The thought of wearing a men's fragrance repulses me. I wouldn't dream of doing it. I like a man to smell like soap and water. I only wear Estee from Estee Lauder, and I have for years.
— Socialite and fundraiser Pat Buckley, who passed away in April of this year, quoted in W Magazine (June 2007, p. 34). Thanks to Angela for the quote!
Well, I must say, as much as I am in favor, in theory, of wearing whatever smells good regardless of gender…and as much as I know that the whole idea of separate fragrances for men and women is a fairly recent phenomenon…I agree with Mrs. Buckley *completely*! I just never could stomach wearing a man's scent, for myself (though I know many women who do so, and well) To me, fragrance is the ultimate expression of my femininity…not that I always prefer traditional or ultra-feminine scents- quite the opposite! But I can't ever see myself splashing on a man's cologne. And very fitting that Pat Buckley wore Estee! Her style was the epitome of what those classic Lauder fragrances represented. Estee is one that I never loved as much as Private Collection, Azuree or Youth Dew, but maybe I'll have to revisit it.
I wear quite a few men's fragrances, but I don't know that I really see fragrance as an expression of my own personality or femininity in the way that most people do. I just like to smell something I like, and wearing it myself is the easiest way to accomplish that.
Agree that Estee seems like a perfect fit.
Mrs. Buckley wouldnt like being around me i'm afraid. I am a 40 year old straight man who very rarely wears mens scents. I dont like smelling like soap and water and i dont like the cologney vibe most mens scents have. I like smelling like flowers…LOL!!!!! I have 25 scents in my collection and only one is marketed to men and that one is Dior Homme. The rest are marketed to women. Like you Kiki, i've never been found of Estee. I absolutely LOVE P.C. (my scent of the day yesterday at work) Youth Dew and Azuree.
I agree with her (i.e., with the mens version of that comment).
I can't wear heavy florals and fragrances loaded with truckloads of aldehydes, amber, vanilla, musk, honey etc. especially during summers! I dont know how women do it :p
Discreet, yet perceptible and with ample depth for me all the way!
LOL — no, she would not appreciate your taste, apparently! Nor mine 🙂
I don't know how women do it either — I am always astonished by the strong, sweet fragrances some women are wearing in August.
I wear a mix of both men's, women's and unisex scents here. Lots of women's that border on the masculine side like Tabac Blond, Azuree, Mitsouko, etc…. I only smelled Estee only once. I can't remember what it smells like now. Oh well, I don't believe in pleasing others in what I wear anyway. I wear what I love for my own pleasure, that's the way it should be anyway. And everyone is entitled to a belief and opinion no matter if it's good, bad or indifferent.
I wear for my own pleasure too.
Same here. Some women's fragrances work well on men: I love Costume National's Scent Intense. But there are some I love (see L'Heure Bleu) but find hard to wear: just make me think of a “madame”. Sometimes, when I manage to disconnect these associations from the scent (e.g. by linking it to strong emotions I might have on a special day) I can wear it. I can't bear fruity notes like peach, though.
Scents develope so differently on different people's skin. And there are nowadays some men's which years ago would have been marketed as women's. Or if you look (smell) at some unisexs like Un Jardin sur le Nil…It's so fruity! With all the gender mainstreaming men's fragrances have generally become more neutral, natural, flowery (trends seem to be jasmine, neroli & cedar)…
Ok. My comment was from the opposite perspective… Does it make sense here?
At least she recognizes, most likely unconsciously, it is the “thought” of wearing a mans fragrance that she has issue with, rather than the actual fragrance itself. Pity when our thoughts dictate how we must live our lives 🙂
Sorry, how stupid. Why should it not make sense…
LOL — no worries, you made perfect sense.
And perfume does appear to be slowly returning, at least somewhat, to its original genderless status. Hard to imagine that PB would have appreciated Fleur du Male or Dior Homme, but still, there is something that I found sort of comfortingly old fashioned about her statement. And even I would prefer good old soap & water to many of the men's fragrances now on the market 🙂
If she wore nothing but Estee all her life, she may have had little idea of the range of men's fragrances out there, or how many women around her were wearing them. But heaven's knows my life would be much easier if I had one signature scent and didn't bother with anything else 🙂