1000 Jean Patou 1972 Parfum

Bottle Design:
Louis Süe / Lutz Herrmann

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8.0 / 10 193 Ratings

A popular perfume by Jean Patou for women, released in 1972. The scent is floral-chypreartig. The longevity is above-average. It was last marketed by Designer Parfums.
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Main accords

Floral

Chypre

Spicy

Green

Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Osmanthus

Violet leaf

Bergamot

Heart Notes

Geranium

Jasmine

Lily of the valley Rose

Rose

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Sandalwood

Patchouli

Perfumer

Jean Kerléo

Ratings

Scent

8.0193 Ratings

Longevity

8.3139 Ratings

Sillage

7.8128 Ratings

Bottle

8.3137 Ratings

Value for money

7.218 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 07/29/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

1000 Eau de Toilette

1000 Eau de Parfum

1000 Parfum Solide

Joy Parfum

Roja

Ubar (2009)

Reviews

5 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/24/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Top Review 10

Exceptionally detailed composition

I've tried the EDP of 1000 a couple of times, and I always love the dark topnotes, but it's the EDT that I love from start to finish. There is a creaminess to the EDP that is less distinctive than the sharpness of the EDT. This keenness binds the florals and woods tightly. The layers, really more floral than woody at the start, are densely arranged, but evenly organized. Like the crisp pages of a brand new hardcover book the first time you thumb through it.

There's just enough civet, just enough indole. They don't take the lead, they modulate the tone of the florals. They're just present enough to add complexity while not standing out as identifiably discrete notes. From the opening through drydown, 1000 is utterly coherent, and despite others' characterizations of old-school, old lady perfumery, I find it mysterious. I think the, 'Is it a floral? Is it a chypre?' question 40 years later reflects its complexity and wonderfully baffling personality.

1000 is more upright than uptight, more toned than starched. Some perfumes shout, some whisper seductively. 1000 simply speaks very clearly and intends to be heard whether it is fully understood or not.

02/17/2013

5
Bottle 5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 7
Scent

Drseid
821 Reviews

Drseid

Very helpful Review 8

Kerleo's Most Successful Composition, But Is It His Best?...

*This is a review of the vintage edt.

1000 edt (vintage) opens with a boozy banana-like accord spiked with just a bit of orange citrus. In the early heart phase beginning only five minutes or so later the citrus disappears, but the banana-like fruit remains in a weakened state sans booze, now joined by very strong powdery iris that takes on the primary staring role through the entire heart phase. Supporting the iris and fruity accord is a persistent rose and jasmine floral tandem that join subdued oakmoss rising from the base, underpinning the overall accord. The fruity accord finally disappears in the late dry-down as a relatively dry sandalwood and amber tandem join the now fading iris and animalic musk to send off the scent. Projection is above average and longevity is very good at about 9-11 hours on skin.

1000 edt (vintage) is a very complex scent. The extremely strong boozy banana open reminds me very much of the same kind of accord in Ocean Rain by Mario Valentino, but unlike that one where it remains nearly throughout as the real star, in 1000 edt (vintage) the booze gives way rather quickly to the starring powdery iris that really drives the scent's development thereon out. There are so many ingredients in 1000 edt (vintage) that the paragraph above of the scent's development is really just a "survey" and far from the complete picture. It has a somewhat intentional uncomfortable feel that comes off as cold while still being quite skillfully crafted. I like 1000 edt (vintage), but the powdery iris that stars through most of its development is just a bit off-putting for my tastes. That said, the fragrance is definitely unisex and anyone can and should feel confident wearing it... Confident yes, but comfortable? That is the real question, as Kerleo leaves the wearer just a bit uncomfortable from start to finish without going too far. Great art for sure, but I think I'll stick to other creations for my Jean Kerleo fix, so to speak. The classic 1000 edt (vintage) gets a very good to excellent 3.5 to 4 star rating out of 5 and is recommended in particular to collectors.

11/05/2015

BrianBuchanan
351 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

Helpful Review 5

The floral print dress by Kerléo

When it first goes on, Mille has an unresolved feel - as though it's been made of many small pieces that don't quite fit. It's like a billowing Laura Ashley dress - which promotes surface pattern over structure - but the dress is crumpled and the pattern gone awry. A bit of wear smooths that out.

