2 reviews for Normandie Jean Patou

1. 

   diman123.09 – 2022-06-14:

   4 out of 5

   Le mouchoir de monsieur can’t possibly be topped for his review of this superb scent, except that I’d say instead of charmeuse she would we clad in peau d’ange, still bias cut, and her sable would remain a rich chocolatey brown, as white sable would be a poor, dried-out fur lacking in life.
   I absolutely adore the older Patou fragrances. Yes they speak of privilege and I imagine that there will be people who refuse to wear them on the principle of refusing to endorse privilege in any sense. But as a privileged person, secure in my status, I can happily wear Normandie, just as I can Bal a Versailles, 1000, Joy, Sublime, etc., and enjoy the luxuriousness of its formulation. It is hardly as complex as Bal, not as woody as 1000, doesn’t spread out a blanket or roses a la Joy, and – where Sublime is just so bloody happy – it manages to keep a little bit of itself in reserve, like a private person, with a secret. It feels like a plush silk velvet robe one just wants to hug close to one’s body.
   And – I find this with all the better (read relying on fewer synthetic or ramped-up stinks) perfumes: the cat loves it. Where BaV drove him to maul the sheets in ecstasy, Normandie elicited a satisfied >faugh!< .
   One point, tho: on me the styrax blooms very quickly and richly, yet I do not find it above as one of the notes.
   (c)Daisy Morant 2013
2. 

   lvroman64 – 2022-06-14:

   3 out of 5

   back in the days of yore, so many eccentric things happened when an imprtant perfume was launched: Mademoiselle Carven, a tiny, wee bird-like woman who spoke quietly orchestrated that the entire city of paris be rained on with smell vials of “Ma Griffe” when it was launched, each with a smell parachute attached to it made out of the signature green and white crepe de chine 100% silk lining she used in her famous suits: All of her clothes were tailored for “petite women.” She herself stood barely 5 feet tall. In 1972 when patou launched 1000, an army of men in 18th Century livery costume stormed paris in horse drawn carriages and hand delivered the first batch of 100 30ml parfums, all individually numbered as they were through the late 80’s, nestled in their curry coloured velvet jewell boxes lined in satin, as gifts to the 100 most elegant women of paris. At the time, only 100 ounces of parfum could be produced yearly. Before it was launched, anyone who was of note in Paris high society was already wearing it. For the maiden voyage of the now legendary “Paquebot Normandie,” Jean Patou commissioned a famous metal worker to create a miniature of the ship, which contained in its main smoke-stack a screw-off cap, under which was a glass capsule containing 15ml of a perfume blended by Henri Almeras in honour of this voyage: The interiors of the boat were designed by the same team that did all of the patou interiors: Louis Sue & Andre Mare. Each lady present on the inaugural voyage received one. These heavy, solid nickel bottles are so rare that originals have broken all records at auction: I have one, but it is in very bad shape, seems to have lived ironically underwater most of its life, and the inner glass vial is shattered. In 1985 Normandie was re-blended by Jean Kerleo: It had only been bfriefly marketed after the initial cruise, then disappeared all together. Jean kerleo’s version is a very polite symphony of warmth: Carnations, cinnamon, orange blossom, perhaps a tiny bit of clove: It is the epitome of elegance and refinement. Very “Patou” in spirit, it whispers in a very subtle way of privilege and wealth. A waspy scent. One imagines Norma Schearer in “The Women” smelling like this, (While the common-as-mud Joan Crawford reeks of Tabu, or Chanel No5, or something equally repulsive and in your face) It is soft, and delicate, and has impeccable manners. I would say of all the “Ma Collection” series, it would be the most likely candidate for a re-launch, though there is scant hope for this, as Proctor & Gamble, after having bought, murdered in cold blood, then sold patou, as a final gesture of humiliation, or to kick the last nail into its coffin, sold it to a company with even lower standards if that can be conceived of: The same firm that now owns Worth. I imagine “Joy” will end up in discount shops and bargain basements just the way “Je Reviens” did. If you can obtain a sealed bottle of Normandie, online or elsewhere, do it: It would be impossible to find this scent unattractive. It’s just that suave: Perfectly inoffensive without being remotely boring or predictable: A soft, warm, comforting composition of riches forgotten from another time: A woman, elegantly draped in bias cut pastel silk charmeuse, with a pure white sable cloak, and satin covered jeweled salome slippers, sitting nonchalantly smoking from a long cigarette holder, dripping in diamonds, hair perfectly coiffed, nose impeccably powdered, amidst the soaring Art Deco interior of the most elegantly fitted out transatlantic ocean liner the world had ever known, barely noticing any of it, because she is sipping daintily on some cocktail, and lost in the revery of her life: That gentle, barely their smile on her lacquered lips, her pearlized, smoky eyelids shut. That is Normandie, by Jean Patou.