Hey, polls are fun and even finding a subject for one is a job!
Have e nice weekend, which I'll spend (ok, not the whole weekend) thinking about literary perfumes...

Well, this one has been before (several times) on MakeupAlley, so I can't claim any great creativity on my part! Have a great weekend :-)

Darcy in M7?!?!?!?

Do you realise I now have rapid fire mental images of the M7 man as Darcy, and Darcy as the M7 man, and am slowly losing the. ability. to. type....*keels over*

Oh dear, LOL -- brain burst!

[Sung to the tune of, "In the Navy"...remember that one ?!]
" She's gone crazy- but we love her very well;
She's gone crazy- and she'll prob'ly rot in hell;
She's not lazy- dear Lord !
She's gone crazy- it's all hazy..."

Thanks for the olfactory jolt, baby...
Love you !

ROFL! Perfect, perfect, thank you!

You guys made me look up that M7 man after the comments about the Caron guy. Hokey Smokes - I didn't know he was naked! No wonder y'all are fanning yourselves. I liek the armpit shot, too, though - he is just a pretty guy.

I think of those Austen heroines as being delicately fragranced - maybe Stella McCartney?

Impressive, isn't he?

You're right about delicately fragrances. Stella McCartney sounds about right.

You beat me to it! Miss Elizabeth Bennet was made for Diorissimo, whilst her sister Jane was made for Joy (the gravitas in Jane makes Diorissimo too zingy for her). Can't help you with Charles and Fitz Darcy, though I really can imagine Darcy in Caron's Poivre (I have a q-tip with the vintage scent sitting on my desk and it's really smelling divine....and very masculine, like a precursor to Old Spice).

Lady Catherine wears 1000 but she wears way too much of it. Her daughter Anne wears Petit Cherie, which is all wrong for her. The vicious Caroline Bingley wears Mitsouko, and wears it well (though I wish she didn't:-) and her sister, Mrs Hurst, wears Angel and a lot of it because it suits her.

Mrs Bennet wanted to wear Angel to the wedding but Jane managed to talk her out of it. She's wearing vintage L'Origan but she got a little crazy with the spritzing and Mr Bennet is having a difficult time keeping his cough in check.

Obviously I need to stop watching this film...and don't get me started on Emma!LOL!

Wow, perfect calls all around. Love Anne in Petit Cherie which is all wrong for her! But you need a scent for Lydia...Pink Sugar maybe? Or is that too easy?

I was thinking a Paris Hilton scent for Lydia and Juicy Couture for Kitty - she wants to ape Kitty but knows, somehow, that she can't pull it off. so it's either Juicy or that .......Happy by Clinique (blanked on it for a minute:-)

Mary........if she wore scent (and she doesn't) she would attempt Djedi because it is so 'serious' and smell like an idiot.

Last but not least, Georgiana Darcy would wear Miss Dior - and she would smell delightfully fresh and young but appropriate for one of her exalted social status.

(totally different fragrances for the Greer Garson/Laurence Olivier version...but that is for another day)

Great call on Lydia & Kitty. Can't see Mary wearing any perfume though! And might quibble with you later on Miss Dior for Georgiana. Still, you win the P&P perfuming prize, hands down.

And I love the Garson/Olivier movie but it is so un-Austenish that I think of it as a separate sort of thing entirely.

Totally agree! I never thought of P&P as a comedy but that is such a fun movie (God bless Dame Edna May Oliver). I can't even begin to figure out scents for that one!

What would you have Georgiana in?

Haha, that's hilarious and spot on.

Mamabear, can I tell you I love you? :D Thank you for knowing Austen so well!

You are too kind !! Thank you! I really enjoy your posts! Austen was my guilty pleasure in college but what's funny is I really didn't like P&P back then - I was more for Persuasion and the 'minor' works...then one day I stumbled across the Greer Garson version which, we all know, is 180 from Austen - but it's SO much fun...and I was hooked on P&P . I have a rough time with S&S since I so dearly want to smack Marianne Dashwood on nearly every page!LOL!

xo

Personally have no working braincells to give creative answers to poll, but wanted to wish you a burst of energy ... it's going to be 80 degrees in Seattle today, proof again that There Is A God ... hmmm, for some reason I want to see some Austen character in DelRae Debut. Now must pore over classics to choose which one. Like that's gonna happen. Have a suddenly energetic Friday, R! xoxo

Then God is in Seattle today -- it is nasty gray rainy cold here, most dispiriting for May, again. I think of Debut as a flanker to Diorissimo, you know? So I think Lizzie can have a bottle of that on her dressing table too, maybe?

