Gene Kelly's Signature Scent: Unveiling His Cologne Choice

Gene Kelly was an American dancer, singer and actor whose career spanned from 1938 to 1996. He is best known for his performances in 'Cover Girl', 'Anchors Aweigh', 'Singin' in the Rain', and 'Brigadoon'. In his later years, Kelly wore Jaques Fath's Green Water, a citrusy, floral and herbal fragrance. However, it is unclear what cologne he wore during his youth.

Lucien Lelong Sirocco

The bottle was designed by John Buckingham and is a twisted glass bottle. It was also presented in the gold-plated bottle used for other Lelong perfumes. Lucien Lelong Sirocco was featured in the 1955 Harper's Bazaar:

> Sirocco, "by Lucien Lelong, belongs to the woody, leafy, mossy group of perfumes— camouflaged here in a gold-plated flacon. 1 ounce, $20."

In the 1951 movie *An American in Paris*, Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) visits a perfume shop in Paris, where he meets Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), who works there as a shop assistant. In one scene, three bottles of Lucien Lelong Sirocco and a giant bottle of Elsa Schiaparelli Shocking can be seen. Other perfumes featured in the movie include Lucien Lelong Tailspin cologne, Guerlain flacon montre, Lucien Lelong Orgueil, Lucien Lelong Balalaika cologne, and Lucien Lelong Jabot.

Lucien Lelong Tailspin cologne

Lucien Lelong Tailspin is a cologne for women with a floral green scent. It was launched in 1940 and is described as having a fresh and sweet fragrance with a spicy note. The nose behind this fragrance is Jean Carles, who also created the perfume Miss Dior. The top notes of Tailspin include herbal notes, green notes, cinnamon, aldehydes, citruses, cloves, and fruity notes. The middle notes are gardenia, carnation, hyacinth, Bulgarian rose, and lily-of-the-valley. The base notes are ambergris, tobacco, resins, oakmoss, pine tree, patchouli, wormwood, sandalwood, galbanum, and musk. The perfume was known as Passionnement in Europe and came in a 120 ml eau de cologne bottle.

The cologne has received several reviews online. One person describes the scent as "extremely green and spicy with some florals in the background". Another reviewer mentions that the "tobacco note is rather strong" and it reminds them of someone smoking a cigarette nearby. The longevity of the fragrance is reported to be around 3 hours, with moderate sillage. The bottle design is also noted to be unique, with an unusual hobnail shape.

In the movie "An American in Paris" (1951), Jerry Mulligan (played by Gene Kelly) visits a perfume shop in Paris, where he meets Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), who works there as a shop assistant. In one of the scenes, a bottle of Lucien Lelong Tailspin cologne can be spotted on the glass table on the left, along with other perfumes and beauty products. This movie appearance showcases the vintage appeal of the fragrance.

Guerlain flacon montre

In the 1951 film *An American in Paris*, Jerry Mulligan (Gene Kelly) visits a perfume shop in Paris where he meets Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), who works there as a shop assistant. The Guerlain flacon montre is one of the many perfumes visible in the shop.

The flacon montre was created by Pochet et du Courval to hold eaux de toilette. It was first used with Cachet Jaune in 1936 and also held various other scents such as Shalimar, Mitsouko, Jicky, Fol Arome, Chamade, Chant D'Aromes, Liu, L'Heure Bleue, Vol de Nuit, Sous Le Vent, Chypre 53, and Parure. The bottle comes in several sizes, ranging from 50ml to 3 litres. The stopper was changed twice during the flacon montre's production run: from 1936-1972, it had a ground glass stopper; from 1972-1979, it had a gold screw-cap stopper; and from 1979-1999, it had a plastic stopper. The central disk of colour on the bottle varied according to the perfume it contained. Shalimar, for example, originally had a red dot, but was later produced with a navy blue dot.

The flacon montre has made appearances in several TV shows and films, including *The Crown*, *The Return of the Pink Panther*, *The Day of the Jackal*, *The Women*, *Selena: The Series*, and *Halston*.

Lucien Lelong Balalaika cologne

Lucien Lelong Balalaika is a fragrance for women that was launched in 1939. It is a floral woody musk with top notes of mandarin orange, middle notes of violet, gardenia and palisander rosewood, and base notes of musk, woody notes and vanilla. The perfume has received generally positive reviews, with wearers describing it as "opulence" and "one of the softest floral vintages".

The Balalaika cologne was featured in the 1951 film An American in Paris, starring Gene Kelly. In the scene, Kelly's character, Jerry Mulligan, visits a perfume shop in Paris, where he meets shop assistant Lise Bouvier, played by Leslie Caron. The perfume shop features several Lelong perfumes, including Balalaika cologne and eau de toilette, as well as Tailspin cologne, Sirocco, Orgueil, and Indiscret.

Lucien Lelong Jabot

Lucien Lelong was a prominent French couturier and fashion designer from the 1920s to the 1940s. His fashion house was one of the largest in Paris during the interwar period, and he played an important role in the management of the French fashion industry during World War II. Lelong was born into the business, with his parents owning a fashion store called A.E. Lelong on Place de la Madeleine in Paris. He studied political science and graduated with a business degree before serving in World War I, where he suffered shrapnel wounds to his face and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

After the war, Lelong returned to the family business, which was renamed Lucien Lelong in 1921. In 1924, he moved his fashion house to Avenue Matignon in Paris and began creating perfumes. Between 1925 and 1952, he created and sold over 40 perfumes, with his early fragrances named A, B, C, J, and N, intending to evoke a sense of mystery and romance. Lelong designed most of his perfume bottles himself, taking inspiration from fabrics, garlands, feathers, and modern architecture.

In 1939, Lelong launched Jabot, a cologne presented in a glass bottle featuring a satin bow with an integrated capsule in the shape of a knot. The bottle stands at 7 cm tall and sits on a base. This cologne was featured in the 1951 film "An American in Paris," starring Gene Kelly, who visits a perfume shop in Paris and meets shop assistant Lise Bouvier (played by Leslie Caron). In the film, three bottles of Lucien Lelong Sirocco and a giant bottle of Elsa Schiaparelli Shocking can be spotted, along with other Lelong perfumes such as Orgueil, Balalaika cologne, and Sirocco.

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