The endless gray stretch of quarantine has warped time into units previously unknown to me, measuring hours by phantom presences. Perfume—a closetful of it, so many bottles and vials that I can barely shut the door, a reminder of past travels and smiles—has been a faithful companion during this disembodying hover-year. Its mirror: the pulled-down shades and soft dark envelopment of watching films, light flickering off a beat-up laptop, offering respite and another layer of other—real time—pass and melt. In both, vaporous, fickle media, ever-changing, light particles dancing off my face and skin, I surrender myself to their own inner workings, worlds, and pathways—they give my rolling, fretful, nearly-always-bursting-with-question-marks mind a chance to stop, collect itself, drift, play.
Where can my physical body go if it is locked indoors? I can transfer and inhabit, nibble, feed off, empathize, and fall in love with actors and scents, a new one a day, according to my mood. In losing yourself, you get re-embodied. My heart beats with different screens, varied scents. Here is a scattering of stars, ones who have nurtured me and provided escape and pleasure during this year, individualistic women who shine gemlike, inspire and dazzle, with fragrances dreamed and real paired with them.
Collage by Joy Matashi. Fashion Editor : Jared Ellner. Article by KASHINA, NOV. 2020
PEARL CHANG WOULD LOVE THE NOTES OF AMBER IN NUIT DE BAKÉLITE BY NAOMI GOODSIR, ENSCONCED BY THIS DRAMATIC, JEWEL-ENCRUSTED RING BY VALENTINO GARAVANI. SAIRA BANU SUMMONS ADAMEKU BY DI SER, SCENTED WITH MEDICINAL MUSKDANA AND CANTALOUPE, AND THIS EMERALD-EYED, ONYX-NOSED PANTHER RING BY CARTIER.TOP PEARL CHANG IN 'THE SHADOW CHASER' (1973), 'WOLF DEVIL WOMAN' (1982), 'THE WAR OF THE BOUNDARY' (1978) COURTESY OF HONG-KONG MOVIE DATABASE. BOTTOM: COURTESY OF ALAMY.
PEARL CHANG
The Taiwanese martial arts supernova behind the unclassifiable and fantastical Wolf Devil Woman (1982), Pearl Chang was a multi-talented director, writer, producer, star—often all at once. Her extreme energy spiraled in all directions. She tore through her kung fu epics with whirlwind power and lightning-bolt editing, whiplash-inducing battles fought in outrageous jeweled and tasseled headdresses, poles and swords flying through the air. Australian designer Naomi Goodsir has created perfumes as unpredictable, illogical, and daredevil as Pearl—the electric, forked-tongue Nuit de Bakélite, with its livid, shape-shifting, furious green tuberose that lasts for days on the skin. And Bois d’Ascèse and its soilish, dampened-ash scent of dripping caverns, unearthed pu’er tea, gnarled roots, just-plucked feathers with flesh still attached, and spat-out wine. They’re both visceral, wildly inventive scents fit for the untetherable force of nature that is Pearl.