Excellent. It Has Been Assigned to an Austen Character. With Zero Work On My Part. ♥ xoxo

Zero work is the best kind! Have a great weekend M!

Hooray for Jane Austen! Elizabeth Bennet is wonderful, of course, and I picture her in Caron Fleurs de Rocaille, but my heart belongs to Anne Elliot, the heroine of Persuasion. She would wear Apres L'Ondee.

Oh, and I didn't see any of the new Austen Masterpiece theatre adaptations, but the film version of Persuasion with Amanda Root in the lead role is one of my favorite films ever.

What? I totally missed this, and I'm usually a Masterpiece Theatre hound. I also love the Seseme Street riff where Cookie Monster (in ascot) hosts Monsterpiece theatre, with a tray of cookie on the sidetable which he scarfs before the intro is done. Hee! On their way from Netflix is the PBS adaptation of Jane Eyre with Toby Stephens as Mr. Rochester, yay! So it's not Jane but I'm told this respin is very good. I am also a sucker for Edith Wharton/Henry James respins. The Buccaneers, Room with a View, Angels fear to tread, Golden Bowl, The American, Portrait of a Lady ... you bring the horse-drawn carriage, I'll be there. Sorry, off-topic. I imagine Jane not wearing but smelling like "In the Library", which Existentialist has kindly sent me. Did you see "Becoming Jane"?

Are you kidding -- it was on all Spring! They were fun. And they're showing a nice Gaskell mini series w/ Judi Dench now, Cranford.

Did not watch Becoming Jane. I will eventually, but I know it is going to piss me off (I'm a priggish sort of Janeite and can only take so much fiddling w/ the real thing).

Oh, no, no, no...Elizabeth Bennet would wear Apres L'Ondee, without a doubt! :):) The more demure Jane would wear Diorissimo.

Hugs!

Elizabeth Bennet in Eau de Camille (she loves to walk so much!) and Jane in Verte Violette. Anne Elliot in Apres l'ondee, definitely. Emma? Maybe Joy?

Emma...Fracas!

Perfect!

Camille is an interesting choice -- wouldn't have thought of it, but very apt.

Funny how differently we see these scents -- Diorissimo is not demure to me at all, and Apres L'Ondee too sad for Lizzy! LOL -- hugs back though :-)

YES! As soon as I read the title of this poll, I thought of Diorissimo. I'm so glad someone else thinks on this Austonian wavelength.

Good, we are agreed :-)

I'm not a pure Austenophile, but I like her well enough.

I just imagine them all doused in orange flower water or the scent of lavender.

Needless to say, I'm a bit of a purist. None of this anachronistic Baz Luhrman-esque fragrance fantacizing for historical characters... haha, but I see you're all really having fun with it.

But this part I don't think Jane would mind! Anne Elliot kissing Captain Wentworth ON THE STREET she WOULD mind. HA :-)

Lizzy would have a cherished bottle of Apres l'ondee tucked away amongst her gloves. It would have been given her by some older female relative after a trip to Paris and would be the parfum in that charming "basket" bottle.

I must protest again that Apres L'Ondee is too melancholy! but perhaps I am outvoted.

I agree. Apres l'Ondee is for Anne Eliot, as Elizabeth said. Lizzy Bennet is just too spirited and sparkling (though Al'O is exquisite, I doubt anyone would call it sparkling - it's very reflective).

I'm rather fond of the Dashwood sisters. I'd put Elinor in Cristalle and Marianne in Anais Anais. That wretched sister-in-law of theirs wears Poison.

Oh, thank you for putting Elinor in Cristalle, that seems just right. Marianne can wear Anais Anais if she wants to. And we need something nice for Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman!) -- maybe some Guerlain Vetiver.

