist its earthy powers? Trouser dames wear: Chanel Cuir de Russie, vintage Femme, Caron Tabac Blond or Narcisse Noir, Bulgari Black, Knize Ten, Vero Kern Onda. Lips: MAC Film Noir or Ruby Woo, NARS Red
“A dame that knows the ropes isn´t likely to get tied up.” – Mae West
Lipstick Dames are at the opposite end of the spectrum from trouser dames. They are all about the pretty, although they´re still not to be trifled with. Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, and Ava Gardner are lipstick dames. Lipstick pretty scents conjure up dressing tables and silk robes, but they´ll throw a drink in your face and stomp you with their stiletto heels if you misbehave. Lipstick dames wear: Piguet Fracas; Malle Lipstick Rose or Iris Poudre; Fifi Chachnil; Cuir de Lancome; Patou Joy, Molinard Hab
Corsage Dames love big white flowers, maximum sillage, fine champagne, and Tahitian pearls. They are elegant but tough. Corsage dames include Billie Holiday, Rita Hayworth, Jean Harlow, and Elizabeth Taylor. Corsage dames wear: SIP Lady Day; Malle Carnal Flower; Donna Karan Gold; Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia; Parfums de Nicolai Eclipse, Montale Jasmin Full, Christian Dior Poison, Serge Lutens Un Lys. Lips: MAC Russian Red or Brave Red, Lancome Absolute Rouge. Nails: OPI
Corset Dames wear their fragrances like a force field. All dames wear fragrance to please themselves, not necessarily to attract those around them – and this is especially true of Corset dames. They can be as aloof as they are beautiful; they are not everyone´s cup of tea. They can be dangerous or difficult. You may only find them alluring if you´re a bit jaded and like a challenge. Corset dames include Bette Davis, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Corset Dames wear: Guerlain Mitsouko; Malle Noir Epices, Musc Ravageur or Un Fleur de Cassie; Desprez Bal a
icons, top to bottom: Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Ava Garder, Billie Holiday, Greta Garbo
I am charmed by your writing style. Where would you place Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy, or Princess Diana? All three are “dames” to an extent but would fall into a category that has not been described. How about a diamonds/roses/caviar category? Dames who have the confidence and aura of understated power? They wear their femininity as a fragile but seductive gown that they’ve forgotten that they’re wearing. They prefer coral, peach, or soft pink-red lipsticks, sleek, upscale hair, diamonds to gemstones, and dame-y fragrances such as Madame Rochas for evening, Guerlain’s Jicky for sport, and Chanel’s Beige for shop-hopping and private plane rides. Oh, and nail polish is always elegantly pale, because these dames are understand their understated intoxicating effect on even the most prosperous, genteel men.
March the Impressed Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Wow, look at all the comments! Sorry, I had some network issues this morning, the Cheese and I share a wireless connection and his computer has cooties… I thought about Grace and Jackie. But THEN I got mentally mired in this whole ice maiden/velvet-glove-iron-fist trajectory, and then I was mentally including pretty women I know nothing about (Vivien Leigh) and then the whole thing came grinding to a painful halt in my mind. Too much information?
I like your category. On the spectrum they fall somewhere between Lipstick and Corsages.
I probably should not admit knowing this since it’s perhaps the gayest knowledge I possess, but Joan Crawford wore Jungle Gardenia and later Youth Dew.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Dude, totally flashing your card.
Youth Dew seems perfect for Joan. Jungle Gardenia … I guess so.
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:03 am
I LOVE knowing this!
And I can put my own card down on the table by telling you that Jean Harlow wore Mitsouko, and that one of her husbands is rumored to have drenched himself with it before he killed himself in despair over her infidelities.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Great story.
