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The decadence of modern culture continues with the legendary perfume house Givenchy releasing a new scent clearly named after Elizabeth Short, the murdered and mutilated California woman who became known as the Black Dahlia. She got her moniker through malicious gossip in Hollywood, where the legend is that she wore a signiature black suit to attract men as a prostitute. She went to California to try her luck in acting while doing all kinds of odd jobs from modelling to waitressing. Some of the men she attracted, including a string of boyfriends, became suspects in her murder.
The perfume itself, called Dahlia Noir in French, is a weak concoction of rose, sandalwood and vanilla, which sounds good, but doesn't live up to expectations. The ad for the perfume features an emaciated model, hardly an Elizabeth Short. The banal square bottle is even worse. It is as though some force wouldn't let Givenchy glamorize evil, and the perfume designers were stunted in their efforts to bottle the sordid story of Elizabeth Short.
I've blogged about the spiral toward evil that modern culture is taking. Givenchy is simply following those signs.