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Scent politics in the office

post #1 of 18
12/17/08 at 4:03am
Thread Starter 
My manager has worn nothing but Angel for years. It's a real power scent.
Would it be an affront if I were to wear Angel to our office party?
This is sort of hypothetical, since I have a love/hate relationship with Angel myself, but I was just wondering what y'all thought?
Is it poor etiquette to wear your supervisor's signature scent?
Intuitively, I'm thinking it may be.

I may be the goddess of my home, but I am definitely not an alpha female in the corporate realm
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post #2 of 18
12/17/08 at 4:20am
If you are uncomfortable with Angel, I'd go with Borneo 1834 or Ambre Sultan. L' Heure Bleue and Jalaine Patchouli would be great choices from your collection as well.
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post #3 of 18
12/17/08 at 5:14am
I think your instincts about this are correct. It would be like showing up in the same dress that you already knew she was going to wear.
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post #4 of 18
12/17/08 at 5:14am
You have an interesting 'drobe, a nice assortment of scents there.
My reaction would be to not wear anyone else's signature scent, unless I had it first and it was really my sig. :-) But you have a love/hate relationship with Angel
IOW, I would wear something that said "me" rather than "her." This is a party, so wear something you love!
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post #5 of 18
12/17/08 at 7:27am
Trust your instrinct, rtamara. Especially considering your own hot-and-cold relationship with Angel, you would be better to consider another fragrance. Your manager will most definitely read meaning into a choice of Angel, and it would be hard to know what that meaning is. I am someone who has always worn scarves. When someone whom I supervise begins to wear scarves or clogs, I begin to think of the meaning of the choices. Nuff said. Have fun!
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post #6 of 18
12/17/08 at 7:39am
You would also run the risk of people noticing "her" fragrance on you and complimenting you instead, not that they'd know it was her scent (but she would). Supervisors are tricky things. She may find it flattering or she may think you are trying to steal her thunder.

I would save the Angel for another day. I always try to avoid being scent twins with people who might get snippy about it
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post #7 of 18
12/17/08 at 8:08am
I think the key is to make sure your good enough at your job that no one (supervisor, or not) would even consider giving you any grief because of something as minor as what fragrance you wear. I occasionally wear brash 80s-style fragrances in the office (e.g. Kouros) and a few generally strong ones with high sillage (e.g. Acqua di Sale). And every now and then I get confronted about it. My response now is always the same: "If what I'm wearing bothers you, feel free to set up a meeting with the Human Resources Department and we can discuss it in an official capacity."
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post #8 of 18
12/17/08 at 8:43am
I like the idea that you can wear a scent that suggest that you are indeed an alpha female when your behavior has usually dictated otherwise! I think most people aren't that tuned in to specific scents, and, correct me if I'm wrong, I suspect your co-workers would NOT consciously notice that you were wearing the same scent as your supervisor (especially given differences in skin chemistry and if you didn't blast it on or if you put it on several hours before the get together. But the subconscious is another story! I can imagine that if you wore Angel there are some you work with who would start to subconsciously register you as an authoratative/alpha female type! And I know I'm reading a lot into this, but maybe it would chip away at preformed conceptions of who you are--how fun to mess with others' impressions of you! Fun!
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post #9 of 18
12/17/08 at 9:25am
Just wear something else and avoid the possibility of problems, questions and concerns to happen. You have no idea how she would respond to it, or notice it and even if no one commented you might think later that they did notice but not said a word.

Avoid the issue and it´s not like it´s your HG perfume.

I´d suggest CoCo or Madam X if you want to wear something big and loud.
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post #10 of 18
12/17/08 at 9:57am
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Trust your instincts. The fact that your even questioning it should tell you something. You have better options in your wardrobe , imo.
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post #11 of 18
12/17/08 at 1:53pm
I wouldn't. Not if I were that conscious of the decision. It's not like you don't have plenty of other frags to choose from.
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post #12 of 18
12/17/08 at 4:51pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you my friends, for all your wise words and comments.

I'm pretty sure I'll wear something down and dirty like Bandit, Jicky or Musc Ravageur
I need something with a bit more grit to balance my inner sweetness
or maybe the lush Sacrebleu ? or steal my daughter's Love's True Bluish Light? or....
anything but

Astaroth, sometimes I wish I had your balls.

Therese, I see your point!
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post #13 of 18
12/17/08 at 6:49pm
I agree. I wouldn't risk it. She may be perfectly ok with it... I once had a supervisor who was not at all territorial about her fragrance. When I asked her what she was wearing, she told me and said if I liked it, feel free to wear it too. She said that sort of thing would never bother her. I think I just asked out of curiosity, and wasn't interested, but I found her attitude about it very refreshing.

However, your manager might feel differently, so I would play it safe. And Angel is so unmistakable, she would know you were wearing it.
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post #14 of 18
12/18/08 at 3:17am
Personally I would choose another scent. It's a party and you want to be having a good time not feeling uncomfortable about your scent and worried about your boss's reaction.

On another note, if she's worn this scent for so many years she probably won't be able to smell it on you. I start to lose the ability to smell my own scent after about 3 days of wearing the same scent.
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post #15 of 18
12/18/08 at 8:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtamara41 View Post

Astaroth, sometimes I wish I had your balls.

In both my current contracts, I'm in a work environment where I see a lot of good, productive people get crapped on and manipulated, so that probably unduly influences my advice. Don't do anything that would get you fired, since this economy has proven to be somewhat ... unforgiving.
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post #16 of 18
12/18/08 at 11:21am
I don't see how anyone could be territorial about Angel at this point. You're probably right, though, if you think she might be.
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post #17 of 18
12/18/08 at 11:35am
I'm curious about why you're thinking of wearing it at all, if you don't usually? I'm kind of assuming that to the extent you've worn Angel in the past, you have not worn it to work. If it were me, I'd want to wear something fabulous and different...if you're trying to claim some of her turf at some level, I can totally get the psychology of wearing her scent. If that's not your aim, or at least not your career agenda for the party, I think you're right to go with something else! Bandit is my power scent, fwiw--it makes me feel very strong and very feminine.
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post #18 of 18
12/18/08 at 2:32pm
Thread Starter 
I'm wearing Bandit right now, in the parfum formulation and it's beautiful.
I'll most likely wear this.
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