I can not help but imagine both Darcy and Elixabeth (or any character in a Jane Austen book) wearing scents from what is to me the most classic English perfume house - Penhaligons. No imported French perfume for these people!!!
Elizabeth Bennet would, in my imagination, wear Violetta - a lovely soliflore. (although it could be argued that Lily of the Valley would be her choice)
As for Darcy -- well the Blenheim Bouquet is so classically English ithat he could easily be wearing it - so very restrained and polite with a nice wood. Although Racquets would also be an interesting choice on him (particularly the Colin Firth version of Darcy)

I suppose that is more in the spirit of things. Can we put Darcy in Trumper's Eucris? Still too late for the times, but I like it and it links him to 007 (it was reportedly James Bond's favorite scent), which is also somehow fun.

Mr. Darcy gets Serge Lutens Borneo 1834. A good scent for that period in time.

Interesting choice, very dark!

Love it!! you all (esp. Robin and mamabear) have pretty much nailed this, except has anyone figured out Wickham yet? because I'm pretty sure he would wear Bandit, the scoundrel.

What about Mr. Bingley?

Mr. Darcy in M7...excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard....

Aha, Wickham = Axe body spray, no?

Mr. Bingley is a tough one. He will spend the rest of his life wearing whatever Jane buys for him, right? For now, Grey Flannel? Or Devin?

IMHO Lizzy Bennett would enjoy larking about wearing Ormonde Jayne's Frangipiani.

Yes! And Catherine of Northanger Abbey could wear OJ Osmanthus.

Gosh, I can't see Lizzie Bennet in anything girlish or elegant! She always strikes me as a passionate woman with a 'natural' sexy smell, the kind that would fascinate the men of the time. I'd imagine her smelling sweet and seductive, of something like Un Lys, or Stoned, or Fiori d'Ambre. Jane, on the other hand, just has to smell of roses. It'd be Stella, or Mille et Une Roses for her.

But Angel is perfect for Mrs. Bennet. Lydia will steal squirts of it all the time, and then eventually get her own bottle upon marriage, and Wickham will become more and more nauseated by it.

Mary will choose Mitsouko, because she's read the raves in The Guide. It will make her smell like an ancient library full of squashed grapes, which fits her nicely.

Mr. Darcy, being English, will be terrified of smelling foppish. On special occasions. he will tentatively dab on a fingertipful of Creed Green Irish Tweed, and spend the evening in misery that he smells like a tart's boudoir. However, because Lizzie has expressed a liking for Terre d'Hermes, he will spray it on with abandon every night before bed.

Mr. Bingley, on the other hand, is much more in touch with himself. He smells delightfully of Gaultier's Fleur du Male at all times, and occasionally he steals a bit of the Idole de Lubin that Lizzie, rather rashly, gave Jane as a Christmas present. Jane is pleased to see the stuff being used; she sprays it out of the window so that Lizzie won't be offended to see the juice level not going down. She's thinking of secretly buying Juliette has a Gun: Miss Charming, although she's rather shocked by the name.

Please stop me; I'll be at this all night!

LOL -- perfect, all around (except refuse to see Mr Darcy in Creed). But do love Jane spraying the Idole out the window, that is too, too apt.

Wow! Great analysis of the characters and their fragrances. I must say this has been a very fun Lazy Friday Poll! :)

Robin, I'm joining you in the harumph! and double-harumph! about the ending of Persuasion. Kissing in the street, indeed!

And I think you will enjoy "Becoming Jane." I was expecting to cringe through most of it, but I enjoyed it tremendously. It was such an opportunity for cheese, but it was very true to Austen's spirit.

Although Emma is not my favorite, I will pick Mr. Knightley as played by Jeremy Northam, in the movie version with Gwyneth Paltrow. He made my heart melt, my oh my. I would have him wear Guerlain Derby. Perfect for the country gentelman of taste and character.