It's an apricot floral, with stand out notes of osmanthus, rose and iris. But it would be misleading to pin down a complex juice to a few simple accords. The other notable note is violet leaf, whose green and cucumber nuances give a delicate lift to this voluminous fruity floral.
This is anything but the fruity floral we find in modern juices however, Mille's fruitiness is like a rich liqueur that adds depth to the floral body.

The type of long formula at work here is radically out of style these days. What is - by modern standards - a lack of synthetics, results in a complicated surface at the expense of structure.
The advantage of this is, the components can change hue as they move.
The down side is, the surface obscures the base - and we can't see into the structure - making Mille difficult to read.

There's a wistful air to Mille, which captured the romanticism that running through the fashion world of 1972, but it's quite at odds with the chypre style to which it belongs.

Mille could have been the signature of Margot Leadbetter in the TV sitcom The Good Life (Good Neighbors) sharing her warm - yet defensive - middle class aspirations.

The petit bourgeois equivalent of Joy.

02/03/2012

10
Bottle 10
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 5
Scent

Lola82
361 Reviews

Lola82

Helpful Review 3

Jean Patou 1000

I think there's been a misconception
with the name 1000 meaning One Thousand
Flowers to me i'v dectect A heap of jasmine Patchouli orris root osmanthus
rose floating with green tea.
it's more of an earthy scent then elegance or urbane it also has an menthol scent collecting herbs for tea or Pharmasutical perposes like in chinese
medicine e.t.c it's a very organic scent.

07/29/2025

ClaireV
958 Reviews

ClaireV

1

RIP M. Kerléo - 1000 is his crowning achievement

Legend has it that it took Patou 10 years to make '1000' and a 1,000 attempts before being released, hence the name. Maybe by the time Jean Kerléo took his turn at it, "1000" was just sitting there, a big, bloated sack of expensive ingredients so ludicrously rich and complex that it was impossible to edit for clarity. Maybe the best he could do was give it a coherent beginning, middle, and end, i.e., a structure that held it all together. I also kind of like to think that some board member at Patou just said, F&*k it. Just release the damn thing already.

"1000" is a dry floral chypre, which doesn't really tell you anything these days. It boasts whole acreages of roses and jasmine from Grasse, as well as fields' worth of osmanthus in China that Patou allegedly had to buy in order to secure enough osmanthus for the formula. But far from being the orgasmic cornucopia of flowers you might expect, the effect here is muted and shady, as if all the flowers cancel each other out leaving only the sense of their richness rising to the surface like oil on water.

The one note that signs clearly, to my nose, is the violet leaf. Fresh and metallic, this shimmers so brightly in the top of the composition that I couldn't stop thinking about Fahrenheit and Cuir Pleine Fleur. Interspersed with starched-white-shirt aldehydes and a bitter, crushed-herbs effect (trampled artemisia?), the violet leaf opening is striking, and yes, completely out of step with the trends in modern perfumery.

In the heart, an orchestra of expensive flowers - rose, jasmine, powdery iris, osmanthus - raise their voice to the ceiling as one, but the effect remains soft, sottovoce. There is a vague hint of apricots and suede from the osmanthus, dusky soap from the iris, a thrilling flicker of indoles from the jasmine. But not one flower makes a break for it. Chanel No. 5 and Arpege strike me as much the same, a chorus of dark florals and powder and ambery fruits swirled together so that no one note is distinct.

A faint prickle of civet licks around the edges of the florals, spiking the composition with the warm glow of animal, like raw honey or stale saliva from licked skin. The tainted florals now merge with a golden, mossy drydown that features plenty of oakmoss, 70's style patchouli, labdanum, and Mysore sandalwood. Interestingly, the oakmoss adds depth and shade, but no bitterness. It's as if the herbal bitters and violet leaf had played enough of that role at the start.

The drydown is textured: creamy, but also earthy, mossy, woody, with enough lingering civet-licked florals for light relief. It's at this stage I can see the familiar relationship with the far sweeter and more single-minded floral of Joy, as well as with other dry woody chypres such as La Perla. I don't, however, see the connection to Mitsouko, as so many people seem to. I can see why people might find this a bit too much. It's overly complex and it's hilariously out of step with the times. Every time I wear it, I feel I should come equipped with a map, a pencil, and a Venn diagram just to try and figure out what's going on. It's not even me, in particular. But the more I wear it, the more I like it, especially if I stop scrutinizing it and just let its monumental effect wash over me. It's a question of letting my taste the time to adjust to a new shape, that's all.