I love this idea, and yes, I have a number of Dame perfumes in my collection! May I suggest, for Trouser Dames, Balmain Jolie Madame – it would also work well for a Corset Dame. And nothing says Lipstick/Corsage dame like my beloved Lelong pour Femme, with its big, syrupy sillage and eternal lasting power. I would also add Rochas Absolu to the list, probably under Lipstick – it is the very definition of feminine. Apparently I have a lot of Dame in me, and I could not be more pleased.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 8:42 am
How did I leave out Jolie Madame?!?! Duh. I also meant to include Vol de Nuit, which someone else has already pointed out. Yes, I am thinking you belong with the dames.
How about Brain Dames? Myrna Loy comes to mind…thinking as I write…Vivien Leigh, maybe? Might steal Bette Davis for this category, too. Sharp as tacks, those, and met all the repartee that came their way with killer comebacks. Knew when to talk their way out of a situation, and when to work other whiles. I think of them in big chypres, like the original Coty Chypre. Maybe a Bandit. Can see the right vintage Dior on them, too.
Millicent Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Yes! Though I think Vivien Leigh was somewhat emotionally unstable in person, more like Blanche Dubois than Scarlett O’Hara. How about Rosalind Russell for this category?
Shelley Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Millicent, you’re right! So funny, because right after I posted, I reflected on how unstable Leigh was in real life… Rosalind Russell is an excellent choice! Front Page and more.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:11 am
I guess I was putting Brain Dames in as a (sub) category of Corset Dames. Smart = difficult and all. Of course I am thinking of myself, my apologies.
Shelley Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Seems to me a dame needn’t apologize for thinking about herself…
You’re right; for me, the corset would be the subcategory, if they were attached. But I like trousers, not whalebone…
Seriously, though, I think they are separate. Brain dames don’t need a force field about them; they generate a whirling dervish/dust devil of protection around themselves with their wit…which is different because they don’t come with it ready made; they generate it as needed and custom tailored.
Am I overthinking this?
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
No overthinking on THIS blog.
Loove the topic! Caron En Avion is very fit for a trouser dame, and Caron Narcisse Blanc,Caron Acasiosa, Bellogia or Nahema would wear so well on any Corsage dame!
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Excellent suggestions. I am lacking in Carons.
Carol Sasich Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:23 am
well I need to send you extrait of Acasiosa , Alpona ,French Cancan and Narcisse Noir then….
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Oh, no, that’s okay! I have them, I just don’t … well, Caron and I have a love/hate relationship.
Mostly hate (I like the men’s. I hate the Caron mousse de saxe base, which I jokingly translate as Mouse Sex.) Every now and again Patty and I get on here and have a smackdown about Caron vs. Guerlain, who rules? But we figured it was getting old for the readers.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:13 am
PS That sounded bitchy. What I mean is, I feel about many Carons the way some people feel about Mitsouko or Shalimar — I admire the scents as works of art without desiring to wear them. P did send me extrait samples and they are lovely.
Nika Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
To each is own. To be honest, it took me a while to come around to those, but when I finally did, I fell hard for them.
Carol Sasich Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
It didn’t sound bitchy…haha , I was ignorant to your Caron BIAS !! LOL…my first real parfum love was Narcisse Noir . Guerlain came later .
Wonderful, wonderful post. I’m so glad ya’ll did this; I know you’d been kicking the idea around. Hmmm…Cuir de Russie, Bulgari Black, Knize Ten, Onda, Musc Ravageur, Mitsouko, Bal a Versailles, Nuit Noire…Bandit. Holy $h!t, I’m somewhere between a trouser dame and a corset dame. Gotta go spritz some Yatagan and get things firmly in the trouser corner.
Louise Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 6:00 am
so to speak
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:12 am
I’d like to see his trouser corner.
Louise Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Dirty (minded) Dame
Lee Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I like trouser corners in general – seeing Matt’s would be a bonus though…
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:15 am
So, first I typed, “I am not even going to touch this.”
I can’t get out of my own way, can I?
Louise Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Then, could you get outta my way
/?
MattS Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
There’s room in Matt’s trouser corner for everyone. If it gets too crowded, we can throw some of the trousers out of the way.
What fun!
