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Are Tom Ford fragrances sometimes unfairly dismissed?

post #1 of 48
11/9/11 at 3:41pm
Thread Starter 
There are a lot of Tom Ford wearers and fans on Basenotes, so this may be way off. But the feeling I've had was that some Basenoters (maybe the snooty ones?), including myself, have been dismissive of Tom Ford's fragrances.

I'm not sure if that's a correct impression or not -- I certainly don't want to offend anyone, snooty or otherwise. But for whatever reason, I always dismissed his fragrances as being trendy and aimed at the masses.

I wore Italian Cypress -- my first Tom Ford -- today and I find myself really admiring this scent. It's incredibly easy to like (and maybe that's why I feel like he's easy to dismiss) but it's also artfully done. It may not be incredibly challenging, but I found it an impressive wear nonetheless.
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post #2 of 48
11/9/11 at 3:46pm
Are Tom Ford fragrances sometimes unfairly dismissed?

IMO No.
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post #3 of 48
11/9/11 at 4:06pm
I think Tom Ford does amazing scents, however in general they do not work on me, top materials indeed, however I found them a bit linear and two dimension compare to e.g. Guerlain.
However they are not bad at all, I understand the Love towards Tom Ford Private Blend and Mainstream line respectivelly.
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post #4 of 48
11/9/11 at 4:09pm
He's one of the most popular on the forums, so I don't think his scents are dismissed from the conversation. People have seemed to try and like at least a couple of his scents and mention it here. I don't really think there is anything unfair considering if people don't like a scent, it makes sense to dismiss it from their range of loved scents.
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post #5 of 48
11/9/11 at 4:09pm
I think they're more or less appreciated at their fair level around here.
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post #6 of 48
11/9/11 at 4:54pm
I was a dismisser! Mostly because I found that many of the TFPBs lacked proper development.

My view has changed; I love the Tom Ford products for what they are. The materials used are fantastic, most have great longevity (Neroli Portofino, Tobacco Vanille), and some are just stunningly beautiful (Noir de Noir).

They have more fans than haters here I'm sure.
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post #7 of 48
11/9/11 at 4:58pm
I think the Tom Ford products get their fair due overall. Those I have tried from the Private Blend lineup are very impressive and well made IMO, as is my SOTD, TF Extreme. I respect houses like TF which use high quality ingredients and produce frags that stand out. In that sense, his work product in fragrance is consistent with his efforts in the fashion world. Like him or not, he's been his own man, and more power to him for that.
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post #8 of 48
11/9/11 at 5:20pm
his regular line is average.

his Private Blend line is absolutely wonderful. however, there is a certain character that runs thru the line that, if you don't personally take to, will render you cold to the entire line.

Creed is similar like that. the "house notes" of the two are strong... which accounts for their love it or hate it statures, and the accompanying drama on internet forums.
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post #9 of 48
11/9/11 at 5:41pm
The non-PB lineup from TF contains at least 2 that are IMO well above average: TF Extreme and Black Orchid.
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post #10 of 48
11/9/11 at 6:17pm
Own a few Tom Ford and have sampled all of his offerings over and over and still come back to the few I originally chose. I just don't find a great deal of dimension to his fragrances.
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post #11 of 48
11/9/11 at 6:51pm
Tom Ford Extreme is so good I use it as a personal lubricant
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post #12 of 48
11/9/11 at 7:59pm
I don't think they're dismissed at all. TV, TL and generate a lot of love here. Many of of the other scent's have devout fans as well. Remember too, he's got a pretty broad range of scents.
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post #13 of 48
11/9/11 at 8:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hednic View Post

Are Tom Ford fragrances sometimes unfairly dismissed?

IMO No.

Yawn.
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post #14 of 48
11/9/11 at 9:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hednic View Post

Are Tom Ford fragrances sometimes unfairly dismissed?

IMO No.

Quote:
Originally Posted by petruccijc View Post

Yawn.

Hednic, are you gonna take that from him ?!
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post #15 of 48
11/9/11 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Surfacing View Post

Hednic, are you gonna take that from him ?!

Cheeky

I wonder how a battle between Joe and Hednic would pan out. Joe would be spraying him with Kouros, and Hednic would fight back with Genkhis Khan.

That's scary, very scary!
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post #16 of 48
11/9/11 at 11:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jathanas View Post

Cheeky

I wonder how a battle between Joe and Hednic would pan out.

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post #17 of 48
11/10/11 at 2:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jathanas View Post

Cheeky

I wonder how a battle between Joe and Hednic would pan out. Joe would be spraying him with Kouros, and Hednic would fight back with Genkhis Khan.

That's scary, very scary!



I like some Tom Ford fragrances, and some I don't - pretty much like most other houses. But at least I actually try them before I determine to dismiss them or not.
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post #18 of 48
11/10/11 at 3:05am
I see Creed unfairly dismissed more often than Tom Ford.

