Individual Atmospheres

Abstract

The eighteenth century witnessed a number of changes in attitudes to the making and wearing of perfume. Growing unease about perfume’s ability to disguise medical or social disabilities contributed to an attack on its artificiality. The use of strong perfumes was increasingly condemned—not because of their animal ingredients or a fear that they were unhealthy, but because they were an intrusive affront to codes of politeness and mitigated against the ability get along in increasingly anonymous, tightly packed, social spaces. A case study of the eighteenth century’s ultimate perfume addict—the Macaroni—and the pleasure gardens in which he roamed, demonstrates the degree to which perfumery could be construed as an atmospheric aggression against new codes of privacy in public.