Quadrille

too bad that a: quadrille isn't a guy and b: i've sworn off marriage anyway. if i ever run into a guy whose last name is Quadrille, i may have to take it as a sign from God, and try again. there are at LEAST 250 perfumes living in my house. tho' fickle, by no means have i loved every single one. i have had my favorites, and i think i have mentioned that x is my favorite on this very blog site. quadrille moved in just over 2 months ago. they haven't stayed long, and i've had to buy 5 bottles in that short time. i suffer the curse of favoring the discontinued and hard to find. in the OFFICIAL PERFUME DICTIONARY, when you look up discontinued there is a one word definition: expensive. as quadrille is not as plentiful as many other discontinueds, it's pricey. naturally smaller bottles are less expensive, but sellers of rare perfumes are, in general, a delusional lot. i've seen 2 oz (it's an edt) listed for 69, and the same amount listed for 299. (i wrote to that seller, suggesting rehab and a reality seminar.) none the less, i've dropped over 500 dollars on quadrille in just over 2 months. with bottle 5 dwindling at the same rate as my meager bank account, i decided to take action. so i contracted to sell a kidney. and then, heaven descended from the sky, and landed, of all places, on ebay. at this very moment i am bidding on a one quart (as in "a quart of milk, please) of quadrille. i can barely count, even using my fingers, but intuition tells my that that's one hell of a lot of ounces. we are 4 days into the auction. the starting price was 50 something. i bid first. another gal was up for the challenge, but retired from the field in short order. that quart is currently standing at 117. there has been no further activity for 2 days. unless there are at least 2 people who are crazy for a perfume, huge bottles of perfume never bring in what they are worth. even if you're crazy about a fragrance, there aren't many people out there as eccentric and over the top as i am. even i must admit that saturating my skin and clothing every 2 or so hours is, um, exessive? compulsive? let's get real - i have a serious problem. as life's problems go, it just isn't serious enough to make the fix it list. and face it, kids, pets and brothers are all problems, too. brothers in particular are HUGE problems, so i've been told. but we don't try to get rid of them. mostly. we maniacs are a small minority. a normal person might love a perfume but figure they won't live long enough to use a whole quart. so i'll get it, and probably for under 200 dollars - but even if it goes much higher, when you consider my expenditure to date, it's worth my while to pay up. so, for now, i think i'll have a good week or two of quadrille before i have to think about selling my body parts. i wonder if anyone needs an earlobe transplant.

As I write this, I am experiencing yet another cloudy, grey day here in New England. Weeks of the same, with the occasional burst of sun reminding me of its critical nourishment, and, like torture, the clouds swallow the rays back up. It's enough to make anyone feel listless and uninspired. I sit looking at the books I've yet to read, finding it myself to muster the concentration, looking with resentment at my phone, feeling the ache in my back from far too many hours sitting in front of work monitors. I sprayed some Quadrille; to some, it's considered merely Balenciaga's version of a fruity chypre, "me too!" "We did it too." Today, though, as I wear it, I realize there's more depth and meaning for me. It's one of the earlier uses of cardamom in a modern fragrance, adding a layer of intrigue to the skin, beyond the usual peach lactones, plummy liquor, and clove-flower bouquet. I am reminded of my old Uncle Roy's liquor cabinet that I'd sneak into, of course not to drink, silly, I was single-digit aged, "you may look, but don't sip!". I would just marvel at the amber and burgundy colored liquid in the cut-crystal carafes. I would sneak them open to just sniff, though. Quadrille is reminding me of the aromas. The dry, spiced framework holds throughout the development, perhaps stern and dowdy to the wrong noses. To the right noses, a cause for elation and sweet memories. The warm-liquor amber seeps through the dry surface, dusty mahogany cabinetry, faint jasmine whispers, moss-laden apparitions from times that we can't decide were simpler or more complicated. It makes me want to watch film noir (I am glad I have a Criterion Channel subscription) and escape for a few hours. I chose this 90s version (bar-code on the box), before it was discontinued, as I've heard that Quadrille tends not to age too well, and I wanted to capture the closest approximation to its spirit. It's a terrific bygone gem that is giving me some light when the clouds just won't part.

In a world of bright sugar-bombs, Quadrille occupies the lonely space in the corner. It battles enigmatic sweetness with an impossible darkness, refusing immaturity. The 1950s mini I have in my hand has densely compacted decades of history into just a few precious drops. It takes clearly after Femme, but smells as though it had to wait its turn. The Prunol base, has been greedily taken by Roudnitska to construct the generous, sticky Femme, leaving Balenciaga with the thick, sludgy nectar at the bottom of the barrel. It is at once aged and plummy, but lacks the sweet peach jam, instead leaning heavily into the earthy, suede-like leatheriness, brought to life with spices of clove and cardamom. It is quiet and subdued, reserved and shut away from the famous plum perfume we all know, and yet thrives on its own two feet. This shadowy, humid potion of fat prunes and cloves, swimming in a retired oak barrel, is the nepo-baby of Femme, and yet manages to occupy a darker territory Rochas never quite ventured into.