I am wondering if Dames are an extinct species? It’s hard to think of true modern day Dames…I think Helen Mirren qualifies in the most classy sense, and in an odd way, Madonna…if her private doings could well remain wrapped better. Maybe that’s one secret of the classic dames…they all had balls,er, guts, but whatever their nuances, there was a provocative touch of mystery about them. Hard to imagine some of our more public damsels becoming true dames( Linsey Lohan-not!) Charlize Theron does shows promise, maybe Scarlet Johansen?
Do Dames hybidize? I think of us many cross-perfumers. I am no dame, I think, but rather a broad, sometimes a chick. This broad mostly wears Trousers (chaps?), but like Matt, there are often Corset underpinnings, and some days even a Corsage of Datura Noir or Divine.
What about our Biker Dames…especially thinking of one who favors modern Femme? I like Shelley’s Brain Dames, too. And you March, Blogger Dame, where do you fall on the Dame spectrum
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Well, that’s the thing. I tried to work Madge in… I kept getting stuck on anyone modern. Here, let me open it up for discussion (I thought of VBeckham too) — they’re Divas, not dames. In my opinion. 20 years ago, Madonna was a dame, but no longer. They’re too … something. Or maybe not enough something.
I wear fragrances from all four of my (totally subjective) types, but I am more Corset than anything.
Nika Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Modern ones are definitely not enough something…
How about Judi Dench, though? She’s a dame!
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Definitely a dame.
What a marvellous post! May I add my suggestion of Vol de Nuit as a Trouser Dame scent? I seem to own perfumes which fall into all of your categorizations, apart from Corsage Dame, but I fall down on the lippy and nail polish citations, being a pink/purple type of dame. I see myself, though, as a Lipstick Dame. Never knowingly unlipsticked.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Vol de Nuit is a TERRIBLE omission on my part, my apologies! And I think there are several of us lipstick dames on here.
Ah, I am torn between wanting to be a Lipstick Dame and a Corset Dame.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I just want to be a Dame. In those clothes.
I wanted to be a lipstick dame but it seems all my favorites fell into the corsage dame category. What a great topic for a post!
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Thanks, Jacki — it was loads of fun.
Brilliant post March . I am a schizophrenic dame , I have fragrances from all these categories…
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Me too! BTW your pkg going in the mail this morning, thanks for the CdR, yummmmm!
I am intrigued by Louise’s post about the lack of modern-day dames. Helen Mirren absolutely! And Bette Midler would make a perfect dame, although her star faded years ago. As for the younger set, I do believe that the two she mentioned qualify, as long as they don’t have too many undue run-ins with the paparazzi. Madonna? A broad I believe, but sometimes a dame.
As for fragrances, I was surprised that you didn’t mention No 5, but then I realized that I was having some trouble categorizing it. I guess Lipstick Dame is the closest. I also thought of the wonderful La Nuit de Paco Rabanne for Corset Dames.
My tastes cross dame categories all over the place, with Corset and Trouser taking the top honors. I wear a few Lipsticks and occasionally go for a Corsage. What a fun topic March, and I will be looking for Angela’s and Alyssa’s posts on the subject.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Yeah. YOU figure out where No. 5 goes. I kept putting it in and taking it out. It’s like Grace Kelly. Too… chilly. Although I’d put it under Lipstick if anyplace.
Okay, Helen Mirren, but that’s …. it? Where are our wild, sexy broads who crack wise? I can’t make Madonna work it out either. I’d maybe put Kate Winslet in there.
I need to go look at Angela and Alyssa’s posts too.
Natalie Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Maybe modern dames aren’t Hollywood types? Perhaps they’re in politics — Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton? — or music or publishing (Anna Wintour?!) or some other field. I feel like we know too much about Hollywood celebs, and perhaps mystery and inaccessibility are an element of dame-hood.
And I’m not sure where it goes, but Bandit definitely belongs in your dame matrix!
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Oooh, Natalie, I like this idea. After all, there were so many fewer places to be in the public eye for women in the Age of The Dame.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Bandit. Is it really not up there? Duh. How did I forget Bandit? It’s funny, it’s on my first list(trouser dame).
