Ok, enough daydreaming, now refocus and get on with the numbers part. Oh no, no fragrance will help... The fact that I feel drawn to perfumes of the 50s is unrelated to having been born into that era. Some of these fragrances feel like aromatic wish fulfillment and/or projection: despite the tyranny of long-line brassières and girdles (or possibly in light of their existence) there has always been a subtext of suppressed eroticism, the controlled sensuality of discipline akin to a warrior preparing for anticipated battle. Clearly defined 1950s gender roles makes this subversive quality all the more fascinating; today Cabochard de Gres reads as perfect for anyone who loves the impossibly dry elegance of a leathery tobacco-laden no-nonsense chypre.

Do you know the situation at a class reunion, when you are confronted by someone you used to know well, you have had good times with him, you also find familiar facial expressions and language and yet you are still a stranger? It is hard to imagine that the formula has not been tinkered with since 1959, and in fact, Luca Turin has less than kind things to say about the current version. This is yet another fragrance that makes me wish I had started my smelling career 20 years ago.Grès ballgown. Silk taffeta. Shenkar Archive. Draped jersey evening gown by Madame Grès, c.1981. ( PMA) [1] Interestingly, as we reach the dry down Cabochard 2019 takes a left turn towards comfort. The leather is now a very expensive, supple suede and is joined by amber, sandalwood and a dry tobacco note. The note list says coconut but I get none of it. This final stage stays linear but fades to nothing in the coming hours. To me, it smells very classic. Actually, I have no idea about classics, most of them I don't like, as I associate them with old ladies tippling (well strutting) across the Ku-Damm with your fiffi on your arm. It will probably never become my genre but this one is still quite pleasant. The longevity is good, the sillage perceptible, pleasant and not too intrusive. Towards the end, it falls apart a bit.

I’d love to find some more vintage – I have a little vintage Fendi and Coco. Would like to find vintage Mitsouko and believe it or not, Old Spice.Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor. Perfume Intelligence - The Encyclopaedia of Perfume: Volume G: Grès, Parfums , retrieved 2 March 2012 Jaye: Have worn Cabochard (mostly vintage EDT or 50th Anniversary EDT) every day for years, ever since I found it oh-so-cheap in TJMaxx…. many years ago…to this day, stopped in grocery store aisles and asked what is that marvelous fragrance you’re wearing…..I am no perfumanista but I do know ” my nose”…..and what smells good “on me”, and apparently lovers, friends and total strangers agree…..OTOH….tried more than once, a sample of Chanel Cuir de Russie, so recommended to me by many because of my love of Cabochard…..OMG….it was a heavy, powdery floral on me that reminded me of being 8yo and my elderly, matronly aunts visiting and enveloping me in their heavy fur coats as they gave me a suffocating “hug”…..save me!….

What did others see in myself that I could not? Deep in my DNA, even in 1972 when I first discovered Cabochard, there existed a spirit which wouldn’t be subjugated, sublimated, vanquished: a warrior poised on the brink of never-ending skirmish. Gentle until no recourse remained but the dagger, willing to go to war for a noble cause, follow a leader worthy of the task. I don’t think I actually glimpsed that person until I had resumé photos taken in preparation for an audition with opera impresario Boris Goldovsky – and they frightened me. I avoided the camera. What I’d mistaken for ‘resting bitch face’ was pure resolve in the face of adversity and distrust of the lens’ scrutiny.Even as the flowers join the party Cabochard remains a bitter brew. Already, through the heart the leather, birch, oakmoss and vetiver speak of a dangerous, exciting course. Flowers are trodden into the darkness. This modern EdT is bloody excellent, I’m enjoying it immensely. Just this fresh green start alone: Beautiful. Very green, very awake, not unsweet, a little bit herbaceous but nevertheless very well maintained. A bit like tall, ripe grass at the edge of the forest. The first spray is Ginger Wine or Sherry, very loud and very swiftly over. Then you get the talcum powder again, but when I waited for ten minutes I was rewarded with a fabulous Incense/Patchouli Leather fragrance that was worth about five times what I paid. Naturally it’s been reformulated into submission, but I don’t have the vintages to compare it to. When this has jumped out of the bottle it’s not so good, but when it’s gone to sleep on your skin, it’s divine. It reminds me of Leather that has been worn to Church, with a hint of papery dry Tobacco. The Tobacco note is not one of toxic exhaled smoke, but more one of the smell inside a Tobacconists, where the pipe smoke and cigars rub shoulders, giving off an aroma of dark, dried leaves. Cabochard was a fragrance created for Madame Grès, a renowned couturier, who after opening her fashion house in 1942 in Paris became famous for her fluid designs that draped the body like folds on the Greek statues. Bernard Chant was the perfumer responsible for Cabochard, and even though Madame Grès did not personally like it, she felt that Chant created a gem with Cabochard.