Women wearing men's fragrances?

Welcome! The women of Basenotes will tell you that men's fragrances(not all) are perfect for women, and I agree with them. I believe there is an on-going thread in the female board where the ladies list male fragrances that they personally use, so you could get some useful info there too. You are definitely not crazy, many female fragrances smell more masculine than certain male fragrances and vice versa

Welcome!

First off, wear whatever you like! I know that many female friends of mine wear male scents because they like them or because the male scent they wear reminds them of their boyfriends. Having said that, I don't think I'd find a man's scent sexy on a woman... neither do I understand what could possibly be sexy about wearing a man's/your boyfriend's clothes...?

Hey Gossamer - welcome . Here I go again, butting in on the male fragrance side.
Try Guerlain's Vetiver- that is one I would wear. It's unisex to me and gorgeous on a man or a woman .I read that Elle Macpherson wears it.

I, for one, probably wouldnt even notice if it is male or female. As long as it jives with your body chemistry and you like it, wear it. I regularly wear Flowerbomb, Ralph Rocks, and Ralph Wild. They adapt to my male chemistry and dont smell overly feminine.

I like wearing Coco Madamoiselle and new Chloe myself.

Well, many Thai girls wear male scents such as Cool Water, Eternity, Clinique Happy, Weekend for men, Kiton Men, etc.

Wear whatever you like as long as it's not too manly.

Welcome, Gossamer! And congratulations for thinking outside of what so many young women are programmed to think! After all, it is the young woman who is "different and unique" who gets the boys in the end!

Many Basenoters wear "the other gender" scents and many of us feel that fragrance is all marketing, anyhow! I agree with Merlino: wear whatever you like and forget what is on the bottle!

In defence of men's clothing on women (as in wearing "men's' scents"), however, history is *filled* with examples of just how sexy the "garconne" can be! Coco Chanel, who appropriated her lovers' clothing for her own use, Colette, George Sand, Marlene Dietrich--all women known for wearing men's dress. It was scandalous, shocking and very sexy. Recall Kiera Knightley advertising Coco Mademoiselle wearing only braces, a man's shirt and a bowler--pressed against her bare bosom.

The stark contrast of men's dress on a woman can be very sexy. One definition of sexy in the 19th century was an amazone: a woman in a long dress riding habit yet in a tailcoat, shirt and cravat, her head surmounted with a mannish top hat with a flirtatious, floating veil. On horseback, she was saying to all men who saw her, "I can ride like a man can. Let's race and see if you can catch me!" It was well known from the 1850s onward that horse dealers had the famous courtesans of the day--women who expressed the ultimate in desirability--advertise their horses riding in the famous metropolitan parks of the day: Hyde Park in London and the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

I early learned to eschew all things "girl-y": the colour pink, demure coyness, helplessness, chiffon ruffles. That's just me, yet I have *never* lacked for dates as a young woman. As a child, I wore dresses with matching shorts underneath so I never flashed my knickers on the playground as I rolled in the dirt and played on the climbing bars! Some men like an equal partner that this cross-dressing represents: a she-wolf or vixen who can hunt beside her mate--not just give him pups in the den!

Someone on the boards stated that a man wearing a woman's scent must be very confident in his masculinity, so it may be said that a woman wearing a "men's" scent is very confident in her femininity!

BTW, the *contrast* and play between what is "masculine" or "feminine" is what intrigues. The nose for YSL who created L'Homme said of his creation: "It's a contrast between typical masculine notes and then almost a floating mystery of flowers. When you bring a touch of femininity to a very masculine scent, youn increase its sensuality."

SO--wear what *you* like and forget what is on the bottle label or box. I have MPGs Parfum d'Habit (said to be a very masculine scent but I love it) but I also enjoy Hermes' 24, Faubourg, a lush floral with jasmine and orange blossom.

