Jil Sander Man II
Jil Sander (1982)

Heidemarie Jiline "Jil" Sander is known as the "Queen of Less" for her minimalist fashions, something which translates to the fragrances that bear her name as well, even today. Square bottles, sometimes with two sections connected by a crease, perfectly rectangular bottles, simple bold leitmotifs, and sometimes unadorned cylinders greet the potential purchaser of a Sander fragrance. To show just how true this minimalism and simplicity has always been, we look back at the "sequel" to Jil Sander Men/Men Pure (1981), called Jil Sander Men II (1982). The original men's and women's fragrances all seem to come in numbered sequels, which may seem perfectly boring, but that's just par for the course with the less-is-more aesthetic. Jil Sander Men II is a restrained exercise in mossy, bitter chypre structures, utilizing iris in a way familiar to those who have smelled Balenciaga Ho Hang (1972), to sharpen up the overall arboreal nature of the scent. Iris is by far not the focus of this stuff, so don't get it in your mind that you're dealing with some Neanderthal missing link to Dior Homme (2005) or something, because you're not.

The opening is dry bergamot and herbs, no surprise there. After that, we get some geranium and a bit of violet mixed with very carefully-wielded jasmine, based out with castoreum. Jil Sander II will seem familiar to those who have sniffed Caractère by Daniel Hechter (1989) in this stage, until the pine and patchouli sharpen up the composition later on to more resemble another late 80's chypre in the form of the namesame Sergio Tacchini (1987). Crossing all these various streams for fragrances that had yet to be makes me wonder if some of those later fragrances weren't adjusted mods from the brief for this one, as they all seem six of one, half-dozen of another in terms of being apart from one another. That said, the Daniel Hechter is my favorite of the three-way comparison, and the only thing really standing out for me with the Sander is the violet and iris, likely from ionones and not orris butter with the latter. My feeling is this was likely the sharper and sportier counterpart to the first Sander Man, if the notes of that one are anything to go by. Performance is "80's good", so make of that what you will.

Sander Man II offers more evidence that not not every men's market fragrance was boldly original and standout from every other one as some of the more self-gaslit overly-romantic collectors of vintage fragrances will have you believe, it's just there were only a fraction of releases per year, with much smaller distribution footprints for most brands not Dior or Chanel, and there wasn't a readily-accessible internet for fans of scent to connect the dots with one another over differences of formula or similarity of style as they do now. Then again, I need to remind people that most of these fragrances from the 70's and 80's were either meant to be a man's only fragrance, or part of a small vanity set of maybe three, as with Sander's sequels or the various "sport" and "haute concentration" variants that tended to crop up a year or two later from the main line. It was a different market then, both better and worse than now in many ways, although Sander Man II neither makes an argument for better or worse with it's existence. A competent release, made more desirable and praiseworthy through sheer rarity and expense on the aftermarket these days, you'd just the same be satisfied with the Hechter or Sergio Tacchini scents for less coin. Thumbs up

Opening with bitter herbs, artemisia, pines and citrus, Jil Sander Man II soon reveals just what makes itself unique, a huge flourish of iris that rivals that of Chanel No 19. A surprise to the nose, its arresting quality contrasting with the bitter, aromatic opening, with ashy, musky bubbles coming through as if from a witchy cauldron.

It dries down to soapy castoreum and moss, a mildly powdery undercurrent, reminding me of the dust on vinyl records, the smell of eight track tapes, prog rock records being played, a fiber optic fountain light from Spencer's Gifts and a freshly vacuumed carpet. The nostalgia is real here, and it smells terrific.

This was a staple of mine many years ago. Iris and oakmoss in a very pleasant balance. Restrained but rich. Those were the days...