IMO, 'they' are fairly dismissed though.
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post #19 of 48
11/10/11 at 3:28am
Thread Starter 
That's what I'm talking about. The Creed effect. Both labels seem to be looked down upon by a certain kind of Basenoter.

A few people have written that Tom Ford gets a lot of love around here but that's beside the point. Yes many of his fragrances are popular, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are respected by everyone. A brand like Malle, for example, seems to carry a lot more weight around here than Tom Ford. And my point was that maybe Ford should be more respected. Of course this is all written based on my new experience with Italian Cypress, which doesn't deserve outright dismissal.
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post #20 of 48
11/10/11 at 3:50am
They seem to get liked on here, ex-gf was all over them also, so I'd say no. Personally I quite liked the ones I have tried and possibly would have bought Grey Vetiver but it is too expensive for what it is imo.
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post #21 of 48
11/10/11 at 3:59am
I haven't found any I love, but if I dismiss them, it's because of the price point and brand value of the products overrates them for me.

Anything relatively costly from a powerfully attractive brand should be subjected to a higher level of interrogation
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post #22 of 48
11/10/11 at 4:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rüssel View Post

They seem to get liked on here, ex-gf was all over them also, so I'd say no. Personally I quite liked the ones I have tried and possibly would have bought Grey Vetiver but it is too expensive for what it is imo.

Really? I fully understand this complaint levelled at the PB's, but Grey Vetiver is less than half their price point unless I'm mistaken isn't it? I think I picked up my 50ml for under £40 - very good value IMO.
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post #23 of 48
11/10/11 at 6:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Davem81 View Post

Really? I fully understand this complaint levelled at the PB's, but Grey Vetiver is less than half their price point unless I'm mistaken isn't it? I think I picked up my 50ml for under £40 - very good value IMO.

You were lucky then. It's around £55 for 50ml in the shops. For that price I want something that causes my eyes to roll back in my head and makes me drool a little, which Grey Vetiver, as nice as it is, didn't.
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post #24 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rüssel View Post

You were lucky then. It's around £55 for 50ml in the shops. For that price I want something that causes my eyes to roll back in my head and makes me drool a little, which Grey Vetiver, as nice as it is, didn't.

Actually thinking back it would've been about £45. It was then £52 full rrp, and I got it for roughly 15% less.
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post #25 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:14am
I have tested most of Tom Ford's fragrances and I own two. Of all the houses I've tried, I've LOVED more of a percentage of his frags than any other house (besides ELdO). Most of his frags get a 5 overall and a 5 longevity on my chart. Many of his frags are on my wishlist. However, I don't end up buying them. One, because I feel they are too expensive, but also because of the bottles of the private blend. I just really hate the shape of the bottles and the fact that most of them are just........brown. I know I'll get blasted for this, and I don't care. I will eventually buy all the Tom Fords on my wishlist, but I would have bought them sooner if they were a little cheaper and if the bottles of the private blend were a little more appealing to me personally.

But are they unfairly dismissed? No! I hear almost nothing but love for Tom Ford on here. In fact, he almost seems to have niche "street cred" even though he is a designer house.
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post #26 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:51am
I really enjoy a lot of his fragrances. I will say that some of them do seem a little linear. That doesn't stop me from wearing them. Some of my favorite scents I own are from the Private Blend line. I agree with the OP, Italian Cypress is great. Noir de Noir is one of the best fragrances I've smelled. Also, I'll have to respectfully disagree with the above post regarding the bottles. I love the simple, brown PB bottles.
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post #27 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:54am
i have black orchid, and i have 3 samples of grey vetiver. i find them amazing, and i can't wait to get my hands on some of the PB.
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post #28 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:59am
Not by me. I love Tobacco Vanille, Amber Absolute, TF Extreme, Moss Breches, Grey Vetiver, Noir de Noir, Italian Cypress and Neroli Portofino. Maybe I'm just easy to please.
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post #29 of 48
11/10/11 at 9:23am
Grey Vetiver is a lovely scent I think. I have tried most others (TF for Men, TF Extreme, Tuscan Leather, TV, Noir de Noir, Italian Cypress, Oud Wood, Black Orchid, Neroli Portofino, Bois Marocain) but felt only GV bottle-worthy. Some nice scents though, no stinkers in the line up. I've bought a friend a bottle of Black Orchid for Xmas as I think it is to her taste - an opulent oriental.
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post #30 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:13pm
I don't think Tom Ford fragrances get dismissed here or anywhere else. They share Tom Ford's personality, whether you like him or not, he is not easy to ignore.

