Scents that every gay man wore back in the day

Ralph Lauren Polo in the green bottle 1980's, I don't care for it anymore.

I still love Cool Water, though I wouldn’t wear it again.

The original Fahrenheit was very post-modern - chic dirty smell for a young skinny guy in heat.

I agree that Obsession is cloying. It was a powerful oriental, and people would wear WAY too much. Thought that was common with the powerhouse fragrances of the 80s, like Polo, Drakkar, and Fahrenheit.

I still really like Drakkar and Fahrenheit, they are very well constructed fragrances, but less is absolutely more. Cool Water is the same. I still wear all three of these fragrances occasionally, and it is one light spray to the center of the chest, and that's it.

For Obsession and Polo even that is too much - but I don't wear either of those.

Dunhill Cologne - my all time favorite. The scent is strong and gorgeous - nose candy.

Youth Dew

R3 I liked Fahrenheit until I dated an asshole who wore it. He ruined it for me.

Dunhill X-Centric. The best of the best.

I have Dunhill Desire sitting on my vanity.

Drakar Noir, 1983

Obsession is my straight father's scent of choice. I can't stand Cool Water, for personal reasons, I liked it until I had an autistic roommate who was a nightmare and practically bathed in the stuff.

This shit was so awful . . .

Back in the day? Canoe, of course.

R12 Funny you call it shit, because the smell of it always reminds me of the smell of stables.

You all know that putting on this toxic, fake scent shit is actually blocking your natural pheromones, right? These natural pheromones are secondary sex characteristics. No wonder you're all sad and lonely.

Bijan

Drakkar Noir, Obsession, Polo were the big 3 in the 80s.

CK One became the next big cologne when it was first introduced.

The one I hated was Thierry Muegler for Men, which smelled like chocolate. I dated a hot guy who wore that cologne all the time, but he had a little dick. Every time I smelled that cologne, I would remember that little dick jabbing at me.

The Love of My Life (a former maritime marine captain) wore this scent. 20-years later, I step into a crowded elevator and, unexpectedly, this is the scent I notice.

I'm rather old. So Grey Flannel and Halston Z-14. I remember taking the bus home one night, and when we picked up a bunch of young black guys near the roller-skating rink, they were all drenched with Halston Z-14. Back then, the buses weren't air-conditioned, so the scent of young, sweaty men combined with the Halston just put me over the top. A wonderful memory for me.

Scent is the most 'memoristic' of our senses. I mentioned, on some other thread, that after my parents died, it was a nightmare to try to empty their house, but there's still one drawer that I've never emptied: it has my Mom's scarves, which still smell like Youth Dew. I can't bear to part with them.

r15, your post has nothing to do with the topic.

Jicky

Vancouver, 1998-2003, CK1. Everywhere, everyone. Gives me powerful nostalgia if I smell it now.

Calvin Klein Eternity was one of the next big things after Obsession. I think it was late 90's - early 00's.

R15 People stink, it doesn't matter how much they wash. Thankfully, we as a society created ways to mask that unpleasantness, it is a sign of progress.

R23, You're right. I said CK1, but I really meant Eternity, which became the hot cologne in the late 80s. It also had the best bottle.

Grey Flannel

Dehydrated Spooge.

Back in 1982 - 83 my first real love - an older guy wore Grey Flannel - I loved it! I used to go to the fragrance counter at the mall and douse my arm with it. Ah well, he broke my heart. He now has white hair and is happily married to a nurse named Bob. Happy for him - but oh how romantic all of that Grey Flannel used to be!

People will look back at this time and talk about Aventus and Terre d'Hermes. I smell them quite frequently when i go out now. Ashy pineapple and earthy orange.

No one even wears cologne anymore. Back in the mid to late 90's I would splash on some Musk cologne before heading off to SPLASH.

Aramis was popular back in the olden days of the 70's.

You can get it at the Burlington Coat Factory for only $34.99!

Eau de semen

Opium. Need I even say it?--for women...

I hate most colognes. Aramis and polo were of my time in NYC in the early 80s. One of them (I think it was Polo), would stay on my skin or in my nostrils for an entire day if I brushed against someone wearing it - and it was a smell I hated. A lightly scented soap and a lightly scented deodorant are just fine for most people who shower daily. I like the scent of Oil of Olay soap and I like Ocean Surf deodorant. For a lightly scented shaving cream, I like sensitive skin aloe vera Edge brand. All of these work with my natural scent and are not overpowering to me or to other people. Once I needed to have an ultrasound exam and the technician (a woman) actually commented on how nice I smelled. (Probably she'd be fired for saying that now).

