Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/61757
You, EvEn BEttEr wear it 9 to 5 IS THERE A SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS? LOCAL EXPERTS WEIGH IN. by beaTrice aidin t he idea of employees being stopped at the door because they've doused themselves in No. 5 or getting fired because of a devo- tion to Angel may seem far-fetched. But January, perfume prohibition took on a new momentum when New Hampshire State Representative Michele Peckham sponsored a bill to ban state employees from wearing scent to work. "It came about because I received a letter from a constituent who had a seizure she believed was caused by the fragrance worn by a state employee," says Peckham. "I did a lot of research and I thought it was a valid point." No action has been enforced as yet; the bill was killed in committee. But scent is no stranger to con- troversy. Back in the '80s, Giorgio Beverly Hills was famously banned in several LA restaurants for being as obnoxious as the sizes of the shoulder pads worn by the clientele. "The trail for Giorgio not only went ahead of you," says perfumer Stephen J. Nilsen, "it opened the door for you." But with perfume being a $3.1 billion-a-year industry in the US the fact remains: We are wed- ded to our scents. So should we be told when and where we are allowed to wear them? "I think the idea of banning perfume is silly— soon people won't even be allowed to wear perfume to the theater," laments French per- fumer Francis Kurkdjian, whose best-selling counter in the US is at Neiman Marcus in Chicago. "If you have that one person who is allergic, I don't see why you can't find an agree- ment within the office." 94 michiganavemag.com in Of course no one should be asked to compro- mise his or her health to earn a living. But consider this: Research has shown that some fra- grances can significantly enhance performance in the workplace—floral and jasmine scents can increase reaction times by nearly 20 percent; peppermint amps up working memory; and finding out the opposition's choice of ice cream flavor could help you steer them in your favor (but more on that later). "People perceive you are as you smell, and this goes for the workplace too," says Dr. Alan R. Hirsch from The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. "The influ- ence of odors on mood has been well researched, with pleasant ones inducing feelings of happi- ness, and unpleasant smells evoking anger and fear. But we found in a study using baseball play- ers as the subjects that reaction times increased by 17 percent when jasmine was introduced into their performance. And this translates into the office environment too." continued on page 96 Who's Wearing What? Three of our favorite chicagoans divulge their signature scents. She means business: The signature scent of no-nonsense city treasurer Stephanie Neely is Coco by Chanel. To the extreme: Entrepreneur Bill Rancic recently discovered Tom Ford Extreme. "I'm not a big cologne guy but there's just something about this scent that I really like." The finishing touch: Interior designer Elizabeth Najda prefers perfumes that also inspire creativity—Acqua di Parma's icy Blu Mediterraneo is her go-to scent. phoTography by david hamsley. fragrances, clockwise from Top: annick goutal nuiT éToilée; roberto cavalli roberTo cavalli; ralph lauren big pony collecTion #1; guerlain lys soleia aqua allegoria; penhaligon's bluebell eau de ToileTTe; david yurman eau de parfum; chanel coco de chanel; jo malone plum blossom; balenciaga l'essence; prada infusion d'iris eau de parfum absolue; burberry briT; dior j'adore dior