A Travers la Voilette by Isabey c1925

À Travers la Voilette by Isabey, launched in 1925, is a perfume that carries its meaning in both name and mood. In French, À Travers la Voilette translates to "Through the Veil" and is pronounced roughly as "ah trah-VEHR lah vwah-LET." The name is sometimes mistakenly rendered as À Travers la Violette, confusing "veil" (voilette) with "violet" (violette), a plausible error given the popularity of violet-based fragrances in the early 20th century. However, the true name conjures something far more poetic and evocative—a moment of intimacy glimpsed through fine netting, the hazy mystery of a woman behind her veil, inviting intrigue yet guarding secrets.

Isabey likely drew inspiration from Guerlain’s La Voilette de Madame "Madam's Veil" (1901), another perfume that explored femininity as seen through delicate barriers. Veils in the 1920s were deeply symbolic—part fashion, part modesty, part mystique. A woman behind a veil was both protected and alluring, observed but not fully revealed. Naming a perfume À Travers la Voilette was an invitation to explore softness, secrecy, and refined sensuality, all translated into scent.

The perfume was introduced during the height of the Art Deco era, a period defined by elegance, modernity, and a fascination with both ornament and restraint. The mid-1920s were marked by postwar optimism and the rise of a new kind of woman—independent, fashionable, and unafraid to express herself. Fashions had shifted from the corseted silhouettes of the past to dropped waists and straight lines, with bold accessories and bobbed hair. Powdery makeup was fashionable, and a pale face framed in dark kohl and crimson lips became a visual ideal. In this cultural context, À Travers la Voilette would have resonated with the modern woman who embraced sophistication with a trace of nostalgic femininity.

Interpreting the scent of À Travers la Voilette through its name, one imagines a composition soft-focused and refined—nothing loud or sharp, but a gentle, powdery floral bouquet softened by iris, violet, and heliotrope, underpinned by musks and pale woods. It would evoke not a single bloom but rather the impression of flowers viewed through gauze—blurred, romantic, and lingering. This kind of perfume would not shout its presence but instead unfold slowly on the skin, like whispered words or a sidelong glance.

In the landscape of 1920s perfumery, À Travers la Voilette fit within a broader trend of soft florals and powdery accords. These compositions often evoked femininity through subtle textures rather than dramatic statements. However, Isabey’s version distinguished itself through its emotional framing—the idea of scent as something to be perceived through a veil, not directly. It wasn’t merely a floral or powdery scent; it was about the experience of perception, filtered and refined.

Women in the 1920s were embracing fragrance as a personal signature—no longer solely to attract or impress, but as an extension of identity. A perfume like À Travers la Voilette offered a cultivated allure: elegant, whispered rather than declared, designed for close encounters rather than grand entrances. It captured the era’s tension between modern liberation and the romantic nostalgia for bygone rituals—where even the act of scenting oneself could be as discreet and exquisite as lifting a veil.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? A Travers la Voilette by Isabey is classified as a soft, powdery floral fragrance for women.

• Top notes: aldehydes C-6, C-9, C-10, Calabrian bergamot, Italian neroli, linalool, Paraguayan petitgrain, Algerian narcissus, Jordanian almond, Grasse acacia
• Middle notes: hawthorn, Tuscan violet, Iralia, methyl ionone, iris absolute, Florentine orris butter, Comoros ylang ylang, Alpine lily of the valley, Riviera jasmine, Tunisian orange blossom, Bulgarian rose, Indian carnation, eugenol
• Base notes: Peruvian heliotrope, piperonal, Mysore sandalwood, Tibetan musk, musk ketone, Tyrolean oakmoss, Java vetiver, Venezuelan tonka bean, coumarin, ambergris, civet, Mexican vanilla, vanillin, Maltese labdanum, Sumatran styrax, Siam benzoin

 

Scent Profile:

A Travers la Voilette by Isabey unfurls like a whisper of silk across the skin—delicate, luminous, and quietly captivating. The fragrance begins with a sparkling aldehydic haze—a shimmering blend of C‑6, C‑9, and C‑10—that lifts the soul with its clean, dewy freshness. This early brilliance is perfumed with the brightness of Calabrian bergamot, grown in Italy’s sun-drenched south and prized for its sweet-tart nuance, and Italian neroli, its floral green cousin, whose airy petals flutter with elegance. Complementing them, linalool adds a soft lavender-like sweetness, while Paraguayan petitgrain weaves a fresh, bittersweet tang of green foliage. Algerian narcissus contributes a gentle, honeyed floral richness, while Jordanian almond brings a tender, marzipan-like warmth. Grasse acacia then drapes the opening in delicate yellow blooms, evoking sun-dappled innocence.

As the scent deepens, the bouquet evolves into a garden of powdered florals: hawthorn blossoms lend a clean, tea-like brightness; Tuscan violet, enriched with iraline and methyl ionone, adds a soft, airy powderiness that feels both sweet and green. A violet-soft suede feel. Iris absolute and Florentine orris butter, derived from aged Tuscan rhizomes, deepen the heart with iris’s creamy, rooty elegance. Around this suede core blooms Comorian ylang-ylang, its tropical sweetness weaving with Alpine lily of the valley, Riviera jasmine, Tunisian orange blossom, and Bulgarian rose, each floral lifted by an airy breeze. Indian carnation, amplified by warm eugenol, injects a spicy heart-beat—like gentle ballroom pulses behind the softer florals.