I do not mourn the passing of the strong cologne era for men.

Calvin by Calvin Klein. There was a cologne dispenser in the bathroom of the bar I used to frequent, Cologne for Your Every Mood, which had Calvin. It got used a lot.

Nobody remembers the Acqua di Gio craze of the late 1990s, early 2000s?

[Quote] Nobody remembers the Acqua di Gio craze of the late 1990s, early 2000s?

Oh yes. And the Tommy craze.

Right now, I'm probably dabbing on 3 dollars worth of that bathroom Polo

Quorum

Paco Rabanne

Mid seventies. I still love the scent.

Yes! Another vote for Gray Flannel.

Kouros was marked and designed as the first male designer scent in the 70s.

Specifically gay men with their hung muscular tan men in white Speedos campaign.

Oh, yeah Kouros.

My backup scent was Antaeus.

Scents that turned gay men into demigods.

CK One always smelled like bubblegum to me. It reminds me of high school corridors.

Polo (the original, in the green bottle) reminds me of 1980-1983 and high school. What cool memories! As someone also mentioned, Kouros, for summer, and Antaeus (by Chanel) in winter.

My best friend in the 1980's had Cacharel pour homme : nutmeg, orange, lavender and sage with wood.

PASSION FOR MEN by Elizabeth Taylor.

Does anyone remember JOOP for Men?

Oh...here's where you meant to be, r47.

Drakaar = Eau de Desperation on P Street as people pranced from JR's on 17th, through the Circle, and on to the 22nd & 23rd Street bars. You could literally smell it on Saturday nights even if no one was right next to you.

Polo = eau de 1980 and earlier. I was asked by my boss not to wear it to work as it gave the woman in the office across the hall a migraine. Turned out that even when I wore it outside of work, I still stunk of it when I got to work, so I tossed it. I stopped wearing cologne to work, period. Forever.

Jungle Gardenia

Fahrenheit, Grey Flannel and Thierry Mugler's chocolately cologne were always such powerful scents. When someone approached you wearing them, it was like being nasally assaulted, rather than being seduced.

900 was the Aramis version of Aromatic Elixir made by the same perfumer and much more wearable. Chanel Egoiste is the high class version of Obsession.

When I was a little kid - From about age 5 to10 - my Christmas stocking included Jade East soap on a rope. This, along with many other things has convinced me that my mother was intent on creating a gay man.

Egoiste had nothing to do with Obsession. One was divine (Egoiste), the other, a call to run for the hills.

Chanel No. 5

Grey Flannel, was everywhere! I bought some out of nostalgia from TJ Maxx a few years ago--yuck! The 1st guy I hooked up with in NYC wore Paco Rabanne, I loved it on him. Polo was the most overused in the late 70's or early 80's and it reminded me of cut grass and stables.

Chanel Egoiste is my all time favourite, Joop makes me ill, now it's cheap as water and all the lower class rough trade bathe in it

Paco Rabanne was the very worst. A one-way ticket to not going home with me.

R48 Jake, Yeah, I screwed that up.

Hai Karate, anyone?

Jazz - very 80s bottle

English Leather, or nothing at all. This coming from someone who detests cologne and other fake smells.

I bought Cool Water for men as a dyke in the nineties. It was subtle enough (in my mind) to wear as femme woman trying to attract the lady love.

Cool Water was anything but subtle anywhere but your mind, r64. That was real "Move over, fellas, I'm taking up the whole sidewalk" smelling stuff you didn't want to get anywhere near. Davidoff was home to some of the worst-smelling shit ever bottled.

My colognes:

English Leather

Eau Sauvage

Brut (two times, then I went back to Eau Sauvage)

Aramis (the second guy I had sex with wore it, so I bought a bottle. My father wouldn't let me in the house wearing it, so after a few scuffles with him, I tossed it, in favor of Eau Sauvage)

Pierre Cardin, in the dildo-shaped bottle

Eau Sauvage

Chanel for Men (didn't like it, didn't hate it; but I wore it for ~a year)

Polo

Eau Sauvage

Egoiste

Eau Sauvage

I was a display queen at a department store in the early 80s - my 2 best friends were the manager of mens fragrances, and manager in housekeeping- the fragrance guy kept us well scented - we had samples of the new stuff to try - I was a Halston 1-12, Drakkar noir, and Kouros wearer. In high school, it was Avon stuff from my aunts, British Sterling, and Pierre Cardin - dad wore Canoe...

Herrara for Men was my choice.

