It isn't everyday you meet a man who brags about wearing Chanel No. 5. Neil Morris is a Boston perfume-maker who delights in getting noticed for his own scents but who is a big fan of the classics. "I love it when people compliment me on the scent, and I can tell them it's Chanel No. 5." Like a lot of perfume experts, he understands that the dividing line between men's and women's perfumes is largely fictitious. In his own perfume line (http://www.neilmorrisfragrances.com) he labels his products "shared scents," suitable for both men and women.

While this all sounds very avant-garde and cutting-edge, it's really just the opposite. Back in Europe's early perfume heyday (in the 18th century), there was no notion at all that any scent might be reserved or more appropriate for one gender rather than another. The most powerful men wore perfume back then, including kings, dukes, and generals. These were mostly heterosexuals and they wore perfume at some of their most solemn official occasions.

The dividing line for perfume back then was based more on social class and economic buying power: the rich and famous smelled better than the poor and downtrodden. Among those who could afford perfume, there were no masculine versus feminine fragrances.

You can still see that in the world's oldest cologne, 4711 made in Cologne, Germany. This ancient concoction is still on the market and claims to be the product that gave lighter cologne its name. It's a citrus scent; mild and strangely contemporary despite the fact that it's been around for centuries. Although Europeans, in particular Germans, consider 4711 to be a bit old-fashioned, it is a gender-spanning fragrance. Men use it for aftershave, little old ladies dab it behind their ears, and American girls in Europe spray it in their hair.

The notion of fragrances for gender gained traction in the early 20th century as perfume and fashion, in lockstep, ceased being the private reserve of the privileged few and became at least accessible to the middle classes. This is, not coincidentally, around the time that modern advertising started influencing consumer choices. As new fragrances came to market in the 1920s, advertisers identified women as the target demographic rather than men.

Coco Chanel marketed both her fashion line and her signature fragrance to females. This was no different than other (but perhaps less well known) perfumes of the era were doing. Think of Joy by Jean Patou, My Sin by Lanvin, Nuit de Noel by Caron, or even the Emeraude and Muguet de Bois from Coty.

Fragrance was promoted mostly by fashion enterprises and the fashion world targeted female customers. While there is nothing inherently masculine or feminine about products like sunglasses or watches or clothing, Chanel and other big couturiers quickly spun out a line of products exclusively for females. Perfume just went along for the ride.

These fragrances were largely cast in very feminine and elaborate containers, designed to fit well on the dressing table of a chic woman. Chanel used the clean simplistic lines of the No. 5 bottle to pay homage to the classic, un-frilled female (which mirrors her approach to clothing design). So whether the bottle was bejeweled or colored (like the glorious cobalt blue bottle of Evening in Paris) or clean-lined, the bottle was also part of the appeal to the modern woman.

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