I want to thank you for your well thought out posting! However, I only tried to say that I personally would not consider a girl/woman in men's clothes sexy. I don't consider Coco Chanel or Marlene Diettrich sexy, nor do I consider Knightley in the ad you mention sexy. There might be women in men's clothes I find sexy that I don't know of right now, but I bet I'd think they were even hotter in a dress and high heels! It could also be a cultural thing for me: I live in a part of The Netherlands in which women of my age generally don't (dare to?) wear dresses and high heels so that's what I'd like to see more

Just stick to No 19 ladies... and lots of it! Then again....one masculine scent I might be inclined to like on a woman is Habit Rouge!

Melino, thank you for the reply. I also said, "That's just me," not generalising about all women. Everyone has a different taste. To each his own. That's the wonderful variation of the world.

For me, a man with a virile, hairy chest with a splash of jasmine across his muscular pecs is very sexy! (This is totally different from asking him to wear a dress and stockings! But then again, to each his own.)

My wife wears Green Irish Tweed regularly. I don't like it on me, but love it on her. It doesn't strike me as masculine on her, just good.

Welcome to the boards Gossamer!

I find a lot of unisex and men's colognes very interesting. If they smell good on me I wear them. I really don't think much about it, and I don't think about what others may think if I wear a man's cologne. I look very girly and dress girly, maybe it makes an interesting combination of femenine and masculine.

It also gives me more choices of perfumes to try and wear.

Being comfortable in your own skin and with your own sexuality and sensuality is what it's about, but it's also about being able to push your boundaries occasionally. I can wear a lavender soliflor and lace frillies, but I can also wear Egoiste and a mans shirt, depends on the mood
Variety is the spice of life

Wear what smells good to you - how you smell is part of who you are.

Welcome!

Try as many men's fragrances that you can. I am sure you find some things that are exactly what you are looking for (no matter what some narrow-minded individuals may think/say).

Good luck!

I used to have a woman that I let stay at my place who would like using my scents - I thought she smelled weird/incongruent when she did so - but then again, most of my scents are pretty potent. A lot of men's scents are so tame nowadays that they're probably wearable by women.

But just as I rarely recomend those tame ones to other men, I don't know I'd want to recommend them to women either - who wants to smell tame?

My suggestion is to look up all those Men's wearing Women's scents threads you see here, and check some of those scents out. They often have a good dose of woods in them, which you may find more interesting in narrowing down your selection.

Or try niche scents, like the Serge Lutens ones, which are "unisex" but in the sense that they've just gotten a whole lot of men's and women's scents' components and rolled them together.

I seriously doubt you'd ever take to wearing Polo, Aramis or Paco Rabanne PH.
Regards,
Renato

Welcome to BN.

I concur with everyone else. Wear what you enjoy. Don't look at the "for him"/"for her" label. As a tip, give Mugler Cologne a try. It may still not be as strong as you are looking for, but I think it's a great unisex.

my girlfriend wears l'anarchiste by caron. excellent.

Rule number one : Ignore all the rules.

IF it smells good, then it is good.

Sometimes we wear them, not because we would normally choose them, but because they remind us of you.

Welcome to Basenotes and a huge pat on the back for you. It is great to see someone who is feeling adventuress with fragrance. I have always enjoyed wearing mens scents, not all but many just have a great richness to them. I love Jules by Dior, Sagamore by Lancome, Macassar by Rochas and so many others. Long ago i decided i would just try all fragrances, regardless of marketing, to see what smells great. It helped me to enrich my fragrance collection and to wear things that are uniquely my own; they always smell different on me than on my hubby or other males, love the unique chemistry we all possess.
Just go out and have fun exploring scent, let it be an adventure. As the saying goes, "Never follow a trend, start one."

I work in a male-dominated profession, and I want to be taken seriously and give a professional impression. I do not wear "girly" or sultry fragrances to work usually, and often wear men's scents that are good crossovers (Habit Rouge, Divine L'Homme Sage, various Eau de Colognes). The feminine I wear most is Chanel No.19. I genuinely enjoy the men's fragrances I wear, so I am not sure I would stop wearing them, even if my work situation were different.

I must say, when I see a well-dressed woman in clothes that are obviously uncomfortable (pencil skirt, stockings, heels), she always looks good. But the pain of wearing those things...ack.

It's interesting that you mention Light Blue as many male members here prefer it than the men's version.

Try Bulgari black, It's unisex, and very fitting to be one.

