Smells Like...Recovery? A Report from the Fragrance Foundation Annual Awards

What does the recession smell like? We sniffed out a few answers at the Fragrance Foundation’s FiFi Awards ceremony held recently at the 69th Regiment Armory.

Tossing out an expletive, the actor Dustin Hoffman paused to offer a more a thoughtful response. "We need a metaphor for an answer, because the question is metaphorical,” Mr. Hoffman, once an aroma tester for Maxwell House Coffee, said. “Decay! The culture and the smell. We – not we, collectively – but the people behind it were wanting something for nothing. That'll catch up to you.”

Lisa and Dustin Hoffman

“It stinks it's like garbage, stank garbage,” said Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose Sean John cologne I Am King won the award for Fragrance of the Year.

Sean "Diddy" Combs

"It smells like “a wet dog,” said Barneys creative director Simon Doonan, “but not in a nice way,” the way his Norwich terrier Liberace smells.

Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan

The fair scent of perfume just may be a remedy for the recession’s foul odor.

“It's good if men wear fragrances,” Mr. Doonan said. “I remember that time in the '70s when it was part of a man's virility to slosh on some High Karate or Old Spice. That whole anti- thing, thinking fragrances were somehow un-masculine, it's not life- enhancing. You want to smell swashbuckling and pirate-y and fabulous, like Louis XIV, like the glamrock era…. You need to just go home and drink a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana.”

The national guardsman hanging outside the party was also pro-scent, though had a less glamorous take than Mr. Doonan. “Definitely in Iraq, when you're working sixteen hours marching the f----ing land, you gotta spray yourself with something,” said Sgt. Steve Proctor, who served with the 42nd infrantry division in Tikrit last year and wears Claiborne Sport.

As for the recession, Paris Hilton, who won the FiFi Female Celebrity of the Year Award, focused on a dollars and cents remedy: “I'm doing my part, getting really involved in philanthropy work, and also continuing to go around the world and shop,” Ms. Hilton said. “People need people to shop. If I can do it, I will. People need people to buy things still.” Like, for instance, her new fragrance, Siren, a “sensual and sexy” perfume with a mermaid theme.

Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt

The economy may stink, but it’s still possible to smell like flowers. Or, more specifically, fougere, neroli, ambergris, and patchouli.