Thank you, glad someone shares my distress. I did not like Mansfield Park either, with the waltz in the garden, although granted that MP always needs some spicing up. JN was the best Mr. Knightley, IMHO, and will agree w/ Derby.

elizabeth is too practical to wear a fussy perfume. i'm betting she smelled of lavender soap. at most she'd wear a single-note floral fragrance that didn't cost a fortune, since she has more practical things to spend her money on.

jane always struck me as a simple, romantic, slightly needy girl. she'd pick ralph lauren's romance, because it's mainstream and well-liked, and it's a safe bet. it's also slightly mature, which she wants to convey.

lydia smells like juicy couture, not because she likes it, but because she likes the trendy name and the bottle.

kitty wears anything jennifer lopez because it allows her to smell like a woman who gets a lot of attention. anything she wears will be loud and sweet, demanding to be noticed.

mrs. bennett will wear ysatis in excess.

LOL! All of them perfect -- esp Juicy Couture! But refuse to resign poor Lizzie to lavender soap, so will have Diorissimo given to her as a gift.

mr darcy and lizzie hands down! he would wear musc ravageur, because, come on, its mr darcy, and she would wear something rosy and pale. hmmmm... something by penhaligons definitely. ill have to think about that one.

HA, but he can't wear MR because I don't like MR! Will you settle for Vetiver Extraordinaire?

How wonderful - all these Austenites on NST! As a proud holder of a degree in English Literature, it does my heart (and mind) good to hear that Austen (and PBS) is still relevant. I'd love to chime in, but it's been a long day and I've had a vodkatini too many. I'll think on it and be back (probably after revisiting my Austen collection) with my own recommendations.

Thanks so much for providing wonderful fragrance-for-thought; I love this blog!

Austenites are everywhere! Hope it was a fun night of vodkatinis :-)

yeah ok, but MR is just so i dunno, raunchy! and mr darcy is HOT! i decided i want to put lizzie in en passant, so they can have matching black and red FM bottles on their dresser next to their cravats and whatnot

Of course you're right, and the matching bottles is a nice touch.

OH MY what a perfect poll! I have been a Jane Austen fan since middle school, and in love/lust with Colin Firth since his portrayal of Darcy. Sigh. M7 is an excellent choice for him, and I would also love to smell him wearing Epicea by Creed, Xeryus by Givenchy, or the new London by Burberry. Lizzie would wear something crisp, zingy, and classic like Cristalle by Chanel. Thanks for this post, Robin! Big fun. :)

I am much more interested in those romantic heroes.... I see Darcy in Caron Pour Un Homme, but Heathcliff is more of a Yatagan man. Charles Bovary is Mouchoir de Monsieur and Edward Rochester Habit Rouge I think. Victor Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll? Dia pour Homme and Bel Ami respectively.

Gosh, this is fertile territory - all those Dickens and Poe characters and those romantic poets cry out for perfume brothers!

Sante.

Those male picks are inspired - I especially love the thought of Heathcliff wearing Yatagan as it and he are so wonderfully feral!

For Lizzie I like the idea of Le Temps d'une Fete, or maybe even a tiny dab of Private Collection. I see her in a chypre or something a bit green - though nothing too wizened or spinsterish.

I love all the choices for Mrs Bennett - she would definitely wear elevator clearers, or something half way decent to excess.

I have mentioned this already to Robin back channel, but if one were to choose a single fragrance family to sum up these more cerebral authors like Austen, Eliot, Henry James et al, I would definitely go for "chypre"!

Le Temps d'une Fete -- good call! And agree on the chypre designation :-)

Sante, Heathcliff in Yatagan is perfect! Good fits for CB & ER too. Sadly I have never read either Frankenstein or Jekyll/Hyde.

CBG: Cristalle is a great pick for any Austen heroine, I do think -- good call. Can't believe it but I have never smelled Xeryus!

Oh, you all were having such fun yesterday while I worked so hard. May I join in late?
Elizabeth wears Leau d'Hadrien. She of wit and great strides has no patience with flowers, perferring lemon and sunshine. Or Lizzie wears Chergui, reminding her of forests and meadows, a bit iconoclastic like her.
Jane wears Songes, a melodic, melancholy floral.
Mrs. Bennet wears Shalimar, but always a bit too much. Her sister assures her that it is the best. She, for the life of her, cannot see what all the fuss is about.
Lydia steals her mother's Shalimar, believing it to make her ravishing. Really she prefers anything Britney.
Caroline wears Chanel No. 5. After all, she has exquisite if unadventurous taste.

