The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Zig Zag arrived in 1949, named for movement itself, the pattern of deliberate turns rather than a straight line to anywhere. The name may reference the Zsa Zsa Gabor connection, with sources suggesting this could be the first celebrity perfume, but the fragrance was Dana's own composition. The structure itself became the concept, six top notes working in sequence, none of them dominating. The herbal-tarragon opening carries a sharp, green bite that cuts through before the citrus arrives to soften it. Bergamot and bitter orange enter mid-sequence, bringing a crisp, slightly bitter brightness that tempers the herbal intensity.
The orris root is doing something quietly interesting here. In 1949 perfumery, orris was often a quiet amplifier, a powdery, violet-adjacent note that lifted florals without announcing itself. In Zig Zag, paired against patchouli, it creates an unexpected tension: the earthy, sometimes medicinal quality of orris against patchouli's dark, mushroomy depth. Together they form a base that feels distinctly vintage, waxy and old-fashioned in a way that suggests real character rather than mere imitation. The reissue in 1999 kept this intact, which is rare.
The evolution
The opening hits sharp and green, tarragon and basil arrive before the citrus has finished introducing itself. The bergamot cuts through the herbal tangle like a flashlight beam. Then, thirty minutes in, a cool wave: jasmine and lily of the valley settling over everything like a white cloth on a warm table. The herbs don't disappear, they recede, becoming a background texture rather than the foreground. By the second hour, patchouli and orris take over, and the fragrance shifts again: earthier, waxier, the base notes creating a waxy, vintage character that feels like it belongs to an earlier era. On fabric, it lingers into the next day, faint, dusty, a ghost of something green and floral that speaks to the original 1949 composition's enduring structure.
Cultural impact
Zig Zag first appeared in 1949, reissued in 1999. The fragrance may represent one of perfumery's quiet firsts, potentially the original celebrity fragrance, linked to Zsa Zsa Gabor's era. Its 1949 structure, heavy on herbal-aromatic notes, represented a different approach from what most other houses were doing at the time, emphasizing herbs and citrus in a way that felt distinctly sharper and greener.
