The premise of power perfumes in the eighties was intertwined with that of power dressing—they were a way for women to claim their space, portray their monetary success and show those around them they meant business. [...] But in 2024, the very definition of power has changed for a huge number of women—many are wanting to embrace the power of understated brilliance.
The power perfumes of 2024 aren't Armani power shoulders, they are beautifully cut Calvin Klein suits. They are clean-smelling, crisp and fresh, but they are also complex, commanding of attention and ooze expense.
— Read more in The power perfumes of 2024 don't scream, they whisper—these 7 scents know how to command a room at Marie Claire UK.
This article presents an account of changes in taste that are so bizarre as to sound incomprehensible and incoherent to me. The smell of “immaculately clean blue jeans fresh from the dryer”? Is that a smell? Or a “hard-hitting dose of pure cleanliness”? What’s the deal with all this clean obsession?
Having said that, I’ll make two other points.
(1) I’m dying to try the New Look scent partly because it just sounds so good and I adore other things by Kurkdjian.
(2) Those 80’s scents were really something else! We had a V-P at my university who sort of took me under her wing, and she was an extremely colorful and utterly Texas woman. She had BIG HAIR, very black and curly, and wore fancy red suits with tops that showed a lot of cleavage, was smart and sassy, LOUD, and always absolutely drenched in Giorgio. She was a hoot and I love thinking back to those times! We had a conference visit to NYC once and she strutted her Texas rich woman act all around there and definitely made an impression (of some sort!).
Yes it’s a smell for most people…the smell of the synthetic musks in their laundry detergent and dryer sheets 🙂
The clean obsession is not new at all, but the idea that clean is now “power” is not something I can quite buy into. I think she is equating the idea of smelling wealthy with the idea of smelling powerful, not the same thing in the 80s and not the same thing now.
Actually Giorgio is a good case in point. 100% a power perfume, but I never smelled Giorgio and thought wow, that person must be rich!