Black and white graphic prints. From left to right: Sass and Bide, Monique Llhullier, and Catherine Malandrino Fall 2013 via Style.com; background copyright Aaryn West.
Invitations to Spring/ Summer 2014 Fashion Shows are already filling our inbox , but we are looking forward to the pleasures of recreating the key looks we loved from the Fall 2013 collections. On the fashion calendar, Fall is the time of year fashion gets serious, with runway shows, trend reports, and investment pieces. Whatever your sense of style, reinforcing your look with a mood enhancing fragrance "turns it up a notch", to borrow a phrase from fashion godfather Tim Gunn.
Georges Chakra Haute Couture Fall 2013, Tommi Sooni Jinx 2011
When it’s time to pull out all the stops and leave mere mortals in your dust, this Georges Chakra Haute Couture gown stands out with its on-trend black and white graphics, single shoulder and sultry draping reminiscent of Old Hollywood glamour. Match it with a fragrance that turns heads and all your conquests will be willing sacrifices.
Australian fashion designer Vanessa Leyjonhelm is the muse for Tommi Sooni Jinx, a stunning soft green floral with gracious Grecian style that evokes the bloodlines of its muse. Notes of fig, basil, aldehydes, ambergris and white florals pay tribute to the Queens of Olympus and the classic chic of the great French Houses. It's vintage vibe is elegant and mesmerizing, bringing to mind the beauty of Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. Even its name sounds like a Hitchcock movie.
Matchless Fall 2013, Carnival Wax Pirate’s Dream 2009
Black leather jackets and tight jeans have been synonymous with cool since the 1950’s. Sexy but tough and symbolizing the mystique of the rebel and the romance of the open road, biker chic is the perfect look when you need to run roughshod over the competition.
Carnival Wax Pirate’s Dream may take its inspiration from Captain Jack, but it would be perfectly at home on a debutante slumming in a dark corner of a biker bar. With notes of sweet and salty brine, smoke, wood, and vanilla tobacco, it starts out smelling like an ashtray put out by pouring whiskey on it. When it mellows into expensive driving gloves, hard candy, and high end lipstick, it makes you realize that Pirate’s Dream is one hell of a ride.
Classic Prep
Tommy Hilfiger Fall 2013, Atelier Cologne Sur Le Toit De Paris 2012
The classic prep look is fundamental to fall fashion largely because of its connection with Back to School. Deceptively casual, this look’s sense of style lies in its crisp details: a starched white shirt, a tailored peacoat, a collar of the perfect width. Don these duds for a trip back in time to that first fall semester when the future was an open book.
Preppy style has strong undercurrents of money and class, and so does Atelier Cologne’s Sur Le Toit De Paris. It smells like the world’s most expensive laundry detergent, as if instead of having to wash clothes in the dorm basement, your servants delivered them to you in a huge wicker basket after line-drying them in a field full of violets.
Dolce & Gabanna Fall 2013, Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles 2009
Full military dress was so much more romantic in previous centuries, but designers like Dolce & Gabanna are reviving that opulent feel with luxurious fabrics and heavy brocades that would feel at home in the drawing room of a palace. The look is very mannered, but to have credibility it requires a fragrance that projects some strength.
Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles opens with a trek through a pine forest, stops at a campfire near the side of a road with diesel engines in the distance, and ends up in the palace where the soldier, after being decorated, is treated to sumptuous desserts. The name translates as “Girl in Heels,” and you can hear the connection between the drums of a military march and the click-click of stilettos on a hardwood floor.
Le Labo Santal 33 2011,Guess Fall 2013 Denim Collection
Big sky country, wide open plains and desert hues mixed with faded blues are the hallmarks of wild western style. Wear your most distressed jeans with a suede Stetson and you’re ready to walk off into the sunset.
Western gear is both relaxed and sexy, a feel that goes perfectly with Le Labo’s Santal 33. The delicious dry heat of the desert, stories around a smoky campfire, violet and iris as smooth as your favorite chambray shirt, well-worn leather and a fistful of spice make for a standout unisex scent that’s as signature as a custom made pair of hand-tooled boots.
–Nancy Knows, Monthly Contributor (We are really excited that she is joining the CaFleureBon team; her fragrance blog Make Perfume Not War is one of our favorites)
Art Direction: Sr. Editor,Tama Blough
We have a reader's choice draw in honor of Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week, September 5-12, 2013. Choose EITHER Le Labo's Santal 33 OR (courtesy of Sens-Unik the US distributor of Tommi Sooni), Tommi Sooni Jinx (which is now available at | Z | G | O | store.com at 600 Castro Street in San Francisco). USA ONLY
To be eligible leave a comment with which one of these looks is your dream style and which of the two fragrances above appeals to you the most. Draw Closes September 1, 2013
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume