Serge Lutens La Vierge de Fer is proof that to know what something smells like, the perfume’s name, description, and marketing materials often aren’t enough. Serge Lutens’s references to Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, medieval torture devices, and the “essential nature” of lilies probably won’t help you pin down La Vierge de Fer’s nature. Years of sampling such Lutens favorites as Ambre Sultan and Chergui aren’t going to get you very far, either.

I’m going to gin up a new Vierge de Fer marketing campaign to give you a better idea of what the fragrance actually smells like. First, let’s rename it. Vierge de Fer is too harsh and enigmatic for such a gentle, romantic perfume. I know Serge would kill me, but let’s twist the title a bit and call the fragrance Maiden’s Dream. (I hear the groans already.)

For our marketing campaign, we’ll toss out the cubist painting of prostitutes and substitute a summer-dappled Berthe Morisot. I don’t want to make this too “July afternoon,” because the fragrance does carry a hint of metal and musk…

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