On a cruise of Goodwill a few weeks ago, I made two scores: Amouage Gold for women in its Cristal bottle (no cap, though), and a bottle of Norell Eau de Cologne, each for $9.99. Sure, I was happy to take home the Amouage, but I was almost more excited to have an old bottle of Norell. For a vintage clothing lover like me, Norell is a holy grail of quality and simple but flattering construction.
I'd smelled Norell Eau de Toilette at the drugstore and been disappointed, but surely an older bottle would be different. This bottle looked so promising: a squared-off pillar with a collar of gold-toned metal, and Norell running down its side in block letters. The juice was a classy pale auburn. Would the fragrance itself hold up?
Norman Norell was born Norman Levinson in Noblesville, Indiana in 1900. Unlike many flash-in-the pan designers, Norell made his name in his youth designing costumes first for silent films, then for movies, then moved on to a career teaching fashion design and selling his work first under the label Traina Norell in the 1950s ("Traina" coming from the name of his business partner, Anthony Traina) then under his own label in the 1960s for a long, solid career.
Although now Norell's name is largely forgotten, back in the day he held his own with Dior and Givenchy. A 1964 article in Time magazine reported, "Outside the trade, not everyone has heard his name. For Norell is concerned with style, not the spotlight, and with grace, not gimmicks." But people with money and taste — especially slightly conservative taste — loved Norell. His clothes skimmed the trends, but relied on keen tailoring and a simple silhouette. Some of his famous clients included Lady Bird Johnson, Jackie Onassis, and Gloria Swanson.
According to Edwin Morris's Fragrance: The Story of Perfume from Cleopatra to Chanel, when Charles Revson was pondering Revlon's first fragrance, his wife, Lynn, a Norell devotee, convinced him to make it Norell. Norell was released in 1968 with fanfare at Bonwit Teller. It grossed a million dollars its first year, and triple that the next. Morris classifies it as a "grand perfume."1
Josephine Catapano was the nose behind Norell. She also made Guy Laroche Fidji, Shiseido Zen, and rumor has it may have even orchestrated Estée Lauder Youth Dew. Catapano reportedly said Norell was her favorite of all the fragrances she created. Jan Moran in Fabulous Fragrances calls Norell a "floral" and lists its top notes as greens, reseda, and galbanum; its heart as carnation, hyacinth, rose, and jasmine; its base as musk, iris, and sandalwood. Moran lists it in the "high range" price category.2
Norell quickly found a cherished place on many women's dressers. In fact, just as I was drafting the last paragraph, a friend called and asked what I was up to. When I told her I was writing a review of Norell, she said, "Oh! That was my mother's favorite perfume." I asked her what other perfumes her mother had, and she said, "Joy, a really pretty crystal bottle of L'Air du Temps, and all the Chanels, of course. But she liked Norell best."
Oh, how the mighty fall. Revlon sold Norell to Five Star Fragrances in 1999, and Norell was swept off the shelves of Neiman Marcus to end up at the five-and-dime. Its packaging took a turn for the cheap, too, and it lost its gold collar. In 2001, The New York Times ran an article praising Norell's class, touting it as a cult favorite that fancy women slummed to Kmart to buy. The 2001 Bombshell Manual of Style listed Norell as one of its bombshell favorites and described it as "all American, very polished, cool and glamorous but with something a little dangerous simmering underneath."3
I wish I could agree. I'd guess my bottle of Norell dates from the turn of the century. At first sniff, I get a retro, bracing snoot of galbanum and aldehydes with a dash of hyacinth. The fragrance quickly diffuses into a green carnation on a bed of soapy leather. At this stage the fragrance is rich with possibility. It could turn animalic. Or maybe some oak moss and patchouli would kick in and give a green chypre with leather, like Chanel No. 19 without the iris. Or, maybe its floral heart would grow to give it a summery body. I smelled the potential of something truly wonderful.
Instead, within 20 minutes the fragrance flattens into soapy, vaguely rosy hairspray. Within 45 minutes it's gone completely. I tried everything to get to the heart of Norell I knew had to be there: I coated my arm in five sprays, snuck up on the fragrance an hour after applying it, and sprayed it on a sweater. After Norell led me to the edge of something great, all I got was flat, chemical soap then a disappearing act.
In the end, today's Norell is a tease. I have to believe Norell was different in 1970, and I do smell a shadow of its magnificence in my bottle. In the meantime, I'll be scouring the thrift stores, looking for the mythic Norell in another, older bottle.
Note: image via Parfum de Pub.
1. Edwin T. Morris, Fragrance: The Story of Perfume from Cleopatra to Chanel (Scribners, New York, 1984), pp 220-221.
2. Jan Moran, Fabulous Fragrances: How to Select Your Perfume Wardrobe (Crescent House Publishing, 1994), p 172.
3. Lauren Stover, The Bombshell Manual of Style (Hyperion, New York, 2001), p 57.
Ok I’m still trying not to pass out that you got a BOTTLE OF AMOUAGE AT GOODWILL.
*starts breathing into paper sack*
I know! It was such an amazing score that I fear I won’t find anything but half-used bottles of White Diamonds from here on out.
And Jean Nate and half-empty Avon figural bottles. Oh, and unending supplies of Cool Water Woman.
If my favorite Goodwill store had even the Jean Nate, I’d be so grateful. Instead, someone keeps donating unopened bottles of Karo Corn Syrup….
That’s weird! What, did a pecan pie factory go out of business?
LOL —a pecan pie factory!!!!! 😀
After reading about the Mariah Carey “Lollipop Bling” release, now I understand why the Karo Corn Syrup’s there. Someone working for Goodwill has decided (not illogically) that it is perfume.
And BBW leftovers. Exactly.
Yeah, me too. My jaw hit the floor. I was literally sitting at my desk with my mouth hanging wide open in shock!
You can imagine what I thought when I saw it. I flipped the bottle over to make sure it really was Amouage, then looked all around to see if it was some sort of Candid Camera deal.
I think Angela has good perfume karma-my jaw hit the floor hearing about the find from Goodwill. Simply amazing! I can’t complain, I have great luck shopping for vintage clothes in cosignment shops around town, but still……
One of my aunts wore Norell-and she was just the kind of woman who could pull it off. Strong-willed brunette with green eyes, who had a graduate degree, had travelled the world and spoke three languages. Norell just “fit” her to a tee.
You just make me want to try Norell even more!
I KNOW! My Goodwill store does not have anything like that!
It’s all about persistence. You’d be surprised!
My mother wore Norell, so I’ve been looking for it since the perfumista habit crept up on me, but like you I found that the current (FiveStar) version just hints at beauty, then disintegrates. If you ever find the real deal, I’d jump at a split!
I’ll keep an eye out and let you know!
What a generous offer, Angela. Thank you. You do seem to know a better-supplied class of thrift stores than I do.
I don’t know if my thrift stores are any better, but I can’t pass one by without stopping in.
hm, I have been pondering buying a bottle of Norell off ebay unsniffed, but I guess the bottles they sell aren’t the vintage ones so I’ll pass.
But the Amouage..well, well, well. What a find! 🙂
Norell can be had for a song at drugstores, but I think it might be worth waiting for a Revlon bottle, as you say. Yes, the Amouage was truly amazing! I’m still in shock.
As far as I can tell, most of the Norell on *bay is of the FiveStar version, so don’t bother. However, I also saw a bottle of “Norell II” (that’s Roman numeral 2) for sale– the juice or the bottle seemed to be red. Does anyone remember this one? I’d never heard of it, but it’s more likely to be of a good vintage than the regular Norell.
That’s a new one to me.
I know someone who has responded, whenever I get moony about Norell, with a question that goes along the lines of “but what about Norell Red? I know it existed…I know it….”
I’m passing this along to her. And yes, since Five Star didn’t pick that one up (as far as I recall from my research), that one should have more chance of being “vintage.” At least, closer to whatever the original formula was…IF it had more than one…
Norell Red? Another new one. I guess it makes sense it might have had flankers.
Hi, I’m new to this blog, but a friend recommended it for a mention of my holy grail, Norell Red. It’s not a modern flanker. It came about in, I would say, the early 70’s and it was beautiful. I think there was some rose in there, but it wasn’t Major Rose. None of the perfumistas I know had any recollection of it, and that includes everyone who posts to Perfume Posse, as well as Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, whom I corresponded with when I worked on their book. God, would I love to find a bottle of Red.
You’ve made it sound so alluring! I’ll definitely be looking for this elusive Norell Red.
