Tart's Knicker Drawer

Tart's Knicker Drawer takes its name from a British grandmother's phrase for a woman who has sprayed a little too much perfume before a night out looking for trouble. The house created it almost by accident, filtering six different fragrances together one evening and finding the combined aroma too good to leave alone. This limited edition bottles that same mid-century floral amber at full parfum strength. Grapefruit, pink pepper, bergamot and orange open it with a zesty, slightly spiced citrus burst before the composition sinks into a rich floral heart: raspberry adds a fruity sweetness, violet and jasmine bring the powdery, indolic depth the era's perfumes were known for, and rose ties the bouquet together. The base is where the parfum strength shows itself most, a smoky, resinous mix of amber, musk, tobacco and benzoin, warmed by vanilla and given a new spiced-incense edge that reads more grown-up and smouldering than the EDP's own drydown. This is styled explicitly as an evening fragrance, meant to be dabbed on when dressed up for a night dancing the slow foxtrot, and the parfum concentration gives it the staying power to survive a full evening out. It sits close rather than filling a room, but the richness of the base means it announces itself the moment someone gets close, which is rather the point of a scent named for looking a little too glamorous. It sits as the rare, richer sibling of a house favourite already loved for its old-Hollywood floral amber character, for anyone who wants that same 1950s glamour with a smokier, more voluptuous edge for special occasions.