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I'm sorry that I missed your post, as I got to the Tom Ford shop at 5:15 and when I pushed on the door it was locked. The guard said, 'the store is closed'. He pointed to the sign on the door which read, ' 9-11 and 5-7 by appointment only'. I couldn't believe it. I felt like calling the store on my cell phone and making an appointment for 5:16 as I stood in front of the guard. There wasn't a soul in the store. So pretentious, so 1984, so long gone Bijan Boutique, circa Trump Tower 1984, so uncool.
I did look in the window and I have to say that with its extensive use of black lacquer and white lilies the store looks rather constipated and quite dated.
Not having got in to smell the Ford frags, I walked down 5th Avenue in a funk. To my surprise, as I passed by Bergdorf there was a Tom Ford window display, '12 new fragrances on the beauty level'.
I marched in and found the TF counter. A sweet and attractive young woman was in charge. All 12 of the scents plus Black Orchid had test strips ready made. I tried them all. I liked the Tuscan Leather and was somewhat intrigued by the Vanilla Tobacco. I sprit-zed both on. The Vanilla Tobacco is a bit grotesque, sort of a repulsive gourmand. The Tuscan Leather is far better, yet it's somehow a bit boring. The bottles come in two sizes, small and a Hendricks Gin bottle size. The small bottles are $165. They are all EdPs.
I must say, the idea of launching a line with 12 scents to start is a bit of a stretch. Granted, they all smell very different, better yet, indifferent from each other. But they didn't get me excited like the first encounter with Serge Lutens or Frederick Malle's revolutionary lines. Time will tell, but my first impression is that there is something a bit crass about the TF line.

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Thanks for the update...
Live Your Life,
Otto

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I don't know much about Tom Ford but I tried to walk into the Bijan store in Beverly Hills once and I was stopped at the door by Bijan himself!

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I had much the same experience as Ruggles at Bergdorf - twelve scents at one fell swoop is a much of a muchness, and it's nearly impossible to process all of them without paying multiple visits. This is undoubtedly a Fordian Statement, but it verges on gaudy ostentation, and doesn't really do the frags any favors. (Nor do the SAs, who are indeed charming but who charmingly insist on shoving one damp scent strip under your nose after another.) They weren't displaying any information about the notes of each of the frags until I asked, upon which they produced the store copy of a beautifully produced booklet.
The one Ford that registered most strongly with me of the half-dozen I did try was the Tobacco Vanille, which smelled like pain d'épices, or maybe a tobacco cake. Not unpleasant, but it seemed to me as if it had the potential to become cloying, and it did wind up lasting well into the next day. Oud Wood was also interesting, and I want to try Moss Breches again, which sounded the most promising of them but seemed to disappear almost immediately.
It made for a slightly surreal experience negotiating my way through the Fords while only a few feet away the Exclusifs stood in their own display - 18 new fragrances, all waiting to be parsed by the hapless consumer.

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Quote: Originally Posted by Azsmells I don't know much about Tom Ford but I tried to walk into the Bijan store in Beverly Hills once and I was stopped at the door by Bijan himself! That must have been quite a fright!

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Ruggles & azsmells - love the stories...thanks.
Yeah, I expected the attitude to be 'flying all over Madison Ave' at the TF store and your comparisions/stories of Bijan are hilarious. How 'Studio 54'...maybe you should've brought a drag queen to accompany you and they'd have let you in late?
Supposedly the store made a lot of use of beaver skin in chandelier, rugs (wink) and the staff are dressed in uniforms as butlers/maids addressing everyone as 'Welcome, Sir. Very British kind of customer service almost.
Mens clothing store snobbery as performance art - you might say. VERY EXPENSIVE performance art, though.

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personally, I think that twelve new fragrances launched all at once seems a bit forced and joyless. Can one REALLY have labored over every nuance of the development and design of the scents? Maybe Tom Ford is, indeed, some sort of uber-overlord of fashion and design, but I'd be more thrilled for one or two kick*ss scents that one lusted after than a regular day of "which one should I buy" grocery shopping.
And by appointment in a flagship on Madison Avenue? Haha.

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Hmmmm...Bergdorfs or TF store???...I know where I am going...lololololol
Live your Life,
Otto

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Quote: Originally Posted by Oaksbluff personally, I think that twelve new fragrances launched all at once seems a bit forced and joyless. Can one REALLY have labored over every nuance of the development and design of the scents? Maybe Tom Ford is, indeed, some sort of uber-overlord of fashion and design, but I'd be more thrilled for one or two kick*ss scents that one lusted after than a regular day of "which one should I buy" grocery shopping.
And by appointment in a flagship on Madison Avenue? Haha. I think that "forced and joyless" is a perfect description of Tom Ford. The way I see it, anyone who spends their days art directing their body hair needs to see Helen Madden, Licensed Joyologist.

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I feel hurt. I've never been turned away at the door...Topper Shroeder once got a little testy with me, though...