Givenchy Gentleman Original
finally some good news
In a recent post on Givenchy I omitted the original Gentleman and only talked about the pretty good recent variations. I revisited the local Givenchy stand to compare the Original to my vintage (circa 2005, I believe). I have unusually good news: the current stuff is remarkably faithful to the original, with a slight change of balance in the heart, less herbaceous in the recent one.
Gentleman is one of the quietest voices in current masculine perfumery. Composed by Paul Léger of Anaïs Anaïs fame, it comes across as inspired by Monsieur Rochas (smokier), and a precursor to Guerlain’s Derby (more dense) and Dior’s Jules (sweatier), less distinctive and less forward than any of them and none the worse for that. Gentleman is the exemplar of a particular muted, transparent, tea-like genre of masculine perfumery, that spanned the 1970s and in retrospect feels both reserved and confident, both attributes sorely lacking in recent masculines.
Givenchy deserves more credit than it gets for its current range of fragrances. If only it could fix the problem with the Interdit range (great bottle, meh fragrances), it would rejoin the thinned front rank of French fragrance houses.
I’ve got an 80s mini in good condition and it is glorious. My favourite masculine of all times.
I have always loved the vintage Givenchy Gentleman. Now I want to go to the store and smell the new version. My father wore Monsieur de Givenchy his whole life.
I met Hubert de Givenchy a few times in my life. He was always so kind and affable. A true gentleman. Oddly enough, it’s my oldest bestie who looked after him when he passed away in 2018 at the American hospital in Neuilly.