Diorling is a real challenge for my resolve to enjoy my perfume collection with no restraints or regrets and wear everything, no matter how rare a certain perfume may be. While I have enough vintage Miss Dior in several formulations and concentrations to drown an IFRA bureaucrat and an LVMH executive together, I have little left of Diorling and it saddens me.
Speaking of Miss Dior (the original), it is often labeled the same way as Diorling, as a leather chypre. It's true, I guess, but don't expect them to smell anything alike. Miss Dior is greener, cooler, more floral and aloof. The leather is shiny, the suit is crisp and every hair is in its place. Diorling, released in 1963, sixteen years after Miss Dior, is quite a bit more boho-chic. The leather note is actually a soft warm suede and it's less prim and more intimate. There's also an unmistakable patchouli dry-down; this is a 1960s perfume, after all.
I smell neroli somewhere around the aldehydic opening and probably whiff of jasmine, though I suspect my very old juice has lost a bit of spark there. I don't mind. It's like opening an old trunk in the attic and going through old forgotten treasures. Some have nothing but sentimental value, but others are couture accessories from bygone days. What's left of my Diorling is the latter and I intend to have every last spritz count.
Top image is the original Rene Gruau illustration later used in the Diorling ad campaign. Second image is a 1964 ad, also by Gruau.
Diorling is my recent new love. Carol from WAFT sent me a small sample vial. I tried it and almost cried because of its beauty.
ReplyDeleteI love those old illustrations. They seemed to "say" so much more about how perfume feels than modern fragrance advertising does (by a long shot)! It's been quite awhile since I smelled "Diorling" but may have a chance to do so soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the beauties of its (or any) age - every time I wear it (like last night, oddly enough) it brings a smile.
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Yes, sadly true vintage bottles do not smell accurate to the perfumer's intended formula: they go off and scents are good only for about two years. But that does not mean that they sometimes do not still smell good! Perfume should be used and not stored; I will go back and revisit Miss Dior and Diorling. It has been awhile since I have experienced their beauty. As pointed out: the ads for them are more charming than anythign we see today.
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I have to smell this.
ReplyDeleteI love Diorling, this was one of my mother and grandmother's faves-I can easily see where my tastes in perfume come from.
ReplyDeleteAll the ladies in the family loved perfume, I always remember a few bottles on my aunt's and grand mum's dressers....
Vintage perfumes are treasures to me, although peripheral to the fashion industry, they are a snap shot into what was happening at the time. I tend to love leather, animalic, patchouli/bo-ho scents, something about them just "speaks" to me.
Undina, I know the feeling. Diorling is certainly a soul-stirring perfume.
ReplyDeleteP., I know. I especially love the Rene Gruau illustration but also so many other older ones. They really communicated a lot about the brands. So unlike all those similar half naked people on some beach that you cannot tell apart.
ReplyDeleteMusette, you have the right attitude. I'm trying to smile instead of thinking how this beauty is practically gone forever.
ReplyDeleteHopflower, from my experience very few perfumes actually go off after two yers. If that were the case my collection would be 95% obsolete.
ReplyDeleteTom, that's easy: get on a plane and let's play.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I know what you mean. I come from a family of perfume loving men and women and have learned a lot from my mother. I think you and I have similar tastes when it comes to leather, animalics and such. That's what I consider "real" perfume.
ReplyDeleteDiorling was my favourite Dior, and before I became a beautician , I worked on Saturdays on the Dior counter, although it was actually the ‘Charles of the Ritz’ counter. Diorling was a revelation to my fifteen year old self, green and sharp, with warm undertones, just gorgeous! It weaned me from Shalimar, which was a little extreme for my age. Strangely enough, it did not sell well, which surprised me, perhaps it was a little too modern for our wealthy dowagers. Strange how old is new again, people crave vintage Diorama, when in my day, it had fallen out of fashion, and also, was very similar to Rochas Femme, and Arden ‘On Dit’ also by Roudnitska, I still love all three. I worked in the ‘Beauty’ business on and off , for years, trained at Arden, then did treatments for Guerlain in it’s heyday. My boss at Guerlain, Henri de la Brierre would be horrified by todays company, but as Gaia says, it is a business, and nothing stays the same, Vive Le Parum!
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