06/19/2014

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd
Helpful Review
5
vintage?
What does “vintage” mean in perfumery? It doesn’t have the same meaning as wine, where the noun ‘vintage’ refers to a specific year. We use ‘vintage’ as an adjective to connote quality and a timeframe. The time implied is somewhere in the past. Anywhere in the past, as long as it isn’t still current. The intimation, aside from connoisseurship is, is that the better/best version of a perfume is no longer made. The current model is defective.
One force that presses the issue is restriction/reformulation. The chypre genre has become vintage by extinction due to the restricted use of oakmoss. Any given chypre becomes vintage the day after the fatal reformulation. The coumarin that allows for the the fougère genre is restricted. Has the genre gone the way of the chypre? Obsolescence as a result of die back?
So is the fougère necessarily vintage?
Fuck if I know, but have you ever smelled Dior Jules? It's spectacular. It reminds me why I grew up loving the smell of Paco Rabanne pour Homme and easily fell in with Yves Saint Laurent Kouros as a young man. The fougère reaches out for you. It reminds you why the term inspiration carries multiple meanings. It is optimistic by nature.
Jules takes advantage of everything the genre offers. It is gregarious. It is broad. It is handsome. It hits the balance point between cleanliness and funk that makes you want to throw your arms around your fellow humans and smell them. It has the soapiness/muskiness balance that makes the genre so agile, but adds a bouquet garni and a smile.
So here's the question: does Jules still exist? I have a decant from a friend who bought it in Paris a few years ago. It's unavailable in the USA where I live. I believe it always has been. Is it "vintage"? Has it gone the way of the chypre and the passenger pigeon?
The chypre was bled to death over time. Is the same happening to the fougère?
One force that presses the issue is restriction/reformulation. The chypre genre has become vintage by extinction due to the restricted use of oakmoss. Any given chypre becomes vintage the day after the fatal reformulation. The coumarin that allows for the the fougère genre is restricted. Has the genre gone the way of the chypre? Obsolescence as a result of die back?
So is the fougère necessarily vintage?
Fuck if I know, but have you ever smelled Dior Jules? It's spectacular. It reminds me why I grew up loving the smell of Paco Rabanne pour Homme and easily fell in with Yves Saint Laurent Kouros as a young man. The fougère reaches out for you. It reminds you why the term inspiration carries multiple meanings. It is optimistic by nature.
Jules takes advantage of everything the genre offers. It is gregarious. It is broad. It is handsome. It hits the balance point between cleanliness and funk that makes you want to throw your arms around your fellow humans and smell them. It has the soapiness/muskiness balance that makes the genre so agile, but adds a bouquet garni and a smile.
So here's the question: does Jules still exist? I have a decant from a friend who bought it in Paris a few years ago. It's unavailable in the USA where I live. I believe it always has been. Is it "vintage"? Has it gone the way of the chypre and the passenger pigeon?
The chypre was bled to death over time. Is the same happening to the fougère?
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