Evyan Perfumes is a perfume company founded by Dr. Walter Langendorff, and it took its name from his wife, Evelyn Diane Westfall.  Their first launch in the 1940s was White Shoulders, which became one of the best-selling perfumes in the United States, and it continues in production today.  In a time when French perfumes were in vogue and every American woman wanted a Chanel or Dior perfumed, Evyan used its American roots as a selling point, claiming that every bottle of White Shoulders was produced in the United States.  As it was the 1940s, during the War, at the end and after, Americans were quite patriotic and bought White Shoulders enthusiastically, even though it was priced, by some accounts, higher than other luxury perfumes - $3 a bottle instead of $1.  I know, you can laugh now as you shell out $100 for a bottle of anything.

White Shoulders was a big soft white sweet floral with notes of neroli, tuberose, aldehydes, gardenia, jasmine, orris, lily of the valley, rose, lilac, sandalwood, amber, musk, oakmoss, civet and benzoin.  It exudes femininity.  Evyan White Shoulders exudes happiness and, and the abundance of tropical white florals gets saved from being a tad overripe by the lily of the valley green notes.

If you are trying to date when your bottle was made, the original bottles were in the peach satin powder boxes.

Evyan made other perfumes, none as famous as White Shoulders – Most Precious in 1947 and Golden Shadows for about a minute in 1950, Great Lady in 1957, and many others that didn’t survive even a handful of vintage bottles floating around.  The company has now been bought by Elizabeth Arden.

Try a sample of Evyan White Shoulders in the vintage formulation to experience a post-war perfume that was made for happiness, a celebration of femininity.