Last week I was doing some traveling, and decided to take the book, "Bare Blass" by Bill Blass to keep me entertained while in the airport and in the sky.

There was a particular interesting chapter about the launch of his fragrance line that I thought would not only be interesting from an ancillary aspect of a fragrance line, but slightly amusing and entertaining just the same.

It's from chapter 5 titled, "MEN."



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"Because of the popularity of my men's wear, Charles Revson wanted to license my name to a men's fragrance. He wasn't interested in doing a women's perfume for me, because he had launched Norell and was having such a success with it. He only wanted the men's thing. I Had no experience with a big-time license--though I doubt anyone could have dealt with Charles and come out ahead.

I liked Charles, in the short span that I knew him. He invited me to his parties and, socially, he and his wife, Lyn, were nice. They had a huge apartment, a triplex that now belongs to Henry Kravis, and his yacht, the Ultima II, was the biggest thing going. Their parties were unique. Charles would have five-kilo cans of caviar all over the place, on every table. He did something else that I had never seen, at least at the time. When the first course had been served, which was probably caviar again--this time with a baked potato, which was just come into vogue--the butler would say, "What would you like for the next course? Will you have meat, fish, or chicken?" The butler had been Winston Churchill's butler at Chequers, and they called him Mister Thorpe, or whatever his name was. They didn't call him Thorpe. They called him Mister Thorpe.

After dinner, bingo would be played. The butler would stand at the front of the room and call out the letters. The prizes were always fabulous. A pair of gold Cartier cuff links. Matching sets of Gucci or Hermes luggage. A toilet set embedded with dollar bills. Lavish gifts--and fun, too. I was there one night with Oscar and Francoise de le Renta, and Oscar showed me how you could more easily win by taking two cards, though, honestly, I couldn't keep one going and I never won a thing.

But Charles was not a man of humor. Was he not! He was crazy about having all the related fragrance products--the bronzer, the deodorant, the soap, the after-shave, the conditioners. We had about twenty products. Then he out with something called Men's Other Deodorant--for the crotch. I was amused.

I said, "You mean to tell me a man will use a different deodorant than the one he puts under his arms?"

Charles said, "Just wait. You'll see."

So we launched it, in a subtle way. You can't say "crotch." You say "other." Anyway, one day I got a letter in my office from a gentleman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who wrote: "Mr. Blass, I love your new men's product called Other, but I have one problem that I think I ought to bring to your attention. And that is every time I use it, I get an ere _ _ ion."

I thought: Oh, my God, we'll make a fortune. I called Charles. And, you know, to get a hold of Charles Revson on the phone--it would be easier to reach the White House. He had half a dozen secretaries. I persisted, "No, I've got to talk to Mr. Revson personally. It's very important." He finally took the call and I said, "Charles, we're about to make a fortune." He growled, "What are you talking about?" I read him the letter.

A pause, and then: "That's not funny! He banged down the phone and never mentioned it again.

Years after the initial big splash of the men's fragrance, when it had almost faded from sight, I ran into Franco Zeffirelli in Rome and he said, "I'm crazy about your men's fragrance." I said, "How in the world..." He explained to me that a friend of his stocked it in his perfume shop. I doubt Charles made much money on it, though. I know I never made any money with him, period.

The scent was so erotic for the time. I still have a tiny bit in a bottle in New York.

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Blass, Bill. Bare Blass. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2002, pp. 77-79.



It is obvious that Bill Blass had a wonderful sense of humor, but I still can't quite understand how he actually believed his fragrance line would/could be a success with the "Other" deodorant.

How times have changed! An Interesting and humorous fragrance read nonetheless.

Thanks for sharing this story, Jeffery. Just think, if they had publicized the Other properties of the Other deodorant, it could have become the Viagra of its time and made millions for Revlon!

I'll wager most retail outlets didn't even carry that Other deodorant, though -- think of how seldom you've seen the entire range of ancillary products being sold with a fragrance. Nowadays most lines don't even bother with those lovely extras; I remember I was quite impressed a year or so ago when Prada launched Infusion d'Iris and offered not only bath and body items in the scent but also drawer liners, candles, etc.

Oh I agree! Very few fragrances even "back in the day" came out with such accouterments.

Eternity for Men seems to be one of the FEW fragrances that offer such a line of products. Usually in magazines when there is a scent strip on an Eternity print ad, the inside flap lists all of the products. The last time I checked I believe they were still selling the body talc for Eternity, too!

Contradition was another one. I remember for the men there was a body lotion and a wonderful (I mean WONDERFUL!) bar of soap that came with the "CONTRADICTION" soap dish.

Those were the days!!!

I believe a number of houses offer men's talc and have for some time. I have a shaker of Acqua di Parma talc. I've also seen Aspen, Canoe, and Paul Sebastian scented talcs. Pinaud's Clubman has been around for a while.

I'm not sure what Mr. Blass's thing was - a talc, spray or roll-on. But other than the uplifting effect it provided, it doesn't seem particularly unique.

Very funny. It's nice to hear that this idea was aimed at men at least once. Women have been prodded with deodorants in their pantyliners, tampons, etc for years and I always thought it was so ridiculous that the same attention wasn't paid to de-funking the fellas. None of it necessary, of course, but still a bit chauvinistic to think that guys are somehow naturally and constantly fresh. Please.

Oh, sharil... I have that "spring-fresh feeling" ALL the time!

Thanks for the anecdote, Jeffrey! It has all the elements of a good time.

does it "work" for women too?