I read many reviews about his fragrances in the bloggosphere. Of course different people have different perceptions about the perfumes.
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post #31 of 48
11/10/11 at 7:54pm
not on this website
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post #32 of 48
11/10/11 at 8:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by heperd View Post

not on this website

+ 1
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post #33 of 48
11/10/11 at 8:06pm
I've seen bond and creed being ripped to shreds. Not tom ford.
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post #34 of 48
11/10/11 at 8:11pm
While the TF line has it's detractors and advocates, you have to admit that their advertising is cause enough for some to be disenchanted by the whole line. Just google "Tom Ford ad", and you'll see what I mean (NSFW at all). Other than that, I find the line to be similar to other house lines; with the exception that Tom Ford has released a plethora of scents (20 something) in about 5 years. Not all of them are going to be good.
- Rich
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post #35 of 48
11/10/11 at 8:11pm
DBL post.
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post #36 of 48
11/11/11 at 3:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by _R$_ View Post

While the TF line has it's detractors and advocates, you have to admit that their advertising is cause enough for some to be disenchanted by the whole line. Just google "Tom Ford ad", and you'll see what I mean (NSFW at all). Other than that, I find the line to be similar to other house lines; with the exception that Tom Ford has released a plethora of scents (20 something) in about 5 years. Not all of them are going to be good.
- Rich

I'm a pretty conservative guy and they surprisingly don't bother me. They were a memorable wow at first but it has worn off.
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post #37 of 48
11/11/11 at 9:57am
It's generally accepted that Ford hit a big home run with Tobacco Vanille; lots of people like Grey Vetiver; and it seems many of his other fragrances are well liked on basenotes. I can't see why anyone would think his fragrances are unfairly dismissed.
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post #38 of 48
11/11/11 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 
I guess I mean lots of people like a lot of pretty shitty fragrances.

Look at what's popular -- most of it is pretty crappy. I guess it's just me, but I assumed that these would be crap because so many people like them. My experience tells me that most people have lousy taste. Hence the popularity of ___________(fill in the blank with the most popular generic crap of the day).

This, of course, is true of not just fragrances but music, movies, books, etc. Many times, popular stuff sucks. So, I was surprised to find that I liked this. It's popular but not bad.
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post #39 of 48
11/11/11 at 12:26pm
The guy is a baller. Love his brand, optics and fragrances.
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post #40 of 48
11/11/11 at 10:01pm
If there's any unfair dismissing, I think it has to do with the fact that he released so many of the Private Blends at once. It's like when a musician releases a record with 15 songs. Inevitably the critics say they should have cut out the weak tracks. But they always disagree on what the weak tracks are. I've noticed something similar with online discussion of the Private Blends. FWIW, my favorites are the discontinued ones: Purple Patchouli and Moss Breches.
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post #41 of 48
11/11/11 at 11:05pm
"Are Tom Ford fragrances sometimes unfairly praised?" might be a better question.
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post #42 of 48
11/11/11 at 11:55pm
Black Orchid is the best smelling womens frag I have ever smelled. TV is great and so is GV I gotta say from what I smelled from Tom Ford fragrances they have been great.
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post #43 of 48
11/12/11 at 2:55am
I don't think so, if anything I think they get hyped up a bit - certainly some, anyway.

I have yet to try one I would pay for - I have seriously tried the ones that sound interesting from the reviews / notes etc. and my take on the line (this is a purely subjective general comment) is that it is very commercial, basically front loaded (some of the openings are beautiful) and then pretty one dimensional and linear. That's cool - straightforward, easy to deal with, no surprises etc. but I find them a bit boring and flat.

Is that unfair? Dunno. Am I a 'certain kind of basenoter'? Dunno. Tried 'em, just not my thing.
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post #44 of 48
11/12/11 at 3:43am
Tom Ford's frags can be likened to a color palette that introduces no new colors; it just happens to be more vivid and bold.

I used to view the linearity of his PBs as a lack of "proper development". My view now is that his personal blends smell great from start to finish. IMHO he does have the best top notes in the business, and Noir de Noir is stunningly breathtakingly beautiful.

Fair to say there's more love than hate for Tom Ford frags here...
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post #45 of 48
11/12/11 at 3:59am
I think Tuscan leather gets unfairly dismissed going by some recent reviews. Unlike a lot of leathers it actually does smell like leather and the combination of the raspberry accord helps give a good contrast to the fragrance.
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post #46 of 48
11/12/11 at 5:53am
I love all my Tom Fords... My only gripe is that Grey Vetiver and Oud Wood don't last as long as I'd like and compared to my others, Neroli Portofino, Italian Cypress and Tobacco Vanille... I've yet to try others from TF, but plan on doing so in the New Year.

I don't feel they are dismissed. From what I see, they get a lot of love around here.
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post #47 of 48
11/12/11 at 6:56am
I remember when I first started sampling Tom Ford. I thought before hand that I would like many of his fragrances based on reviews and comments on Basenotes. I found that there were less than have a dozen that I felt were really purchase worthy for myself. The remainder of his collection styles were already filled by other fragrances on the market and were variations on other themes. I personally ended up with four.
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post #48 of 48
11/12/11 at 9:54am
Pretty much like other houses, some I like and some I don't like as much. There are certainly some gems in the line outside of the more worn ones. I really like Champaca Absolute.

Any dislike I have for Mr Ford is purely based on the fact that he is better looking than me! (By several multiples).
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