I fervently hope that Mr. Darcy annoints his body, in the most private places, with Antaeus.

Hey, would not have thought of Hadrien either but that works, and can see Jane in Songes. Good calls all around!

They would all wear Laura Ashley No. 1 if they could #%^@*( get it. Light but sophisticated, it was as appropriate for high tea at the Plaza as for a picnic under the magnolias on the back forty. Sweet but ageless, as lovely as an eager freshman off to school for the first time or an 80-year-old maiden aunt making her frail but determined way to early Mass at St. Agnes. Flowery but not jejune, for a radiant new bride or a craggy field researcher of Hittite burial sites. Homey but worldly enough for a teenager adding to her Facebook entry or a vice president in charge of marketing. Poignant but joyful, evocative of finding a dusty old letter from a lost love or hearing the first lark in the springtime. It was Wall Street and Tennessee and the Cotswolds, first love and divorce, babies and grandmothers, dawn at the seashore and evenings at Carnegie Hall. By jingo, I miss it! I think Lizzie would have loved it. And they pulled it from the market before I had a chance to try its power on Colin Firth!

I never smelled it, but I can see that you DO miss it very much! Hope a bottle will drop from the heavens for you :-)

Excellent! Wherever there are fragrance fiends to be found, lit. and film hawks aren't far behind. Many of us are the same creatures ;D.

Lizzie - something unique and quirky, like "Mitsouko", "Luctor Et Emergo", "Coco", "Haute Couture" by Givenchy, Fendi "Palazzo", Chanel "Bois Des Isles" or "Cristalle". I think she'd be one of those that could pull off a fragrance with a story. Like many others, I also see her in a chypre because frankly, would she care if others didn't "get it"? She'd probably rather start a conversation over something like "what is that fascinating smell?" than settle for "you smell nice!".

Mr. Darcy- Creed! "Green Irish Tweed" or "Original Vetiver" all the way. Maybe "Ivy League" by Caraceni. And almond-sandlewood shave soap. Or something anciently prestigious and leathery. He'd have to smell like a man who'd been well groomed since in girl's clothes as a little boy; one who buys legacy brands because he doesn't want to have to think about it.

Jane - I think of Jane slightly differently than some people; I think of her as a reserved, elegant beauty who could pull off one of those ethereal scents that might be ridiculously exhausting on others. She could even wear something sunny and clean; I could "smell" her in something like "Spring Flower", "Rose De Siwa" Parfums MDCI, " Vera Wang", "Prada Infusion D'Iris" or "Unicorn Spell" by LesNez. With her marble angel appeal, lots of Iris, mineral and white flowers would define Jane.

Charlotte Lucas- Poor Charlotte. The practical and mildly unfortunate friend who stands as the reminder that many people had it much worse off than the Bennet crew. I'd smell something like "Inis", "Pleasures" or "Wisteria" by Crabtree & Evelyn on her. I'd imagine Charlotte would always smell soft, clean, presentable enough...and of affordable product.

Kitty - Kitty always seemed a little young for her age, so I'm not sure she would venture into anything that wasn't safe and fruity. Kitty would totally be the island-floral, fruity-flower girl. I'd imagine she'd wear "Kai", "Lea St. Barths", "Vera Wang Princess", "Clinque "Happy" or Ralph Lauren "Wild". Her head-in-the-clouds imagination and overt sensibility might lead her to believe that tropical places actually smell like that.

Lydia - Loud, center of attention frags. Some that are too big for her small years and naive perspective, but not quite polished enough for all older gals. Lydia would be the wearer of "Angel", as another said "Juicy Couture", "Miss Dior Cherie", "L" by Lolita Lempicka or "L.A.M.B". And, of course, the full Brittany Spears range but especially "Midnight Fantasy" because she'd think that would tease boys most.

