Stetson (1981)
by Stetson

For the $5/1.75 oz. sale price, this edc might be worth a try. Not one of my favorites, but here's what I get:
initial take: strong, sharp, citrus floral… not so good, but it does project
@ 5" a little powdery feminine floral
@ 10" still flowery, maybe a slight hint of ambery/leather?, along with some sort of cheap lavender
@ 15" pretty much the same with rememberances of a cheap imitation of Givenchy Insense (a much better choice for a men's floral fragrance).
@ 30" OK, it's starting to soften a little, and I may be picking up a little amber?
@ 45" Definitely softened, closer to the skin scent now; reminds me of another fragrance, but I can't quite pick it out...
@ 60" Now it's getting strange... wait a minute, wait a minute... I'm thinking, Bogart pour Homme??? I sprayed some to compare. No, it's not the same, but still, does anybody else get that tie-in?

Well it's not likely to enter my personal line-up soon, but, for the money, one could do worse. After all, Tania Sanchez gave it a 4*, and wrote she'd wear it herself :-)

2nd January, 2012.

I don't truly like this one for myself but I highly respect it because my dad wore it for years. It brings back memories of a strong man who worked on cars in the backyard. I only wear this one on nights when I am alone, blogging on basenotes, and need a true masculine for reference. Not considered the best masculine by most fanatics but who cares. I only paid 10 bucks at walmart for it.

26th September, 2011.

Overall I would describe this as a soapy vanilla. On top I smell vanilla and berries, soon the musk comes out bringing with it an Oriental spice. In turn the vanilla becomes more delicate. I picture the vanilla as a veil through which you are seeing a spicy lady. The spiciness turns boozy and almost powdery Oriental. After awhile the veil falls leaving only an old spice sitting by itself, very sheer.

5th April, 2011.

Incredibly floral, feminine and heavily reliant on patchouli, this is an acquired taste to say the least but for those who can handle powder well worth the experience. Now resigned to drug stores and Walmarts because it is considered highly dated and cheap, even at a time when everything 80´s is en vogue, Stetson manages to maintain a level of respect because of its sheer originality and fairly dependable projection and longevity. Like it or not, this was a daring product for its time and the marketing duped most Americans into associating it with the American West, despite it being a very synthetic, flower box aroma that would have been more likely to be found in a whore house than in a saloon of the Old West.
Strong and in your face, this is a scent that insinuates itself on the room, so use with caution. Not for the faint of heart. Compared to other Stetson products like Black, Suede and Fresh, Stetson smells less synthetic and more thoughtfully blended.
An above average floral cologne, this is something to have in the catalog as a nice change of pace scent. As long as its used in moderation is perfectly fine, but it should never be relied upon as a signature scent if only because it is very common. I am quite impressed with the aftershave balm that comes with the cologne in gift sets and if you can find it, it´s worth holding out to get it.
Stetson is not fantastic or essential by any stretch, but it has its moments and with solid longevity rare for its price tag, deserves at least a look. An example of advert campaigns creating a false reality that was able to shape people´s opinions despite the product being one of the most feminine colognes on the market.

Overall 6.3 (Scent 4.0/Longevity 7.5/Sillage 7.5/Originality-Intangibles 6.0/Value 6.5)

24th January, 2011. (Last Edited: 23rd February, 2011.)

Sweet, powdery.

If you want the "woods and spices" they talk about on the Stetson website apply a LOT of it. Then you'll know what they're talking about. Apply a more normal amount it turns sweet and powdery. Yet its not bad. They have somehow cheapened it over the years as I have a very original bottle of it and it smells similar to the current cologne in an aftershave concentration.

A fair fragrance. It is available cheaply. Christmas gift sets have brought me a copious supply but it isn't my everyday cup of tea.

Update: After further wearing it doesn't smell like it uses as cheap of ingredients as some of these drugstore fragrances. The drydown is fairly decent. Powdery, slightly sweet and with a bit of patchouli when it gets to this level.

12nd January, 2011. (Last Edited: 22nd November, 2011.)

I'm with Tania Sanchez on this one - a woman would smell lovely in Stetson, and the "aftershavey" hints of patchouli and vetiver in the drydown would add a bit of interesting pizazz to her aura. On a man, well...it's powdery. Very very powdery. I gave up on the likes of Obsession for Men and Le Mâle because of their suffocating talcum powder vibes, and Stetson is in a similar vein of powdery "masculine" orientals (see also: Old Spice, Joop! Men, and Cuba Gold). Not to my taste, and sadly linear, but with surprisingly good lasting power and a very tempting price tag. For the man (or woman) who simply wants to "smell nice" with no complexities, Stetson may well satisfy.

10th January, 2011.