The dry-down, like velvet falling, is a warm blend of softness and subtle sensuality. Peruvian heliotrope and piperonal (a key aroma chemical) add a comforting almond-vanilla powder laundry sheen. Mysore sandalwood, with its milky creaminess, melds with Tibetan musk and smooth musk ketone, creating a silken skin warmth. Tyrolean oakmoss brings a refined earthiness, anchored by Java vetiver’s dry, grassy clarity. Supporting them are Venezuelan tonka bean and coumarin, sprinkling warm, hay-like sweetness, while Mexican vanilla and vanillin bring depth and gourmand nuance. The rich resinous base is built with Maltese labdanum, Sumatran styrax, and Siam benzoin, all adding golden resin warmth, while ambergris lends a subtle marine-skin umami, and a discreet whisper of civet adds primal allure—the gentlest pulse of animalic affirmation.

Overall, A Travers la Voilette evokes the sensation of scenting oneself behind a light veil: soft, intimate, and profoundly feminine. It is a powdery garden in full bloom, layered with luxurious woods, resins, and musks. Each ingredient—from the sunlit citrus of Calabria, the violet fields of Tuscany, to the redolent resins of Southeast Asia—has been woven to create an olfactory veil: ethereal, refined, and ever-so-slightly mysterious.

Bottles:

Lalique Bottle:

The name À Travers la Voilette—French for “Through the Veil”—perfectly captures the delicate, poetic spirit of this perfume by Isabey, launched in 1925. The title evokes an image at once mysterious and tender: the moment a woman peers out from behind her veil, eyes lowered, with a trace of scent lingering in the air. This motif of obscured beauty—feminine, reserved, and alluring—was echoed not only in the fragrance itself, but in its entire presentation. The perfume bottle and box became an extension of the narrative, visually communicating the soft, sensual theme of concealment and revelation.

The flacon designed for À Travers la Voilette is a work of art in its own right. Originally conceived in 1911 by the master glassmaker René Lalique for François Coty, the square crystal bottle with its low, button-shaped stopper was later reimagined for Isabey with Coty's full blessing—he and Lalique were close collaborators and friends. The stopper, molded with delicate flowers, became a hallmark of quiet luxury. For this Isabey edition, the bottle was further adorned by the hand of Alix Aymé, a gifted French artist known for her lacquer work and serene portraiture. Aymé’s enamel decoration—a simple stenciled motif of flowers and leaves in gold and black, arranged toward the bottom of the flacon—transforms the bottle into a soft-spoken yet exquisite object. Another variation exists, equally arresting, in which stylized black enamel “scales” with dotted gold detailing recall the pattern of a sheer veil, reinforcing the central poetic conceit.

Aymé’s aesthetic sensitivity was informed by her modernist training and her association with the Nabis painter Maurice Denis. Her delicate decorative hand lent the bottle a quiet femininity, one that was harmonious with the perfume’s powdered, floral soul. Born in Marseille in 1894, Alix Aymé’s contributions to French art and design were subtle but significant, and examples of her work are held today in the collection of Johns Hopkins University. It’s highly probable that both decorative versions of this bottle—especially those with painted motifs that mirror the packaging—were touched by Aymé’s artistry.

The box itself echoed this dreamlike refinement. Lustrous and finished to resemble lacquer, the box was printed with metallic ink to depict a woman seen through a delicate veil, her face partially hidden, inhaling a bouquet of flowers. The veil was rendered as a subtle, patterned screen, allowing the raised floral embossing beneath to shimmer through—suggesting a metaphor for the perfume itself: layered, nuanced, and felt rather than fully seen. This packaging elevated the entire experience of À Travers la Voilette to something intimate and theatrical, as if the perfume were a whispered secret between a woman and the mirror.

Together, the name, the scent, the Lalique flacon, and Aymé’s decoration made À Travers la Voilette not just a fragrance, but a multisensory narrative—an homage to feminine mystique, and an exquisite artifact of 1920s French perfumery and design.

Viard Bottle:

This exquisite perfume bottle, designed by the celebrated French glass artist Julien Viard, was used for Isabey’s A Travers la Voilette, launched in 1925. Note: this bottle was used for other Isabey perfumes. The flacon is a superb example of early 20th-century perfume bottle design, created in pressed glass, molded into a cubic rectangular form with a gently flared belly. Measuring 9.5 cm in height, the bottle’s architecture is both sculptural and graceful—its elegant silhouette softened by the romantic detailing along its upper half. These reserves of molded florets, lightly patinated in a soft gray, introduce a sense of refined delicacy and quiet ornamentation. The motif is mirrored on the wide glass cabochon stopper, tying the entire presentation together with visual harmony. Though unsigned, the model is unmistakably Viard’s—a synthesis of classical restraint and Art Deco elegance, with subtle nods to historical lacework and metal repoussé.

The clear crystal body allows the eye to appreciate both the perfume within and the exquisite craftsmanship of its container. The combination of Viard’s architectural sensitivity and Isabey’s penchant for poetic presentation results in a bottle that is not merely a vessel for scent, but a decorative object in its own right—one that evokes the softness of a woman’s veil, a filtered glimpse into private beauty, and the ephemeral nature of perfume itself.

 

Fate of the Fragrance:

A Travers la Voilette by Isabey was eventually discontinued, though the exact date remains unknown. Archival evidence confirms that it was still being sold as late as 1929, suggesting that the fragrance enjoyed a respectable life on the market well into the latter part of the Roaring Twenties. Its continued availability during that period speaks to its popularity among women of the time, who were drawn to its soft, powdery floral character and its poetic presentation. While it ultimately vanished from the shelves—as so many early 20th-century perfumes did—its artistry, both in composition and in presentation, endures as a testament to Isabey’s refined aesthetic and the golden era of French perfumery. The perfume’s quiet disappearance only adds to its mystique, leaving behind whispers of violet powder, aldehydic sparkle, and floral softness suspended in time, like a memory glimpsed through a veil.