I have a vintage bottle of Qualdrille. Let me start by saying this baby lasts a really long time, more than 12 hours and after a shower I can still smell it on my skin. Clove and cardamon provides a wonderful spice framework, sweetened with fruits although my nose cannot pick out which specifically. Amber jasmine and musk warms the composition and provides a base that lasts and lasts. I think the cardamon and fruit provide a unique intensity and dramatic contrast to Qualdrille. Cardamon and Cloves are so intense they are difficult to balance, but this composition pulls it off spectacularly. I'm updating this review...I've been wearing this more recently and this frangrace has skyrocketed to my favorite.... a magical fragrance that whisks you away on an exotic adventure surrounded by beauty. I need more....

Oakmoss and patchouli should be listed in the base-notes. And there's a note of anise that might be missed if you aren't looking for it. And the heliotrope, of course. Anyway... So gorgeous! God, I wish they still made fragrances like this- I'd wear my precious little amount more-often than I can now afford. Fruity, but very dry against the oakmoss- like expensive champagne just for your nose! Warm with amber, rich with distinct resins modifying the labdanum with minute curls of incense graced with subtle spices. At once glamorous, restrained, and exotic- I see the comparisons with the chypres Mitsouko (heliotrope, jasmine, spices) and Goutal's Mon Parfum Cheri (heliotrope, plum, and patch), but this takes things to another level. (PS-I'm not a huge Mitsouko fan)

Thank goodness I didn't come up against oopsfauxpas on an ebay auction for this gorgeous bottle, because it would have been Thunderdome. And this perfume is worth the spilled blood. Quadrille is amber perfection; it is everything I ever wanted in an amber perfume. (Vintage) Quadrille is a warm amber, whose simplicity belies its beauty. Balanced to perfection. Spice, fruit, and floral notes do not fight for attention. Rather, they play together as if they were meant to co-exist: like peas in a very beautiful amber pod. There is no plastic-y vibe to the amber note, no spice market to contend with. No gratuitous note to challenge my senses. Just one of the most superb perfumes ever created. Bonus: one of the most beautiful bottles in perfume history.

Oh my word, this is lovely. I bought a decant on a whim and it is so good. It is an older fragrance and reminds me very much of Creed Angelique encens (not at all similar in scent, but similar in the mood and atmosphere it creates). It's sultry, sexy, and dark. I don't get the floral note so much on me, it seemed to go almost straight to spiciness. It is quite masculine and mature, and is made for seduction.

Ah, the rapturous "Quadrille!" Weaving sinuous waves of an almost indescribable, smokey, piquant floral ambience around you. And it lasts, and "wafts" rather than hits you over the head like some of the more recent, modern perfumes. Like someone once said, perfume should be a subtle suggestion, not an open invitation.....

I love it. One of my favourite "old lady perfumes". I get the comparisons to Femme. My partner says it's like a dusty version of Femme. Very warm and mossy. I'd love to wear this with silk clothing in the summertime.

It is like the mixture of scents from a L U S H shop. If you had been in one you'd know this rich soap - yum yum - I am going to spend a fortune here I love the feeling so much state of mind /madness/!

Lovely & deep & boozy, with a pleasant burnt note to start. Very complex and pretty. Another Balenciaga masterpiece!

Why was this discontinued? One of my favourites, so elegant, although it didn't keep as well as some...

It smells like a Lush shop before Christmas. A+ And it last and lasts 10 hours in my case. Go vtg!

Recently rediscovered this (vintage parfum)after many years - what a heavenly reunion!

I have a couple bottles of this I bought on ebay (where else!) in the past and I am mystified that it seems there isn't much I can smell which I would call a floral element or a top note. However, on me it smells like a very pure chypre basenote, nice, but missing. The way I use it is to act as a fixative for floral scents which need more on the bottom, and it works extremely well for that purpose. Yeah! Oakmoss!!

You would expect a perfume named after a dance to be lively and exciting. Quadrille is actually rather sedate, a perfume that a lady would wear. It is dry and mossy rather than sweet and sparkling. It is warm, spicy, and ambery. It is somewhat like Femme but less fruity. This is a perfume for a confident woman who knows that seduction is slow and subtle, not hurried and explosive.

Very like vintage Rochas Femme, but somehow not quite as rich or well rounded. Dry, chypre with powdery iris

Mine is OLD. All the top notes are gone, and it smells mostly of spices with some musk and a little bit of sweetness from the amber underpinning it. There’s a tiny touch of something soapy/floral, but that’s about it for this one. A little bit 1950’s housewife-y. Sad that it was apparently so badly cared for before it got to me. 2/10

Same pharmacy has 4 bottles of this stuff. I tested this out for all the great reviews here. Unfortunatly all i got was a hit of chanel no.5. which is exactly what i cant stand ( its my mother's perfume). This one is definatly for chanel no.5 lovers. I'm definatly a coco fan. I definatly get the hollywood 50's glamour vibe .

This smells exactly like my grandmothers hairspray! But i am not a vintage perfume girl, so maybe it's just me!