Vidalicious Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Today’s stars have too many neuroses to be Dames. Dames never reveal their insecurities (of which they have, oh, none) in public. They are HOT. And they are way cool.
You nailed the “Trouser Dame” category, March. I would move Joan Crawford to that list and Faye Dunaway by proxy since she played such a kick-butt version of Joan in “Mommie Dearest”. That happens to be the only non-Exorcist type movie capable of giving me nightmares.
Fifi Chachnil is a classic Trouser Dame scent as well as VIP Room, if there is still any out there to be had. Tom Ford’s Vanille Tobacco would also work.
MAC Twig is my all time favorite lipstick and I love to wear Spice liner with clear gloss or lip balm. And what more could possibly be said about Essie Ballet Slippers except that I am in desperate need of a mani-pedi.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Faye Dunaway! Totally. So you’d move Fifi? (I have it under Lipstick.)
I kept moving my dames around, there’s some overlap there.
Nava Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Definitely swap Fifi out to Trouser and add Chanel No. 5 to Lipstick. Marilyn Monroe wore it to bed, didn’t she?
Shelley Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
No need to do Faye by proxy…she totally brought it as a dame in Network.
An uncle used to compare me to Katharine Hepburn…this all stopped when I grew up and he discovered that there were no discernable cheekbones in my future
I used to be a corset dame, until I found a man who would tolerate such behavior. I have since mellowed into somewhere between trouser and lipstick. Hey, he deserves it!
I’m about to embark on a journey into the Carons. Nothing I’ve smelled thus far (which isn’t much) seems dame-worthy, unless you count the two that I call my personal favorites….
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I think Carons are total dame fragrances, although let’s take a survey here — I think Caron lovers would argue they are best experienced in extrait. As you know I have been on a vintage fragrance bender — more on Wednesday.
Nika Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Yes, it’s either extrait or nothing with Carons. Until one smelled them in extrait, there’s no way to really evaluate them. I don’t say they EDT/SDP versions are without merit, it’s just you need to experience the extrait before making any judgements.
Liesl Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
…which leads me to ask, Should I wear Tabac Blond to work tomorrow? Or is that just a bad idea? Never tried it before. It smells dame-worthy in the vial…
Wow! This was so much fun!
I’m really glad we didn’t read each other’s things ahead of time, as all your categories would have thrown me into a dither, Miz March. I think my idea of a dame is much narrower than yours. For sure I would exclude anyone with too much upper class polish, which leaves out Grace Kelley, Myrna Loy, and Claudette Colbert (not to mention Chanel No.5) and to me Marilyn Monroe is also far, far away from dame category, since her whole persona depends on Knowing Not What She Does, and she’s always something of a romantic. To me, a dame can giggle if she has to, but she always knows exactly what she’s doing.
I think my definition affected some of my fragrance choices, too, though we overlap a lot more there. But I can’t see, for example, Apres L’Ondee on a dame. Too melancholy. A dame never looks back!
LOVED your post!
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:24 am
This was fun, wasn’t it?!
I excluded Grace and No. 5 for the same reasons you did. And Marilyn came and went five times. I finally left her in for two reasons — 1, she’s such an icon of man-control (deliberate or not) and 2) I am no Marilyn expert, but I think like a lot of gorgeous women she was brighter than she let on. She exerted her own kind of control on those around her.
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I know you like a good discussion, March, so I’m answering. Ignore if you like.
I absolutely agree that Marilyn, the woman, knew what she was doing most of the time and that she had a HUGE influence on the women around her, but I can’t let her into the dame category because I feel that Marilyn, the Idea was responsible for a whole lot of playing dumb. It took me a long time to watch her movies, and when I did I was shocked by how much I loved them, and her. Still. I can’t get over the Blonde Toy thing. But clearly I have my own (deep) prejudices on this topic.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Hey, you’re entitled to your opinion! Which I think if I read further down, several people share.
