Making Scents with Rosie and Harriet

Putting on the spritz! Inspired by extravagantly wrapped eau de parfum, best tucked in stockings and squirreled away under the Christmas tree, we’re delighted to reveal our festive new capsule collection: House of Tatty Devine.

 Dazzle in vintage perfume bottles, laser cut in shimmering mirror, marble and micro glitter acrylic to recreate our very own fictional fragrance. Each piece is designed in our Brick Lane studio before being brought to life by our talented team of dedicated fashionistas in Kent, available online and in store right now.

Join us as we explore evocative aromas, sample the inspiration behind the House of Tatty Devine and make scents with our Co-Founders, Creative Director Harriet Vine and Managing Director Rosie Wolfenden.

HI, ROSIE AND HARRIET! WE’RE DYING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THIS CAPSULE COLLECTION. WHAT FIRST DREW YOU TO FRAGRANCE?

H & R: We’ve always been obsessed with the Hyperreal! This combined with a love of the way vintage perfume bottles are faceted and therefore, 3D and just so tactile... We just had to find a way to make translate them into jewellery.

OK, WE’VE JUST MISTED OURSELVES WITH A LIBERAL DOSE FROM THE VINTAGE PERFUME BOTTLE PENDANT... WHAT DOES TATTY DEVINE SMELL LIKE? LET’S TAKE IT BACK TO THE START WITH THOSE ALL IMPORTANT BASE NOTES:

H: There’s a real nostalgia: my attic, old photo albums, my Mum’s old dressing up clothes… You’ve got to get some classic Yardley Violet and Lily of The Valley in there too, my nan’s scent of choice. Oh, and geraniums growing in a greenhouse.

R: There are floral notes from violets in the garden and Ventnor Botanic Gardens’ big Magnolia and Mimosa trees! I was brought up in a hotel on the Isle of Wight and so there are accents of herbs and nutmegs from the kitchen, with a hint of Sherbert Dib Dabs after school - maybe that’s why I love Sherbet series 5 Eau de Toilette! 

R & H: We both seemed to love concocting our own homemade ‘perfumes’ when we were little, usually with freshly picked lavender and rose petals. 

SO, WHICH BALANCING MEDIUM NOTES ENCAPSULATE TATTY DEVINE AND THE PAST 20 YEARS?

R & H: Well, we’ve been based on Brick Lane since 2000 and this area is just full of smells that take you back to a certain time: Brick Lane’s infamous mile of curry restaurants, the whiff of freshly cut grass from Allen Gardens when we worked from Buxton street, jasmine on a warm June evening whilst cycling around London. That distinctive tang of emulsion paint from re-painting our Brick Lane store walls white after exhibitions: we’ve hosted everything from zine libraries to album launches!

Photograph of Harriet and Rosie, Brick Lane, 2001 

They’re interspersed with sweet, directly contrasting tones like Palma Violet sweets, red lipstick and the really distinct wave of bubblegum scented joy upon opening a box of Melissa X Vivienne Westwood shoes! And stark notes of archival paper and freshly brewed coffee. 

Harriet's sketchbook, 2012.

BREAK OUT THE CONFETTI! 2019 MARKS 20 YEARS OF TATTY DEVINE, CAN YOU TELL US WHICH CELEBRATORY TOP NOTES ARE TURNING YOUR HEAD?

R & H: It has to be the smell of flicking through our freshly printed book Misshapes: The Making of Tatty Devine, it was a real labour of love and we just can’t stop looking at it. Our studio team now refer to it all the time as it features almost everything we’ve made since the very start. You can’t party without Red Velvet Cake… and homemade Battenberg Cake, it’s the law! Those freshly baked smells are inherently interwoven with the just-pulled party poppers and smoke machines.

A sequin heavy snap from our John Walters themed Christmas party, 2018. 

FROM CAROL SINGING TO WREATH MAKING, WHICH PIECE WILL YOU BE WORKING THIS CHRISTMAS?

H: Gotta be the Vintage Perfume Bottle Earrings!

R: The Vintage Perfume Bottle Brooch, the perfect piece to pair with my red and leopard print winter coat!

Thanks, Rosie and Harriet! Add a touch of Tatty Devine to your seasonal ensembles with our seriously covetable capsule collection: the House of Tatty Devine online and in store now!