Comments on: Etat Libre d’Orange Tom of Finland ~ fragrance review

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:54:36 +0000

My fave from the range is Putaines de Palaces but have to admire the gritty realism of Magnificent Secretions. I think Tom of Finland is about juxtaposition – it's not animalic, it's not spicy or overwhelming. It's actually refined. It's a fragrance a gentleman would wear, clean and not diffusive. It's a respectful take on homosexuality and very representative of the gay community. But most of all, it's not what you'd expect, and that's cool.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:22:28 +0000

Joe San Diego: so far none of the ELdO scents I've tried have wow'ed me…but I still have more to sample. The base notes of ToF and DCQ are not “me.”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 08:13:55 +0000

I have tried most of the ELd'O fragrances, and am not a big fan of most. They all seem to have a strong sweet smell, and some smell sour, but there are a few standouts that I would wear regularly if they had a place in California where I could buy them, or at least have them shipped nationally. So far I love Secretions Magninfique which smells like people….like people packed in a club dancing the night away….it has a humidity note to it all the while smelling fresh and crisp. I love it. Tom's is also excellent, strange, alien, and fresh at the same time. I also love Delicious Closet Queen as it reminds me so strongly of one of my old favorites “Feeling Man” by Jilsander.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:52:54 +0000

Llol, that'd be a pure leather (and maybe steel/metalic) note!!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:43:06 +0000

lapidary: yes, many ToF drawings/”cartoons” are more humorous than sultry…speaking of strange-sized body parts — the men look like they have 16-inch waists don't they?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:31:11 +0000

In my other life as an art historian, I wrote a paper of Tom of Finland for a class in masculinity and visual representation several years back. I haven't smelled the juice yet, but have an abiding fondness (as a straight woman) for Tom's drawings. I went to the Tom of Finland foundation in LA, run by a former lover of Tom's, and found the people there to be really nice, and very anxious to publicize Tom and his work.
As for the nipples and large pecs, IIRC one of my theses about the work was that the male physiques were SO over the top that they registered as parody, calling into question the distinct roles of male or female. I swear it made sense at the time.
I did all this research during a dry spell for relationships, spending several hours each day for a couple of months with Tom's men, and I remember being distinctly surprised that not all men's anatomies were quite so…hem…DEVELOPED when the dry spell ended.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:25:59 +0000

Wow those nipples are impressively large lol.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:47:35 +0000

Joe: TRUE about Cadmus…there's a brand new documentary out about Cadmus and his partner; I missed it at the film festival here in Seattle but it should be on DVD soon.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:45:50 +0000

Santemon: Querelle is GREAT…I can't believe it was limited edition.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:17:53 +0000

Or how about a Folsom Street Fair flanker? This doesn't sound interesting enough to seek out a sample, especially if it dries down to gauzy and perfume-y (not that there's anything wrong with that).

I mentioned on Perfume Smellin Things that one day I'm going to make a faux pas and refer to my “Tom's of Finland” toothpaste or deodorant when I really mean “Tom's of Maine.” Talk about antitheses.

Oh, and I'd say some of Paul Cadmus's works — though less overtly and exclusively gay — kind of predated Tom of Finland's whole aesthetic. I think I remember reading that there's an interesting Tom of Finland museum in Helsinki or something.