Courrèges — Courreges In Blue Eau de Toilette
Essence
Courreges In Blue Eau de Toilette is the 2011 reissue of the house’s 1983 floral-aldehydic chypre, and its identity is inseparable from that lineage. Where the 1983 original is remembered as rich, cold and complex, this version is a softer, greener, more modern reinterpretation under the same name and the same perfumer credit, Edouard Flechier. It reads as a clean chamomile-and-galbanum chypre rather than a grand vintage statement, which makes it a budget echo of an 80s classic.
Scent Profile
The opening is crisp and green: aldehydes and galbanum with a touch of ginger, giving an initial almost-chypre impression that lands as genuinely promising. There is lift and a cool snap, but none of the heaviness of a vintage powerhouse.
The heart turns herbal-aromatic. Chamomile is the dominant impression for many wearers, framed by soft rose and jasmine, and the effect is often read as soapy, powdery, hay-like or sun-warmed hay. This is where the fragrance shows its clean, slightly old-fashioned character.
The drydown is a soft, mossy-woody base of oakmoss, patchouli and sandalwood, present but restrained and without the depth or coldness of the original. The whole composition stays fairly linear, with one wearer noting very little development over time. The lasting signature is a green-aldehydic chamomile soap resting over light moss.
Performance
Performance skews soft and reports are mixed. Longevity runs below average and projection is light: several wearers describe it as faint and skin-close, while others get roughly six hours of decent wear. Spraying generously and applying to clothing both help. Treat it as a gentle, well-mannered daytime scent rather than something that fills a room.
Wearing Context
This is a daytime, transitional-season fragrance, most at home in spring and autumn green-chypre territory, though some wearers enjoy it in cold weather too. Its clean, soapy-green character suits the office, daywear and casual-elegant settings, and the soft sillage makes it safe in close quarters. It reads feminine but restrained and slightly classic, with an androgynous green edge several wearers note; mature and understated rather than youthful or overtly sexy.
Comparisons & DNA
The most useful comparisons are within the In Blue family itself. Against the 1983 original it is the thinner, softer interpretation, and against the 2014 Eau de Parfum it is a distinct variation with its own emphasis. Outside the house, the vintage lineage invites comparison to Estee Lauder White Linen for its aldehydic-elegant opening, though White Linen turns warmer in the base. Hermes Amazone shares a black-currant facet but reads classier and less thick. Within Courreges, there is moss-and-aldehyde kinship with Empreinte.
Reception
Reception divides along whether the wearer knows the vintage. Those who do tend to find the 2011 thin, likening it to a classic aftershave diluted in cold water and missing the richness and coldness of the original. Blind-buyers without that reference often enjoy it as a pleasant, soapy-green 80s-style chypre at a bargain price, and several report it grew on them with repeated wear. The other dividing lines are performance expectations, since the faintness frustrates some, and tolerance for aldehydes. As an inexpensive, gentle green chypre it is a low-risk pick, provided you do not expect the legendary vintage.
Versions & Reformulation
In Blue exists in several meaningfully different forms. The 1983 original was a fuller floral-aldehydic chypre with an extended pyramid (marigold, coriander, basil, tuberose, peach and a complete chypre base). This 2011 Eau de Toilette is a simplified reinterpretation with a slimmer pyramid, and a 2014 Eau de Parfum followed with its own lavender-led emphasis. Wearers report the releases smell distinct from one another, with the vintage generally considered superior. This 2011 EDT is now discontinued.
Acquisition Notes
The reissues are a known bargain and the 2011 EDT in particular has circulated cheaply through clearance and discount channels, often well under typical designer pricing. It was sold as an eau de toilette in a plain cylindrical bottle with a round cap. Vintage 1983 bottles command higher prices and collector interest. Because several In Blue versions exist, confirm a listing is the 2011 EDT if that is the one you want, and check freshness given the fragrance’s age and discontinuation.
Notable Facts & Lore
- Courreges is the space-age fashion house of Andre Courreges, popularly called the father of the miniskirt.
- In Blue is one of three classic Courreges fragrances, alongside Empreinte (1971) and Eau de Courreges (1977).
- The perfumer of record across In Blue versions is Edouard Flechier, who also created Dior Poison.
- The fragrance has inspired unusually poetic writing, with one feature comparing its melting-icicle aldehydic freshness to a Tyutchev poem about spring.
- The proliferation of distinct In Blue versions traces to Courreges repeatedly reshuffling its classics across ownership changes.