I.L.Y.s – "My Career" (2015)

In a Schiaparelli hat

I love her for that

In the last 2 or 3 lines, I told you about a book titled The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, by Margareta Magnusson:

That book is about getting rid of all the crap you’ve accumulated in the course of a lifetime before you die so your kids or others won’t have to deal with it – that’s what “death cleaning” means.  But the author (a Swedish woman who describes herself as being “somewhere between 80 and 100 years old”) includes a number of anecdotes that have nothing to do with death cleaning in her book.

Here’s one of those anecdotes:

Once I was invited to a tea party in Singapore.  Everyone had to wear a hat – it was compulsory!  I had not worn a hat in 20 years or so, and was not really well stocked in that area. . . . And then I saw my wok hanging on a nail above our gas stove.  I put it on my head, taped an orchid on the front brim as decoration, and tied it under my chin with coarse string.  Believe it or not, I won first prize and received a beautiful glass bottle of Schiaparelli’s perfume “Shocking!” for my efforts.  Wow!

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Elsa Schiaparelli – who was one of the most successful fashion designers in the world in the years between the two World Wars – was born into a very prominent and accomplished Italian family in 1890.  Her mother was a Neapolitan aristocrat, and her father a well-regarded medieval scholar.  Her uncle was an astronomer who discovered the so-called Martian canals, while a cousin was a noted Egyptologist who had discovered the tomb of Queen Nefartari.

Elsa Schiaparelli

Elsa’s family wanted her to marry a wealthy Russian, but she ran away to London rather than become his wife.  She eventually married W. F. W. de Kerlor, who claimed to have psychic powers but who was really a con man.  He was deported after being convicted of a crime, and the couple ended up in New York City.

Schiaparelli and de Kerlor quickly found themselves in hot water with the U.S. government, which suspected them of being Communists and anarchists.  The authorities eventually decided that the couple were merely eccentric publicity hounds rather than dangerous revolutionaries, so they were never prosecuted or deported.

In 1920, Schiaparelli gave birth to her only child, a daughter who she nicknamed “Gogo.”  De Kerlor promptly deserted her, and Elsa made no attempt to get him back.  She took up with opera singer Mario Laurenti, while de Kerlor allegedly had affairs with dancer Isadora Duncan and actress Alla Nazimova.  

Schiaparelli with Salvador Dali

Elsa, who had become friendly with Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and other avant-garde artists, moved to Paris in 1922.  She was introduced to Paul Poirot, a prominent fashion designer who became her mentor, and eventually launched a collection of knitwear with surrealist designs.  

Her most famous creations included the “Shoe Hat” (shaped like a high-heeled shoe) and the “Lobster Dress” (a white silk evening dress on which Salvador Dali painted a large lobster.) 

The Schiaparelli  “Shoe Hat”

The Schiaparelli-Dali “Lobster Dress”

Schiaparelli’s Parisian couture house flourished in the 1930s, but she left for New York City when the Nazis invaded France.  She returned to Paris after the Allies triumphed, but her postwar designs were not successful, and she finally closed her business down in 1954. 

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Elsa Schiaparelli had two famous granddaughters – Marisa and Berry Berenson.  

Marisa Berenson was a highly-paid fashion model who became a film actress in the 1970s.  Among the movies she appeared in were Death in Venice, Cabaret, and Barry Lyndon.   

Marisa Berenson in “Cabaret” 

Berry Berenson – her real name was “Berinthia” – was a well-known photographer who also appeared in a number of movies.  She married actor Anthony Perkins.

Berry Berenson was on American Airline Flight 11 when it slammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 – the first of the four airliners hijacked by terrorists to crash on 9/11.

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Schiaparelli’s “Shocking!” perfume – which was sold in a shocking-pink glass bottle whose shape was inspired by the torso of Mae West, a client of hers – was introduced in 1936.

Here’s an online review of “Shocking!”:

Scored a full two-ounce vintage eau de cologne on eBay _ this stuff is every bit as dirty and potent as “Bal à Versailles” or Yves Saint Laurent “Kouros.”  Lavish sillage and monstrous longevity.  Lusciously sweet and spicy but not cloying thanks to the herby tarragon, which also muddies the masculine-feminine waters nicely.  The civet . . . strikes a definite sex glands chord.  Wear confidently but in moderation!

I wonder if Margaret Magnusson still has any of the “Shocking!” she won at that Singapore party.  If she does, I hope she passes it on to someone who is able to put it to good use.  

It would be a shame is something with such lavish sillage got tossed during a death cleaning!

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The song I wanted to feature today – “Baby’s Bottle,” from Noël Coward’s 1950 musical, Ace of Clubs – includes the following lyrics:

You can fill her Christmas stocking 

Full of emeralds and pearls

But some Schiaparelli “Shocking!”

Is the way to get the girls

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an online recording of that song to share with you.  So I’m featuring “My Career” by The I. L. Y.s, which was released in 2015 on the I’ve Always Been Good at True Love album:

It sounds nothing like anything Noël Coward wrote but does contain a reference to Elsa Schiaparelli.

Click here to listen to “My Career”:

And click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon: