Blog post by Gwen
Sartorial – traditional and modern and refined
Photo: perfumeniche
As a teenager, I made many of my clothes – dresses, blouses, skirts and pants. I didn’t want to wear what everyone else was wearing. I wanted to wear something unique. I still do; maybe that’s why I’m drawn to niche fragrances. Back then, I had more time than money, so spending the weekend fussing with fluttery pattern paper and tailor’s chalk, cutting out material with big heavy shears, pressing darts and seams with a steam iron and bending over a sewing machine to make the perfect party dress was fun.
So, when I read that Penhaligon’s, the venerable British perfume house, was launching a perfume that was inspired by the aroma and odours of the workroom at Norton & Sons, the bespoke Savile Row tailor, I was intrigued. What would such a perfume smell like? Signed by renowned perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, I knew Sartorial would be something special, and it is.
Walter Norton, a tailor, founded Norton & Sons in 1821. The company thrived and soon dressed aristocrats, royalty and kings. Over time, the business grew, and by the latter half of the 20th century, they expanded and began making clothes for movie stars, sportsmen, adventurers, and heads of state. They switched it up again in the last decade by collaborating with designers like Christian Louboutin and Alexander McQueen. All to say, Norton & Sons is not some stuffy old brand. Rather, it’s a distinguished one that has evolved without abandoning its roots.
It opens clean, fresh, and slightly soapy from aldehydes. It’s the scent of a traditional barbershop that’s a nod to Penhaligon's origins. It’s followed by a citrus blast of neroli and a metallic zing from the violet leaf, so realistic I could hear shears cutting through cloth. As it settles, an ozonic effect comes forward that’s joined by cardamom, black pepper, and ginger, which add a complex yet gentle, spicy warmth that calls to mind a steam iron on hot cloth. As it moves to the heart, the classic fougère gets a contemporary interpretation when a note of beeswax runs through the heart and links lavender to cyclamen, linden blossom, and leather. At the base, it connects oakmoss and tonka bean to Gurgum wood cedarwood and woody-edged patchouli. A note of myrrh is slightly spicy and smoky. Vanilla and amber add sweetness, and white musk gives Sartorial warmth and sensuality.
It dries down to a smooth, sophisticated, distinguished masculine fragrance that can be worn by men of any age. It’s the smell of a gentleman who has been sitting in the changerooms of a posh tailor; the leather chairs, old wooden shelves, and his cologne mingled with the faint smells from the workshop that drift in.
Sartorial is a fougère for the 21st century, rooted in tradition yet modern and refined.
Check out Sartorial in our Shop.
