Madeleine Vionnet Madeleine Vionnet for women

Intrigued by the reviews --I love the depth and feeling of classic French and "French smelling" fragrances (Boucheron's original is a long-time favorite)-- I bought the edt and love it so much that I bought the edp as well, which is much harder to find.

The edp lasts 12 hours on my skin and does have greater depth than the edt which lasts about 6 hours. And I get a honey note in the edp that I don't detect in the edt but those are the only differences between them.

Myrrh provides a nice "bitter bite" that tempers the sweet creaminess of the tuberose and osmanthus both of which sometimes seem too cloying to me, but not here! Each concentration is also a showcase for ylang-ylang, another of my favorite notes.

Rather than call this an oriental floral I'd be more inclined to say it's an oriental chypre or a chypric oriental because the floral notes are a mere tickle to my nose that quickly fade. What's left is that "French aura" of myrrh's bitter bite blending seamlessly with amber, musk, cedar and sandalwood at the base.

Even before I get dressed and put on make-up just a few sprays make me feel like a powerful, confident executive perfectly capable of tackling anything the day might bring while still presenting an undeniable aura of Woman.

No playful, casual scent here, nor is this merely a fragrance. No, ladies, regardless of the concentration you choose, Madeleine Vionnet is PERFUME!

The "this smells French" comments intrigued me and a perfume named after one of the greatest couturiers of all time made it even more interesting (she invented the bias cut and abolished corsets and stays from her clothes before WWI). I've been sniffing my wrists for several hours now and find it a charming floral more than a floriental. The tuberose and rose are clear and beautiful and the peach and amber underpin it nicely. I'm not detecting any cedar and very little sandalwood but I'm wearing EDT so they may be less noticeable in this formulation. There's something sweet and nostalgic about this perfume and there's something about the structure that's undeniably French.

As I've continued to sniff I've noticed something unusual: if I inhale deeply I have the sensation of a taste in my mouth, like pastilles flavored with either candied violets or rose petals. The scent also blends very nicely with the strong black coffee sitting on my desk as I type. Bring out the berets and an accordion and we will definitely need to find ourselves a sidewalk cafe.

The picture doesn't do justice to the bottle, which is adorable. It represents a dressmaker dummy wearing a simple belted and buttoned dress; the top is indeed a thimble. Note that the perfume isn't vintage--it was created when the design house was reopened in 1996.

Sillage: decent but close, not overwhelming
Has lasted for several hours.
3/5: very likable but not essential to your perfume wardrobe. Worth picking up if you see it on clearance.

I thought I was the only person .. that got / understood the "FRENCH Smelling" term.
Funny that we can't really decipher what that is ...and describe it.
To me ... its a a unique powdery ..mix of ingredients...that gives the fragrance a distinctive Parisian smell.

Boucheron fragrance is the "Standard" of
what I call "FRENCH SMELLING"
Amazingly, Soniamcalear describes Boucheron the same way ..."French Smelling all the way"

Madeleine Vionnet has that unique smell...Definitely!

Unlike Soniamcalear .. I find that unique smell rewarding and it fills me with nostalgia ....for PARIS.

This is a very "FRENCH" perfume! I don't know how to put it into words but French perfume is very distinct that it has a unique smell to it. That unique smell to it is classic of this scent. Im not a big fan of real French smelling perfumes. This is a lot like Bucheron-French smelling all the way! Not my favorite but not awful either-sort of in the middle somewhere.