Chanel No. 5 - Marilyn Monroe's Sleepwear

When asked in 1954 what she wore on bed at night, Marilyn Monroe answered, "Five drops of Chanel No. 5." In doing so, she became a poster girl for what is arguably the most famous perfume of 20th century. It was created by perfumer Ernest Beaux, who in 1921, presented Coco Chanel with two sets of five test fragrances numbered 1 to 5 and 20 to 24. Obviously, you would know which among those test fragrances was picked by Coco.

Besides the simplicity in its name, Chanel No.5 was also presented in a very simple square bottle with black and white label. That simplicity was Coco's aesthetic philosophy and it was considered an ingenious and revolutionary marketing during that time. Today, Chanel no 5 is still the top-selling perfume in the world, with one bottle being sold somewhere every 30 seconds.

Classic Chanel no.5 poster featuring Marilyn Monroe:

Modern ad featuring Nicole Kidman:


Chanel no.5 commercial featuring Nicole and Rodrigo Santoro: