Cuirs & a draw!

All Autumn in a Glove

This is going to be one of those rambling posts.  GASP!!  The HELLZ you say, Musette!!!  YOU?  Rambling?

Well bite me on my Big, Fat Butt!    I just got back from Brigadoon – there are a couple of little towns in Central IL that are oddly placed – they’re not really far away from larger metro areas (Peoria) but because of their placement, they might as well be on Jupiter.  They are 20 miles from Somewhere Else but it takes almost an hour to get to the next place.   No cell signal and the one bar in town that boasts Wireless….it’s never open!

And it’s dark as the inside of a dog.

And it’s cold.

So I’m turning to a lot of leathers – this is the perfect time of year to bust out the leather roses, the leather ambers (those are always tricky for me) the sueded ones, the one that purr….the ones that bite (but just a little)…

My All-Time Favorite:   Chanel Cuir de Russie parfum is why I fell in love with leather scents.  It’s that coffee-colored Bombay Paris bag, fresh out of the sleeper.   A pair of gorgeous brown leather gloves.  I admit to not liking the ect/Exclusif in the least- it’s a nice smell and all….but it lacks that rounded richness that makes me feel all smoochy and cashmere-ylike  – I have a car.  And a driver.  And a housekeeper.  And I like it.  The parfum is the epitome of subdued glamour.  When I wear it, I feel like I’m wearing cashmere and carrying one of my many Bombays, on my way to fly private – even when I am wearing fleece and going to gather the eggs our of the nesting boxes.

Daim Blonde.  So lovely.  It toppled Cuir de Lancome from the Pretty Leather pedestal awhile ago.  The apricot in CdL is really pretty – but it actually gets too oily-round (that’s how I describe that place where it becomes all about the sweet).  Daim Blonde has a bit of lemon in it, similar to Bandit.  I love Bandit, in theory.  In reality it gives me a migraine, which breaks my heart.  So.  No Bandit for meeee!

Diorling.  Vintage.  There’s a pair of stiletto-heeled boots.  And an actual stiletto.

Parfum d’Empire Cuir Ottoman.  My Goldilocks leather.   I dunno what it is about this scent but I’ve got a very short window in which I can wear it.  Too hot and it makes me want to gnaw my arm off.  Too cold and I am teetering on the edge of nausea all day long.  Right now, in the mid-50s, with pretensions of getting colder…it’s Just Right.

There are several floral leathers but my all-time BFFFE is Rosine’s Secrets.  The body cream is the stuff of fantasy – slick this on right out of a hot shower and you can smell the leather bloom through the rose.  Later, the rose takes center stage but if you sort of Zen out while you are applying the cream you can take that olfactory memory with you through the rest of the day.  I always think I can wear this in Summer.  And I am always wrong.  This is an Autumn scent, 100%.  YMMV.

My Brigadoon Leather:  Tommi Sooni Tarantella.   I remember getting my sample of Tarantella.  I was driving through the cornfields, trying to rip open the package, etc…..(it was early on and I was rabid)……I got it open, applied it (yes, whilst driving.  Rabid)….and about 5 minutes later this gorgeous, pronounced, leather note bloomed on my wrist!  I fell madly in love.  Truly, deeply.  Alas, I couldn’t replicate that first LEATHER! bloom.  3 different samples and a full bottle later, I’ve given up – I still love the perfume and every now and again I will catch a whiff of what gobsmacked me that first time…but, like Brigadoon rising from the mist, I fear I am destined to never smell it rising from my wrist again.  Sigh.

Are you wearing leathers now?  What are your favorites?  Or do you hate leather’s guuuuuuts.  For me, the height of leather luxury is always brown – I think it’s because I feel it’s really difficult to create a rich brown leather than will hold its color and suppleness.  Or else I just like brown.  Who knows?

Tell me what you’re wearing for the Autumn Transition and I’ll pick a winnah for a sampling from the Messy Armoire.