Pleasure and panic. Stirrings and dis-ease. A bewildered teen. And the unexplained tingle of "Brut" by Fabergé! Proust had his madeleines; my adolescent "trigger" is the cheap, drugstore fragrance which permeated every Seventies eighth grade locker room. It was the Axe of the era. We boys were growing-up, each scaling a different rung of the "ladder of changes" we had been prepared to encounter. Some of us were galloping, some of us were ambling. And we were all crammed—like it or not—into the musty-wet school gym locker room after each mandatory PE class. Did I like it or hate it? Hmmmm. Complicated answer. On the whole, I hated it. I hated the class. I hated the Neanderthal insistence that PE meant (only) football in the Fall Semester and (only) basketball in the Spring Semester. Why not swimming, gymnastics, calisthenics, dance or (best of all) trampoline? And I hated the thuggish posturing of certain classmates as they mastered the unspoken rules which dictated one's placement on the Eighth Grade Social Pyramid. (A triangle which, by the way, would be inverted by the time these same boys reached their early twenties.) But even then (I am reluctant to admit), I perceived an inexplicable (and dangerous) intrigue inhabiting this perilous arena. It would take several years (a couple of decades) before I could understand this frightened little boy—who, even though he wanted to, would never think of raising his eyes to fully observe the mysterious details of the scene which surrounded him. But one need not raise one's eyes to smell the Fabergé! The potion, sprayed too-liberally on hot, sweaty bodies, became a signature of Seventies pre-manhood. Of course, most (nearly all) of the boys were spraying their crevices in an attempt to attract the girls (or, at the very least, not repel them). I suppose a panel of Seventies schoolgirls might recall their own memories—pleasant or offensive—as the wave of Fabergé choked their eighth grade classrooms.
The set of four double old fashioned rocks glasses bear the classic "Brut" logo. Black and platinum banding frames the trademark. Click on the photo above to learn more about these fun glasses.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248