Rodriguez only in Winter

                 Chateaudechenonceaupaint

On our way home from California we had a lengthy layover at the London airport. Though not lengthy enough to visit the Queen over tea. Knowing, if we sat down we would fall asleep in a heartbeat. The only option was to stroll the airport corridors and eye pretty things.

We went into a Cosmetic shop.

A young man walked up to us, handsome, sleek back hair and well dressed. He was a salesclerk trying to seduce Chelsea with his sales pitch for a perfume by Narciso Rodriguez. He dabbed some on the nape of her neck. The perfume gave way to a million flower petals hinting amber, musk and honey. In a second I was transported to Egypt, caressing the Nile as I sailed on silk… (thank God, the young man dabbed Chelsea’s neck with perfume and not mine!) The perfume was intoxicating, floating over my head like music… it was glorious. I was sold.

But before I could tell him, I’d take it, a stylish hipster walked into the shop. The young man caught her eye. Seduction was his business, in which he was a champion. He asked her if she would like a touch of Rodriguez… but before he could release another word, she said, oh so cool and casually, "I wear Rodriguez, only in winter."

Burst my bubble, and call me a country girl. I never knew such a thing!

The perfume’s spell took on newer and deeper meaning, "…Rodriguez only in winter."

Photo: A painting of a young maiden between heaven and earth. At the Chateau de Chenonceau.



Comments

43 responses to “Rodriguez only in Winter”

  1. Elaine LaMonk

    Corey,
    I spent the last few days reading through your blog and love it! You have quite a way with words and I love your photography.
    Sounds like your daughter is growing up to be quite a charmer. I remember a similar experience with my daughter. It was like observing a stranger.
    ~elaine~ from SoCA

  2. Great tale, Corey. Sounds like an Episode from Sex and the City!!

  3. cruststation

    I love your description, ‘caressing the Nile as I sailed on silk…’, he sounds like a good salesman 🙂 Interesting snippets of life (heart your new look blog)!

  4. Marie-Noëlle

    I’ve used one of Kenzo’s all summer… One day my husband pointed to the half-empty flask of my last perfume (he had bought it !) and asked:
    “Why are you using that perfume? There’s plenty left in here!
    – Too rich for the summer!
    – Hope you will never find ME too rich for the summer, love !!!”

  5. Judith in Umbria

    I can’t do that signature thing in summer. In summer it’s single florals or was once Acqua di Parma ‘foglia di basilico’, which I will never understand why they stopped making it! What could possibly be wrong with smelling like superbasil?

  6. So did you buy?
    __________________
    I should have! I took a sample, I have allergies to certain scents. I’ll try it out for a day hoping it doesn’t trigger a headache.
    My fingers are crossed. For the moment I don’t want to let go of the experience that it gave.

  7. Paris Parfait

    Ah, your daughter is learning fast! Welcome back, Corey! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Sorry about the annoying customs officer, but I bet French husband’s welcome made you forget all about your woes. 🙂 xo

  8. wondering about the scent of summer! there must be a tale as well floating from you pen 😉

  9. Donna is right . it sounds like an episode if Sex and the City .
    I want to smell this perfume …may be to buy it …FOR WINTER

  10. ParisBreakfasts

    Can savvy Chelsea please post tomorrow about this winter/summer perfume thing?
    I’m mystified…

  11. Great story, Corey. As usual!!! Yes, I too would love to hear Chelsea’s take on that episode, how she witnessed your being transported by that floral wave emanating from the nape of her neck, for example 🙂 I’m down to a few drops of my perfume and have been looking for a new one. You may have found it for me 😉

  12. I wear that perfume but wear mine all year round………
    I love it.
    Your stories captivate me.
    Love and hugs
    and a toast to fabulous perfumes and you!

  13. I’m making it my business to search out Rodriquez and inhale.

  14. Your story is charming enough to make me want to run right out to the nearest perfume counter.
    Winter’s coming. I wonder who carries it locally.
    Darla

  15. Corey, I too have allergies to certain scents…hmmm, I didn’t know perfume was seasonal!? 😉

  16. What a come-back by the young girl! I’m sure that I would have swooned over the salesman.
    Oh to be so young and collected and hip!

  17. My Melange

    Corey,
    Your daughter shares your quick witted sense of humor 🙂 She is fast on her feet that one!

  18. What a sophisticated attitude. I wonder what perfume she wears in the other seasons? Small town girl that I am, still I’m intrigued by the idea of this scent that’s only for winter. Your description of it sounds heavenly though.

  19. I change the scented candles I burn in my home for different seasons, but not my perfume. Perfume to me is a highly personally thing, I only buy it as a gift if I know the brand that the person likes. Once you find the right perfume, it’s hard to change.
    _____________________________________
    I agree with you. Though in France I often hear women who have a perfume for the day, and another for the evening.