Great review! I’ve been very curious about Norell, more so now that I know the same nose created Fidji, which is what my mother always wore (I can still see the bottle). When I have a fit of “I’ma hafta order a bottle of something unsniffed”, I always go for these older brands since they are usually very inexpensive.
I know that urge very well! I’ve actually been tempted to order Fidji on that very same principle.
I’ve bought a few bottles of Fidji parfum as well as Fidji bath products on *bay. All have been lovely.
Vintage Fidgi seems rare as hen’s teeth…but so worth it…I loved it when young, but it seemed to disappear a couple of decades ago and faded from my memory…but – voila – enter ‘bay and now I’m stocked up!
Resmelling it after full immersion in everything made me think what a brilliant thing it was; and unlike some of my oldies, I have no hesitation in wearing it out and about again; it straddles a line between old and new amazingly well. It seems to be the quintessential ‘drippy white floral’ as I have come to call those hot summer night perfumes now…but back in the day I treated it as an everyday work scent – !!!
You make Fidji sound wonderful! I’m glad you rediscovered it–even if you won’t be wearing it to the office (whew!).
Wow– I love Fidji AND I love white florals, but I’d never class Fidji in the latter group. To me, it’s definitely a green floral– dappled sun and shade. It’s easy to play it low-key and subtle; it’s not a diva. I stocked up on *bay too, and now like the edt for hot summer days and the parfum for any time, really. It’s easy to keep it professional. I live in a dry climate which tends to restrain most scents- still, I’d be surprised if Fidji blossomed into an overweening monster in humidity. But then, I’ve never lived in any humid climate. Could be many olfactory surprises in store!
I can tell I definitely will need to try some!
Angela, I think you’ve got us all collectively curious about the original now. I’m sure I either saw a bottle or heard my grandmother talk about it once upon a time. The original was probably one of those fragrances that was enhanced by cigarette smoke — my childhood in the 70s seemed to be lived in a haze of secondhand smoke (shudder… hard to imagine, isn’t it?).
It’s a shame it’s often not more easy to tell the vintage of fragrances before purchase!
Also, thanks for all the interesting historical research you did — I never knew Norell was a design house; it seems sad somehow that it’s all but forgotten. It’s interesting to Google some of the clothing images or look at some eb*y items.
I know I’m eager to try the original. I felt like I only got a hint of it!
Norell did the costumes for the Doris Day movie A Touch of Mink, if you want to see some of his work.
Goodness! I loved A Touch of Mink! Ms Day looked gorgeous in that “seduction” outfit at the hotel. Talk about the perfect little black dress!
My mother loved Norell and I bought her a large bottle of EdC back in the late ’70s at a local cosmetics discount store. I’ve no idea if she still has it. More likely was sold in a garage sale since they’d moved several times since then.
I have a mini bottle of what may be perfume sitting in a samples bag at home. It was part of a NM goodybag giveaway back in the late ’90s, so I guess it must have been pre-Five Star formulation. I never opened it – always too many other scents on-hand and I never thought to revisit the past. Maybe I should open it now….
I tried to watch Touch of Mink again, the night before I wrote this review, but the videotape of it had broken at my local video store and I ended up settling for something else. I’ll have to track it down.
Definitely trot out that Norell sample! I’d love to know what you think of it.
Hi Angela!
A follow-up about Norell… I tried out my little perfume from the late ’90s and wore it yesterday and today. It’s 1/8 oz and does say “perfume” on the box and the bottle.
The perfume is very reminiscent of the scent I knew as a teenager and bought for my mother. How closely it resembles the cologne from the 70’s is hard to say since I did not wear it personally, but all the major characteristics are there.
It has a soapy quality in the best (read expensive) sense of the word, and the spicy yet soft floral bouquet takes center stage after the initial aldehydic sparkles settle down. It’s soft and round, never sharp. There is a touch of “furri-ness” at the base, and the oakmoss is a gentle effect that supports rather than defines the structure like some of the bigger chypres of the ’80s.
I’m waring it side-by-side today with VC&A’s First (I have a perfume that pre-dates the new packaging) for comparison. The 2 are very different, but both are masterful creations of their time that have the big aldehydic opening and the opulent floral bouquets and very classic, elegant drydowns and one brings to mind the other. Just beautiful!
Thank you for the run down! It sounds positively wonderful, like a real Grand Perfume. Now I’m really eager to try it.