Mary - Mary was totally the pre-intellectual angsty egg-head. She'd wear fragrances that would've seemed moody and cutting edge in high school; "Obsession", "Black Orchid" ,"Lolita Lempicka", Lulu Guiness "Cast a Spell" or even just regular pathcouli or amber head shop oil. She might've even been able to stretch her frustrated discontent around "L'Heure Bleue"...but maybe just to write that she was wearing it.

Mrs. Bennet, the mum - She'd probably share most of the same tastes as Lydia, since their dispositions were so similar. Could easily imagine "Juicy Couture" or "Angel" on her, although, she'd probably wear Chanel No.5 because she heard somewhere, a long time ago, that it was what the finest ladies wore. She'd might even wear an extra heavy does of "Opium" (to the not unpleased, but fainting crowds) when she was feeling extra sexy. If she was stretching for of-the-moment, it would be something loud and disconcerting, like "Vivara" by Pucci.

Mr. Bennet - Would pretend to not care, but secretly, I bet he'd have had very particular choices, much like his daughter Lizzie. He'd wear something like Versace "The Dreamer" on adventurous days but "John Varvatos Vintage" or the standby "Old Spice" or "Bay Rum" for everyday.

Mr. Wickham - Something intoxicating and provocative, but subtle enough to get away with "it". Young and hip--something that would seem original and exciting for about a year. "Deisel; Fuel for Life" perhaps. Kenneth Cole "Black" Or "Armani Code". Maybe even "Fleur Du Male" if he wanted ladies to think he was the sensitive type.

Mr. Bingley- Happy, fresh and bright! Something clean and preppy, like "Ralph Lauren Polo Blue" or Lacoste "Elegance".

Caroline Bingley - Wearing o' the name, something that she would've been told is the height of sophistication, therefore, a wardrobe necessity...though not necessarily a highly sophisticated or particularily cleverly developed scent (not to say that the following fragrances don't apply to either description). Prada, Gucci or Marc Jacobs. Maybe "Aqua Di Parma" because it's what everyone's supposed to get if they travel with the jet set to Italy. Something almost angular in impression---maybe "Eternity" or "L'eau D'Issay", if it wasn't beneath her to see any concentration of them in drug stores.

Georgiana Darcy - "Love in White" because her brother picked it out for her as a special gift. Georgiana would have the refined toiletries of a royal on her dresser. No "Fantasy" or "Pink Sugar" for her, as if she would even know either existed. "Nymphea" by Il Profumo might fit. "Eue Illuminee" by Parfums Del Rae, "Royal Water" by Creed, maybe even the Iris Nobile version of "Aqua Di Parma" or Violetta Di Parma because it's a classic violet scent of fancy courts.

Oh, my God--I had no idea that was so long! Got totally lost on this subject (really, you can delete this one--I didn't think it would be so long!).

Oh but it was so wonderful to read! Perfect. And you perfumed characters the rest of us ignored -- poor Charlotte indeed! And just LOVE Mr. Bennet in Versace The Dreamer, great call, and Georgiana in Violetta di Parma is wonderful.

You're a very nice hostess at a party, i.e. "Oh, no you didn't really drink THAT much, people liked the dance you did on the table. And don't worry about knocking over my grandmother's vase, it was part of matching pair so there's still one left!" Obviously enjoyed the bon-bon of a posting subject, though! I love the idea of imagining fragrance choices of characters---I'm sure everyone else here would agree with me; it's one of the things you think about while reading a story..."but what would they smell of in their time period or in ours?".

Nonsense, I really wasn't being kind at all -- I loved your comment! Will have to think of another widely read author that we can perfume.

I could totally see Darcy in Grey Flannel or Givenchy's Gentleman. For Lizzy, it'd be Diorissimo or Jessica Mclintock's signature scent.

Ah, Darcy in Grey Flannel! I think I gave that to Bingley above, but I can see it on Darcy too. And wouldn't Bingley wear whatever Darcy did?

I think she would wear a single note like Lily of the Valley from Crabtree and Evelyn. I think Mr. Darcy would wear something very simple like a citrusy cologne.

I can totally imagine Elizabeth Bennet in Diorissimo. Jane in Iris Poudre? or something else classical, sweet and with powdery notes