  20. I will have to hunt down this perfume now….
    I switch candle scents depending on the season….I’ll have to say, “I burn roasted pumpkin and mulled cider….but only in the fall” next time.

  21. So, along with remembering no white shoes after Labor Day we should have seasonal perfumes? I feel so fashion illiterate!

  22. I sense that your daughter has her mother’s charm and wit!

  23. ally bean

    You mean there’s something else I’m doing wrong? A different scent for different seasons? I’ll add it to the To Do List right after get the lawn mower serviced and before clean underneath the frig. Like those two things ever happen around here! 🙂

  24. Lisa ‘oceandreamer’ S.

    I adored how you described that scene.
    I’ve had a “thing” about perfume since about the age of 9. I truly do have fragrances I only wear in certain seasons. Some are a more heady scent befitting sweaters and black tights and fires lit – Fall and Winter. Others are softer, hints of petals and under notes of new blue skies…these are worn in spring. And others with intoxicating scents of gardenias tucked behind your ear are reserved for summer. And still others, others that have everything to make you feel feminine and stop someone for a moment to say “what is that lovely fragrance?”….those are worn all year. I may be casual everywhere else but I never leave home without a hint of fragrance.
    XOXOXO
    __________________
    Hi Lisa
    Ohhhhhhhhhh, I get it! You described the perfume thing perfectly, and it makes sense.
    Thanks!

  25. Corey,
    Great story!! Your daughter is so charming, and smart.
    Rosemary

  26. rochambeau

    Did you buy any? You know, winters right around the corner.

  27. Seasonal scents – how romantic! Like roses in the summer, and tulips in the spring… Love the new clean look you have created – very classy – like you of course!

  28. That is a line to remember!!!!

  29. Kristen Robinson

    I love this so chic and fun, I learned something as always when visiting you my friend!
    XOX
    Kristen

  30. What a great line. I very rarely think that fast on my feet. It is good to hear you all made it home safe and sound. Good luck Chelsea with your new adventure will you be starting here in a few days. Cory you have taught her well and she is a wonderful young lady. She will be fine and you too will survive just think how your mother felt when you flew away for your first adventure.
    Jeanette

  31. Mercy me, I’ve never heard of such a thing–what an ignorant beast I must be. Ah well, I shall remember in future that if I ever want to wear the Rodriguez fragrance (to be honest, I don’t), I shall deliberately wear it in summer (I can be a tad sassy and contradictory just for the fun of it).

  32. oooooooh! Pretty new blog face!
    Great story too–as usual. Ah, to be young and cool as ice again…
    🙂

  33. I love Guerlain’s Mitsouko, and I had a young woman at a perfume counter reeling when I asked for this fragrance. It was many years ago, when I was younger. She told me that Mitsouko was for old woman.
    I still wear it, but I guess I fit the bill now.
    Mitsouko…an old woman’s perfume. I’m in good company. 🙂

  34. yes – I can only wear jasmine in the summer…
    and “roots” only in winter… yes
    xox – eb.

  35. oh that is just the epitome of chic! I have never had a real perfume, it is an ambition of mine, but it will have to be the perfect scent…

  36. She is enchanting… and so is your storytelling! I don’t think I ever had as much as a teaspoon of that kind of mystique!!

  37. Gillian @ Indigo Blue

    I must try this! If it transports you to Egypt, and sailing on the Nile…then I simply must try some!!!
    I am wearing Mademoiselle Coco right now…and it gives me a headache, even though I love it.
    xo
    Blue

  38. A Fanciful Twist

    Ooolalalalalala. So much chic information. I am now a citybilly and I love it!!! I too know nothing of this… Although, I will not wear scents that will become overwhelming in this treacherous heat.. xoxoxoxo Very cute!!!

  39. Nice comeback, Chelsea. Corey, you don’t have a thing to worry about.

  40. In the states we had the “Friends” sitcom that came on once a week for many years. I am sure you watched it too. Oh, how I wish I could have heard it in French. Pheebe said, “I would really like to do that but I don’t want too” and is a line I use often. I could not help but think of this line when I read your story. Pheebe might have also said, “I only wear Rodregez in winter!” It says so much more that we realize. Thank you/

  41. Sounds yummy – even if out of season.
    Glad you made it home.

  42. My winter smell is Coco, and my summer/spring is Poeme.
    😉

  43. I am so glad that I can finally wear Mitsouko! It was worth the wait. I have a 2.5 bottle of the edp (superior to the thin edt), and it’s incredible! With fall just around the corner, there is nothing else I would wear! It’s a complex and softly spicy scent that I cannot get enough of!
    Remember, be sure and try the edp or the (extrait) parfum if you can get it!
    Even more intriguing, Charlie Chaplin made this his “own.”

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