Monsieur Worth
Worth (1969)

Very gentle, subtle and restrained mens fragrance with a dominant note of treemoss especially as it dries down. Anyone familiar with the odour of treemoss (not oakmoss) will recognise this immediately. This gives it a link to later perfumes such as Ralph Lauren's Polo, though that fragrance is altogether more forceful.

Sophisticated, elegant, dry and restrained, this classic from the house of Worth came late in its history, the tail end of the first incarnation of the veritable name.

It is quite the fougere, basically and solidly green, but subtly so. There is no "in your face" presence as in the soon to arrive powerhouse men's scents of the 1970s. The lavender, rosemary and basil give it an almost anise-like note, which hovers over the whole.

Notes such as vetiver, cedar, moss and geranium, though listed, are not evident to the nose, as the blending is masterful (I have found this to be the case in all scents from Worth.)

The overall effect is "unique" in my experience of fougeres. I have experienced well over one hundred, ranging from the late 1800s through to modern attempts to chemically recreate the combinations. To find one such as this that honors the scent family, but gives us an entirely new take in blending, is rare indeed and extremely welcome.

For me, this was the most elegant men's fragrance ever. A refreshing blend of green and citrus notes, with a very unusual sweet note (I really have no idea what it was; tonka and vanilla are listed, so I'm guessing it must be them; even though neither were at all obvious in the fragrance). I can't think of anything more descriptive to say about Monsieur Worth, other than it was was absolutely unique, and I miss it greatly. In a way, it was almost a man's version of Worth's Fleurs Fraiches (which isn't listed on Basenotes at all, but was also a very beautiful perfume, and sadly discontinued too).

Unique fougèreThe traditional to note of bergamot and lavender is given an unexpected twist with eucalyptus and herbs. In the drydown wood, green fern and oakmoss open up the fougère core, buy on my skin this phase is much lighter and has nothing of the heavy sharpness of some other similar scents. It is in the base where the most original development occurs, with the vetiver lingering to blend in with the tonka and amber to a lovely note, like amber with sunshine. I get a lot of development with acceptable projection, and a decent longevity of about five hours. Traditional and restrained but rich and not boring.

Monsieur Worth is a fresh fougere, with a strong herbal presence. The early stages are a little too intense and harsh for my taste; the basil and eucalyptus combination is verging on the brutal. Although subsequent phases find a better balance, there remains a sufficient degree of discordance to sully my overall experience. The base is much more refined, and it almost persuades me to overlook some of the previous duff notes, but not quite. I owned a bottle of this for a number of years, and I gave it every opportunity to convince me that I was the one with the problem, but to no avail. There is an admirable eccentricity and individualism about Monsieur Worth, but I simply am unable to live with its rather fatal flaws.