I’m like totally hot for trouser dames…
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I remember the first time I ever saw Lauren Bacall in a movie when I was a teenager, home sick from school. I was dumbstruck. I think I must have felt a little like Bogie felt when HE first saw her. Not exactly the same
but still. I thought, how much beauty can one woman project? She is impossible.
Lee Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I had exactly that experience myself…
Where does Dame Judi Dench fit? Maggie Smith? Is Tilda Swinton too classy to be a dame?
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 10:31 am
oooooh! BRITISH dames.
I think I need to go fan myself now.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I don’t know, where would you put them? Don’t forget Helen Mirren. What about Cate Blanchett? Kate Winslet? Why am I only coming up with brits?
Kathryn Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Adding to the list of British dames: Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave, Natasha Richardson. Maybe it has something to do with their leading men? Clive Owen and Daniel Craig seem both seem to have a bit of that Bogart vibe going on.
But as for Americans: What about Meryl Streep?
Nika Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Totally! Meryl Streep, how did we forget her?
Zoe Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Susan Sarandon! A trouser dame if I ever saw one.
French Dames: Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart and potentially a whole slew of them I don’t know.
I also have a nagging feeling I’m missing some Italian grande dames.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Susan Sarandon absolutely. No argument.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Sophia Loren?
Zoe Reply:
January 27th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Attagirl, that’s the one.
My mind = sieve. :”>
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Yes! Susan!
How about Angelica Huston?
I like where this is all going…
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 11:28 am
The discussion is fun.
The dame posts are TOPS…based on my favorite of these dame perfumes, I get to be Lipstick Trousers. I will add Parfum Sacre to the list (And Maggie Gyllenhaal has a dame-y quality, don’t you think?)
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Maggie is dame material. Trying to decide if she’s old enough?
helenviolette Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
dame in progress perhaps…
This is an absolute delight! I agree with sweetlife about Mmes. Kelly and Monroe but I would argue for Mmes Colbert and Loy – one of the hallmarks of a dame (and they would be ‘classy’ dames) is that they do know what they do and they do it with class….but they also Keep It Real. That’s why I think Jacqueline Kennedy (and again, Grace Kelly) are not dames. We don’t love them because they are dames – we love them because they are not. They are our American Princesses and their feet do not touch the ground. Both are fabulous but neither are dames – a dame could (and would) go work in a factory or dig a ditch if she had to!
I cannot think of a single contemporary American celebrity who qualifies for Damehood – they’re all too ‘common’. It’s a fine line between Real and Common.
Of course, all of this is only my dameish opinion!
But then y’all go and start up on British dames. Stop it! I have to get back to work!!!
ps. I am aghast….I cover ALL of the dames, scent-wise – something tells me a lot of you do, too!
xo
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Alright, Musette, I’m willing to concede Colbert and Loy — let’s put them in a special category, Ladies-to-Dames or something like that. They started out with money, but had too much fire for all that class and had to go out and find themselves a William Powell.
And can I say — it does not surprise me AT ALL that your perfumes indicate you are a dame through and through.
Musette Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
And I’m still looking for my William Powell, dammit!
(no offense to my dear El O, btw, who just built me an incredible bedroom!…
…but I still wouldn’t mind a William Powell
xo
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Well, my goodness, who *would* mind a William Powell?
Shelley Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
just pokin’ my head in to point out I put Myrna in my brain dames…
…and now I’m thinking of Asta, and how we’ve come a long way (fallen a long way) from dogs of the past to these pocket chihuahua critters. Katherine Hepburn had a *leopard,* for pete’s sake.
Musette Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I have a brace of Rottweilers and a couple of Percheron draft horses on loan – do they qualify?
I’m
on the leopard………if I got it as a cub do you think it would do okay with the Rotts?
questions, questions…..
xo
Terrific! I love the lipstick suggestions, too. I think you’re totally right leaving Marilyn off the list. She’s something else altogether. I feel like building a dame shrine on my dresser–put out some perfume, a few lipsticks, maybe a silk stocking.
Carol Sasich Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
and a cigar !!