My mother was a non-smoker who loved Norell. . . but then, she did live in a cloud of my father’s smoke, as did I until I left for college.
That is the THRIFT SCORE OF THE CENTURY, I do declare.
It was a mighty fine score, I admit!
Fine, I’ll go dig up my vintage samples of Norell! I think I have vintage parfum and a couple others. I’ve only smelled the more recent iteration and was put off by the galbanum; then the whole thing falls apart.
Let me know what you think! It sounds like you had the exact same response I did to the new stuff.
I feel like you are always one step ahead of me at the thrift stores, getting all the good stuff. 🙂 You get Amouage… I get weird perfume from Iraq that smells like floral manure.
My memory is so hazy about Norell, but I remember that being one of many that my friend and I used to sneak from her mom. She also had Ciara, which I tried to buy out of nostalgia about ten years ago. I was horrified by it and ended up returning the bottle to the store. I haven’t smelled the current incarnation of Norell, but would probably have pretty much the same reaction. I wish they’d just discontinue things instead of cheapening them.
I agree. Some things are better to dream about rather than smell in their current, insipid forms.
hey kitty, you splitting that Iraq one???
(….kidding…)
My mother also wore Norell. It was the first non-French made perfume that she liked. It was a glorious scent. I have some vintage body lotion that I use from time to time that has thinned out but still smells fine, surprisingly. There was a fragrance by Borghese [I can’t remember the name of it, I think it was the first perfume they came out with] that had a similarity to Norell.
What do you think of the old Norell? What does it smell like to you?
Oh, I adore it. I’m terrible at describing fragrances, but I can tell you It’s a green spicy floral [there are many flowers listed, but to me it’s mainly about carnation, rose and some gardenia.] chypre. You know – an *authentic* chypre – the real deal. How can you go wrong with such a thing?
I kept hearing about Norell as a green chypre, but I couldn’t squeeze any chypre out of it! Maybe the real thing has more sass.
Oh absolutely – an old school chypre. I hope you can get your hands on some. If I get lucky, I would love to share with you – you would really appreciate it.
I’ll be on the lookout for it, too, then we can all try it.
Here’s to that… 🙂
oh yesssssss–it’s a chypre….I can tell: I am the Chypre Queen of the Universe…….
I wore it for a long time and then I suddenly couldn’t find it. I still look for it, but, frankly, I am a little afraid of eBay’s offerings. Maybe someday……
Norell must have lost some of its chypred goodness over the reformulations. I too love a good chypre!
Somewhere, a couple of my perfume peeps are laughing and saying “and what TOOK you so long to respond to Angela’s post/review?” Because it was Norell that sent me down the rabbit hole in the first place…and I have been a wee bit knackered for it since.
I have vintage edc, and newish parfum (” “) and edt, and older-ish perfume. And a couple of garage sale edc’s that I’m pretty sure are the worse for wear. This one has been hard to chase down, searching for the smell that I remember from my grandmother. I appreciate, in a way, that your experience was disappointing, because it helps me keep my torch lit in the search for The Real Deal when it comes to Norell.
Since I get along with galbanum, I don’t have March’s reaction to the newish iteration opening…I just sit there waiting for “the rest,” which never comes. I’ve not scored so well at thrift stores, but I have gotten a couple of good online scores, so I’m not complaining. Life is good. But I sure would like the elusive “real” Norell…
Rats. Forgot to tell you that I enjoyed your post.
I did. 🙂
Thank you!
The Real Deal is out there somewhere. I won’t rest until I find it!
It’s sad that a lot of great frags that lose their “earning potential” end up being manufactured as cheaply as possible. 8-10 years really should not kill off any juice that is EDT or EDP dilution. I wonder if a new bottle of this would be in any better shape? My guess is no.
I did smell from a new drugstore bottle and didn’t find it any better.
It seems like sending a cheap reformulation to the drugstore shelf is a sure way to kill it off. I remember Chanels at the drugstore for a brief moment, but I can’t believe Chanel would have let the formulas suffer. In any case, soon they leapt back into department stores and boutiques.
Amouage at Goodwill?? You clearly did something right in a previous life, Angela! My mom and grandmother both loved Norell. I used to sneak sprays of it because it smelled so grown- up and glamorous and suggested things I didn’t understand at 12! I am rubbish at fragrance descriptions but I know now that it was a spicy green chypre. When my grandmother died last year, I found an empty bottle of vintage Norell in a sweater drawer and it smelled fabulous still. It also led me to discover a partial vintage bottle of Arpege! As an FYI the gold dress that Kristin Davis wore to the London SATC premiere was vintage Norell, wonder if she had the fragrance too?