Gals, does hubby hold you in that pesky web of indifference? Do you safeguard your dainty feminine allure? Have you committed that grave womanly offense? What's in YOUR fountain syringe?

Oh, my gosh, Dave, I have not seen these, but I have seen others equally laughable in some of my vintage True Confessions and True Stories, for Lysol and Zonite, for the same purpose.
One scenario takes place in divorce court. The judge is counseling the man at the bench, while the wife's friends console her. She says, "My friends were sympathetic but I knew it was my fault. I did not attend to my personal hygiene and had become cold, indifferent, unresponsive. I should have used Lysol, which kills all foreign matter and does not harm delicate tissues."

Cold, indifferent, unresponsive? Yes, that can certainly contribute to marriage breakdown, but what does that have to do with Lysol?

Another one: The exquisitely well groomed, attractive, wife reaches out to touch her husband, who flinches away with an irritated look.

Again: The attractive wife looks outside her window on a lonely evening wondering why he stays away night after night.

I make fun of these with my husband and wonder why a daily bath would not solve their problem.

I just read "salt" in the second advertisement. My gosh, talk about rubbing salt in a wound.

Those ads are amazing! I never imagined these things were EVER discussed or mentioned or indeed advertised in the (I assume) 50's!!
What on earth is a 'fountain syringe'??? Sounds like every woman was expected to have one!!
MB

Gah! My ladybits are recoiling in horror just reading those ads! Lysol! AHHH!!!

This reminds me strongly of the Tom Robbins book Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. The protagonist is on this female hygiene ranch owned by the creator of a specialty line of douches and feminine sprays. The creator is this queeny gay man named "The Countess" who is abjectly horrified by the idea that women's vaginas smell like anything other than flowers. Then there are these feminist cowgirls working on the ranch who stage a coup by surrounding the Countess, taking off their pants, and proclaiming something along the lines of, "Not one of these p***** has been washed in a month!"

Back on topic, I loved the original story about Bill Blass. Suuure, he made the ###### discovery when a concerned gentleman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana wrote him a letter. I wonder if it didn't just have a really high alcohol content.

ETA: E R E C T I O N. B A L L S B A L L S B A L L S.

There is another vintage ad that had a beautiful girl who met the man of her dreams at a party. He was very taken with her but never called. The beautiful girl pined away for him and her friend told her that she didn't wear clean undergarments every day. (?!) So she washed her underwear with LUX and her friend threw another party, where she showed up with clean underwear this time. He told her he would never let her get away again. LOL

LOL

I can imagine this subject being brought up on Mad Men, the t.v. series! LOL!! They will have Betty test them out and get her womanly opinion like they did last season with that weight loss girdle which turned out to be a vibrator in disguise! LOL!!!!!

Just imagine Don Draper pitching a slogan for female hygeine products! LOL!!!!! I can see it now!

These ads are hilarious!!!

i have to chime in with this men's product i found - balla powder for men. my guy friends think it's silly, but you would not believe how many page views this article gets! some men really do believe they need it, if all the google searches are an indication.

http://www.scentsignals.com/scentsignals/2...ball-powde.html

i have a man panel standing by to do a product test, btw.

Well, I guess it's time for me to come out of the closet. The talc closet that is.

Moisture and chafing (not to mention itching) can indeed be a problem - warm area, sweat glands, friction. Talc (I know not of Balla) can go a long way in keeping the Southern Hemisphere more comfortable when working out, driving long distances, drumming, or working outdoors on a hot day. And I have to go with unscented. The Acqua di Parma Colonia talc I have just develops unpleasantly throughout the day. I am a firm believer that there are places where scent wasn't meant - at least for long periods of time.

Sure, man damp may not be quite as earthshaking as 13-year-old Olympic winners, but there's nothing wrong with being comfortable.

Just thought of this but there are "other men" out there like men to smell like men au natural. I'm not saying I like men to reek in that department, NO!!! I believe in absolute cleaniness at all times. But I don't know if I would put any sort of powder on my naughty bits here.

I swear I don't think men really as reek as bad in this department as some may think. Hmmm... "Rufus, SHUT UP!"


That might have come out the wrong way so I'm sorry if I might've offended anyone!

Nothing offensive there, as far as I can tell. But, um, I'd politely, ever-so-gently disagree. Not all. Maybe not even most. But some. And those some make up for the rest. Without turning this into an adults-only kind of topic, I'll stop now.

"Now Mary Sue, you know I am your best friend. But those panties of yours! I smelled you in the rec room, at the soda shoppe, now here at the sock hop! can you blame him? I could lend you some of my sulfuric acid/plutonium lye solution for your fountain syrings...."

Not to gross anybody out but I bet those panties stood up on their own!

Mando, come closer.... Psst... we've been meaning to tell you....

Ok. I haven't got it yet. I see scissors, a turtleneck, and Michaelangelo's David.

Well, there are some men that really do reek bad in this department so I do take my opinion back. Maybe a "special" deodorant is necessary.

This subject can totally go into the dreaded "Adults Only" subject territory in a heartbeat. I'll just keep my mouth shut.

Those advertisements that Rasp posted are hilarious though, LOL!!! I can't stop laughing at them! "Lysol! I mean really LYSOL! for a female syringe! Oy Vay!" LOL!!!

It almost sounds like the women of yesteryear were shooting up with deodorant because they smelled like they came off a tuna boat! LOL!!!!!!!!!!

ROTHFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

ROFL!!