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
This was really fun, thanks for playing!
I was thinking chloe sevigny, isabella rossellini, definitely cate blanchett–in the writing world faye weldon and margaret atwood for sure! Ivoire de Balmain would have to be in there, and Joy by Patou…
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Good suggestions. I’m trying to decide about Joy.
What a fun post, March! I love it!
You mentioned Billie Holiday. Some other dames of color include Lena Horne (Corsage Dame), Dorothy Dandridge (Lipstick Dame), Josephine Baker (Corset, or lack thereof, Dame), and Rita Moreno (Fiery Dame! What a great actress!).
I love Bette Davis, and have seen almost every movie she made. I even read a biography on her. I do wonder what fragrance she wore, but it may have been something rather pedestrian.
Hugs!
Gretchen Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Josephine Baker– the QUEEN of dames. And a big yes to Lena Horne too.
Zoe Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Rita Moreno, how could I forget!
Now I need to watch West Side Story, thanks.
Which reminds me that Cyd Charisse really ought to have a place here, too.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Excellent suggestions all. I would love to know their perfumes too.
Musette Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
And let’s not forget the Queen of Music Dames: Jessye Norman. I think of Mme Norman in ……maybe contemporary Femme. I can’t see her in anything that bites – she an ocean-going vessel of a lipstick/corset dame steaming full ahead in all her glory!
xo
Shelley Reply:
January 27th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Diva Dame from the music world: Maria Callas. She had attitude and expectations.
March, I’m so glad you have some Cuir de Russie extrait. It makes lesser concentrations seem almost demure. I am treasuring my last few drops since, apart from the evil Bay, it seems to have almost vanished from the face of the earth. It was offered on the Chanel website as late as last fall, but now it’s gone and I’ve just been told that it isn’t even available in Paris any longer. Do anyone one know when/if it will be back ? Or if it is being reformulated?
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I *think* they have it in Paris, Patty probably knows.
Patty Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
You can still get it in Paris and also the Chanel boutique in NYC.
Musette Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
yet another reason to save my simoleans!
xo
Love this. I think I dame all over the place, depending on my mood. Can we have Chameleon Dames?
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
You can be any kind of dame you want.
How very interesting. I found myself falling squarely in the ‘trouser dame’ category. I love my Tabac Blond and Ruby Woo combo. I however never wear trousers. They’re just wrong on me.
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I *wish* I could wear Ruby Woo with more confidence. It’s a hair too dark on me. But the color is so fab I keep trying.
Modern ones are definitely lacking something.
How about Judi Dench, though? She’s a dame!
Nika Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
wrong place, sorry
Angelina Jolie to me is the quintessential, modern Dame with a capital D! She became that for me even before her Lara Croft roles and everything she’s done since then.
Loved this series of posts, March et al! Absolutely fabulous.
Suzanne Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Oops, I’m a little tongue-tied today. What I meant to state in that 2nd sentence is that Angelina began revealing herself as a dame even before her Lara Croft Tomb Raider roles, and especially so with the various roles she’s played since then (both in her public and private life).
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Okay, so, so far in America we have … AJ, Susan Sarandon and Maggie Gyllenhaal? (sp) Is that it?
Kathryn Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Not Meryl Streep? I still maintain she’s a dame, probably corset. And what about Anjelica Huston, a trouser dame if there ever was one. And Cher in her actress persona (probably not as a singer), definitely a lipstick dame. Maybe, too, there is a category of slightly goofy dames. Shirley MacLaine, Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg all come to mind.
sweetlife Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
yes! yes! I put my Angelica Huston comment up there before reading yours. LOVE Cher as a dame, especially in that movie she was in with Nicolas Cage. Love Whoopi — how about Queen Latifah?
Wonderful categories and great writing, M! Fun!!
My only gripe is that Apres L’Ondee is no dame. She’s so charmingly a debutante.:”>
March Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Thanks! I’m not fit to argue with you about Apres, really. But there’s some kind of strength in there that always surprises me.
