people use fragrance for different purposes, or encounter fragrance in different ways. here are a few ways of using fragrance i could think of:
-to be perceived in a certain way (sexy, clean, trendy, innocent, edgy, scary, intimidating, fashionable, a hippie)
-to perceive oneself in a certain way (see above)
-to trigger or express an emotion or physical sensation, in oneself or in others (comfort, calm, vigor, all the aromatherapy cliches you can think of)
-to express an idea or maybe an era ("the 50s" or "aldehydes", "the ubiquity of technology and manufactured objects", "riding", "fashion has replaced religion", "commercial fragrance is disgusting")
we get a lot of information from smells, and we try very hard to communicate things with fragrance. we're more or less successful.
a woman in my church congregation growing up used to probably dip herself in buckets of eternity. she could literally be smelled entering the chapel. this was a powerful message: "i am here, i am important, you all notice me. the room is mine. it doesn't matter what you think of me; we'll worry about that later. but my presence registers with each person in this large room."
so, if anyone is reading this, please answer this question (triggered by marcilyn's comment):
what do you want fragrance to do for you? why do you wear fragrance? please add to my tiny list of reasons people wear fragrance.