Ironically, the most masculine scent for me would be CD's Fahrenheit, but I can see a woman pulling it of quite easily, well, to noses of those who don't know what fahrenheit is anyway.

It's really great! If you can, try to source a sample of the vintage eau de cologne through a fellow BN'er or a site like http://www.theperfumedcourt.com . That's the original Habit Rouge and the best in my opinion.


http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=233434

My significant other often wears Roberto Cavalli Black and Creed Original Santal.

My wife regularly wears Bvlgari Black and Dior Homme, and smells great in both. I don't like Dior Homme on myself, but like it a lot on her. She also wears RL Safari (the women's version).

I wear guerlain vetiver, heritage, L'instant de Guerlain, cologne du 68, habit rouge, Cartier declaration, terre d'hermes, acqua di Parma colonia Intensa, goutal eau du sud (unisex, very like Dior eau sauvage), balmain monsieur balmain, and that's all I can think of right now! Be assured I am a girly girl, fit, slim, heels, very sexy, and my perfumes make me feel even sexier.
Try layering Heritage with Shalimar....... Divine über sexy....

Just admit you're role playing.

Years ago, I worked with a woman who I had absolutely no interest in physically. I love the girl next door type, but she was more of a biker chick. Tons of tattoos, really strong and very rough around the edges. I liked working with her, but never once had a sexual thought about her... until one day when she passed me in the hallway and, oh my god, she smelled amazing. I had to ask what she was wearing.

...Happy For Men.

On her? VaaaVOOOOOOOM!!!! Ooh, la la.

Hey Gossamer nothing wrong with wearing what you like. I say go all out and give different stuff a try. I knew a girl who used to wear Brut quite often! It would be nice to know what your take is on all the ones you try. Good luck and enjoy the experience!

It can be very sexy, but it's a different kind of sexy. A woman wearing my clothes is sexy because it means I've seen her naked. Yum! But I find that a woman wearing a men's fragrance can be sexy in a "Ooh, I want her!" kind of way. It's all about whether or not the scent works on her skin. There are a lot of women's scents that I don't find sexy on a woman at all.

Assuming you're attracted to men, as long as the fragrance you pick doesn't make you smell like a manly-man, I say go for it! (as far as what women find sexy on another woman, I have no clue) I do think men's fragrances wear differently on most women, so no worries there.

If I were you, I'd avoid things that are too brutally obvious, like Le Male. One sniff and anybody knows it's Le Male. But other than that, I bet you could wear whatever you like. And I don't even think you have to stick to lighter stuff. I could see a woman wearing YSL L'homme, L'homme Libre or La Nuit, Chanel Allure or Allure Homme Sport, Dior Homme, etc etc etc. As long as it isn't too in-your-face beat you up in the parking lot masculine, you could totally wear it without a guy knowing it's a men's fragrance. Go for it!

My wife wears vetivers, heavy incenses and woody scents because that is what she likes. She is not a Girly girl but a down to earth character and they suit her perfectly and therefore smell elegant and sexy on her.

I'm a 22 year old female and I wear men's fragrances like nobody's business. Granted, I'm also stereotypically a huge gaymo, BUT I have plenty of straight female friends who do the same. Guys actually seem to prefer it a lot of the time, at least to the super girly, fruity/floral perfumes most young women wear.

Also, like previous posts have already mentioned, people will most likely not even notice that you're wearing men's fragrances to begin with, unless you go with the super popular ones that people recognize from smelling it on guys everywhere.

I'm not sure if Gossamer can hear you still, to be honest. 16th August 2009.

It had to be said, nevertheless. :-)

AHAHAHAHAAA!!!! How funny. Old threads get bumped up and sometimes I forget to check the date. Clearly, I'm not the only one. Oh well

Ha! Yep ancient. My fault I think. Oh well.

When it comes to women wearing mens fragrances, I'm all for it. But it depends on your skin. If a woman was wearing Old Spice or Polo Green, they would remind everyone of their grandpa.

For a women, I would recommend The Dreamer, Dior Homme Intense and Midnight in Paris.

No they wouldn't.

If there is something in the men's line that you really like then by all means wear it.