Where’s a forehead smacking emoticon when I need it? Catherine Zeta-Jones is the modern dame that’s been niggling around at the corner of my brain as I’ve been reading (and thoroughly enjoying) this post and the fabulous comments.
Well if this wasn’t a fun party to come home from work to! Absolutely fabulous post, March. Extremely imaginative. A few modern women came to mind for Dame status – Debra Winger, Kathleen Turner (might be those great voices!), Emma Thompson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Minnie Driver, and a French one – Audrey Tautou. I *think* Keira Knightly may qualify in a few more years as well. In the original category, I think Irene Dunn was also a dame. I loved her with Cary Grant.
Perfumes…. I respectfully suggest that Mitsouko is more Trouser Dame than Corset, but that’s just me. And what about two other Guerlain’s – Nahema and Chamade? Lipstick? Corset? I love them both and I think they are both Dame scents.
What a great and thought provoking post March — I think you need to include Ann Bancroft as a dame. (?) And perhaps Kathleen Turner….
I think I’m a secret dame or something. Really nice and easy-going until you say or do the wrong thing, then you’re in trouble. I think Elizabeth Taylor is dame material, even now that she’s a little nutty. I have to say that I don’t see too many hollywood dames at all, especially under 40. What do you all think of Dita von Teese? I can’t decide.
Musette Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
And she has the added benefit of being an actual DBE, I believe. Plus La Liz has always been a dame – I have worn to a nub her book “My Love Affair with Jewelry” (which so closely mimics my own love affair with jewelry- minus the jewelry, dangit) and you will see a stone Dame, through and through. Her giant rocks? She’ll let anybody who asks try them on (she says, anyway). If that ain’t a dame, I dunno what is! And I love that she calls herself a broad.
xo
I would love to see Paris Hilton trying to shove a leopard into a handbag
please excuse my over-commenting but I love this. I would say J-LO is dame material and I’m hoping that Tina Fey can one day be a comedic dame like Lucielle Ball or Diane Keaton or Mae West or the bajillion other underrated funny ladies. I think Oprah is a dame, too, if for no reason other than her being queen of the world.
Rappleyea Reply:
January 26th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Elyse, if you can “over-comment” than I will too! LOL! I don’t think there’s any such thing though, but then it’s not my blog.
I was thinking about this while I ate, and thought of Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin. I was lucky enough to see Aretha last year in a very small setting as she sang at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders annual awards dinner here in Lex., Ky. and that woman exudes DAME.
Tina strikes me as a Trousers Dame, while both Diana and Aretha seem like Corsage Dames.
This is a BLAST!
Much as I love her, Angelina is not dame material for me…but what about Tina Turner, Barbra Streisand, Edith Piaf, Anne Sexton, Sandra and Sarah Bernhardt, maybe Jerry Hall and Bianca Jagger, Diane Von Furstenberg, Coco Chanel, Evita, Celia Cruz, Wallis Simpson (is that right?), Paloma Picasso, Judy Davis, Isabella Blow, Mata Hari–has anyone mentioned Marlene Dietrich? Kristen Scott Thomas, Billie Holiday, Colette, Anais Nin, Iman, Marguerite Duras, Ingrid Bergman, Candace Bergen,Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Karen Blixen, Gertrude Stein, Frida Kahlo, Monica Belucci, Whew!I do think Maggie Gyllenhal, Chloe Sevigny and maybe Reese Witherspoon and Heath Ledger’s partner, maybe Drew Barrymore all have some dame potential… Miranda Richardson, Toni Colette and Natasha Richardson, Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave and Emma Thompson, Amelia Earhart perhaps…can you imagine the perfumes these strong ladies wear? I could go on and on…what a great topic!
March Reply:
January 27th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Hey, don’t sweat your extra post! Happens all the time. I think your list is fabulous.
thanks so much–i love your blog and so look forward to reading it! this topic truly is bottomless. Have to say I think Miss Ross is really more in the diva than dame category, but maybe there are diva dames? Wearing big larger than life perfumes that fill a room before they even enter it, haha…