Gosh, that old Norell sounds fantastic! I will google up Kristin Davis’s dress ASAP and have a look.
I hope I’m doing something right in this life!
Oh, but you are! Sharing all of your reviews and giving me something glorious and ‘just me’ to read when my two little girls are finally in bed is definitely something right. 🙂
Kiss those little girls for me and enjoy your evening!
O.K., here’s a link to the dress: http://tinyurl.com/2dwe6mb
Norell was one of the first perfumes I wore back in the late 70’s along with Charlie. Who can forget Charlie? Norell was my disco loving Native New Yorker woman fragrance back in the day. I betcha if I wore that now I would break in a bar of “Native New Yorker” fer schure!
Ah, the power of fragrance!
I rarely go into the Goodwill nearest my home, it’s usually my drop-off place. Now I’m rethinking. Just the thought of your ‘finds’ makes me want to take a look-see. Maybe some vintage Norell awaits… or better yet, Chanel or Guerlain. People do throw their treasures out so unwittingly and I’ve found many of them years ago. Especially art. But I’ve never looked at perfume — until now.
I think a lot of people overlook the perfume in a thrift shop. Sometimes they keep the perfume under a display counter, so be sure to check there.
Norell was my first “grown up” perfume way back in the dark ages. I loved my bottle and used every drop. But fickle as I am, I moved on to new perfume loves. I have re-tried Norell several times over the last 15 years or so, and never fail to be disappointed. Before I knew about reformulations, I kept asking myself, “What was I thinking to enjoy wearing this?”
I wonder if you tried a really old bottle if you’d see its beauty again? Or maybe your taste changed, and that was that. Still, it would be interesting to see what some 1975 Norell would do for you.
Swoon, love it!
Great post; I loved Norell back in the day too, and if I could be sure of the vintage I would get some on the ‘bay. I adore chypres of that style.
(But OMG, Amouage at Goodwill…the mind reels…..)
I feel confident there’s some old Norell out there if we keep our eyes open!
I have the Parfum from before the sale…I really like it, I’m not sure how old it is, 90s or 80s possibly, totally a smoky night out scent!
Sounds fabulous!
I have loved Norell a long time. I think it was also my first grown-up perfume. I wore that and Charlie and Jovan Musk. Thanks for the memories.
Your first grown up perfume–I bet a bunch of us could talk hours about that !
I don’t remember Norell as it was – the current stuff is just… thin… and sad. Even though I don’t have anything to compare it to, it *can’t* smell the way it ought to.
I notice that DSH has a “designer duplicate” version. Might have to try it – her version of Sortilege was so pretty. Here’s a link: https://www.dshperfumes.com/collections_eo.asp?id=14&iPage=2&page=17
“Thin” is a good description. Thanks for pointing out the dupe!
My mothers very favorite perfume – it smelled SO good on her too.
Try to find the parfum!
I will! That would be really nice.
I usually don’t have patience enough for second-hand stores. A mantra such as “Amouage Gold at Goodwill” may keep me going long enough to finally find something to brag about.
It does take patience and tolerance for pawing through other people’s stuff, but I enjoy it. You never know what you’ll find!
Amouage! for less than 10 bucks! how are we supposed to concentrate on anything elser?
lol
Well, if it helps, it didn’t have its cap and probably 20% of it was gone. But it was a heck of a deal!
Vintage Norell: I just love this stuff. It is a beautiful and timeless classic- I wore the original.
It is womanly, sexy, feminine, and just plain delicious at any time, or in any situation. A perfect blend
of true class and hidden mystery. Norell is an aristocrat that can do as she pleases. This
scent is for any woman who knows who she is- whether she’s in jeans and a tee shirt, at a wedding wearing
pearls, or in a sexy black nightie… (or all by yourself).. The confident woman will wear this perfume
and feel the magic. To me, there is no such thing as a “dated” scent. Please try this if you love perfume.
I just snagged 3 vintage bottles on Ebay (All toll, 6 whole ounces), and I am in perfume heaven. Oh
happiness and joy! An absolute must for my wardrobe
Great score! It sounds like you’re set up with Norell for a good many years now.