I still wear it today.

Truck stop cologne dispenser:

R45, Cacharel Pour Homme is one of my favorite work scents.

It has a piney resinous base note that is invigorating and makes Aventus smell like a just hired wannabe in the power scent world.

I have always had a bottle.

Thats great R69

Did you guys have a little chap who would be in the mens room of a nightclub with his array of cologne that he would spray on you and sell for a few dollars?

I recall the club that I went to in the early eighties had the scent of a combination of Polo for men, Camel's cigarettes and poppers. If somebody could bottle that combination and I were to play the Psychedelic Furs , it would be like a time machine. Music and smells always take me back to a specific time and place.

Enjoli, of course

I used to wear "Chaz" in the early 1980s and now when I smell it, it takes me right back to those days.

Escada and Carolina Herrera

Polo

In the '90s I loved Joop Homme (see R47), Joop Nightflight (sort of a Cool Water knockoff), and Pi and Insensé by Givenchy.

Perry Ellis 360!

I would be very curious to know what were the most common gay men's colognes of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s. What was big with gay men before Polo (premiered 1978), Grey Flannel (1975) and Paco Rabanne pour Homme (1973).

r79, I want to know, too! Share your stories, eldergays.

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I smelled cologne on a guy. Nobody wears fragrance anymore.

Why do you think guys completely stopped wearing cologne?

r81, you are wrong. I smell a lot of younger guys who wear WAAAAAY too much of it. Or they wear that Axe body spray.

R81 More than $86 million dollars of revenue are made on men's fragrances every year, so someone is wearing them. I always wear some scent whenever I leave the house, and I have since I was in fourth grade. I have several different ones, depending on my mood or the activity I will be attending on the day. Thankfully, I've never been accused of overdoing it, in fact I've gotten compliments on my smell numerous times. I'd much rather smell fragrances than B.O.

OMG, these references to English Leather!!! I haven't thought about that stuff in years, decades....I too wear Chanel No. 5 from time to time--after all, "Every woman alive...." Or even semi-alive.

I loved the memories of "Eau de Desperation" on P Street in DC...oh honey, tell me. I was one of those desperados.

r81, you'll forgive us if we somehow do not take your personal experience as indicative of that of all gay men in the US.

I have a straight male coworker who smells divine. Unfortunately, we've received e-mails as somebody has complained. We're being reminded nicely that it's a scent free environment. This person is even upset over the freshner in the washrooms. Seriously, she (we know who it is), would rather smell body odors than a spritz to cover it up. Thus, they've been removed. I'll wait a while and bring some back, as well as the hand soap I buy as the company soap is drying and cheap. Alas, my coworker has been scared off from wearing his signature cologne.

R86 I hate these scent free people. If you can't function in the world lock yourself in a bubble and leave the rest of us alone.

R79, R80, I had to check my fragrance cabinet to refresh my memory, but these are all older.

Knize Ten (1924), Knize

Pour un Homme (1934, Caron

Old Spice (1937), Shulton

Vetiver (1957), Carven

Vetiver (1961), Guerlain

Habit Rouge (1965), Guerlain

And, of course, there are scents from much older houses, like 4711, a number of Penhaligon's scents, and from the ancient Santa Maria Novella in Florence (the fragrance store shown in 'Hannibal').

Eau de Smeghe

I still wear Grey Flannel. I’ve worn it for years.

I thought I answered this, and the answer was basically Eau Sauvage, which came out in 1966. I had a brief flirtation with Aramis after smelling it on the second guy I had sex with, but my father hated it so much, I ended up throwing it out.

So this gay wore Eau Sauvage.

Does anyone know which version I would buy today that would smell exactly like what I wore through the 1970s and 1980s? I'm quite certain I wouldn't want the very syrupy dark brown "Parfum" concoction, but there are others called "Parfum" that maintain the citrusy top note. That IS Eau Sauvage, at least to me.

Aramis remembers and misses you.

I can't stand Aramis now, either.

I don't wear scent anymore but when I did, I wore, Grey Flannel, Halston Z-14, and my favorite, Blenheim Bouquet by Penhaglions.

What's the name of those colognes they sell at Barney's that come in several different scents?

Aqua Velva

This ad stated that it was the world's first cologne for gay men.

[quote][R79], I want to know, too! Share your stories, eldergays.

I can't believe that R54 is the only person who's mentioned Jade East. Jade East was THE fragrance for discerning homosexuals in the 1960s and '70s. In fact, a whiff of Jade East wafting from a gentleman was a pretty much 100% indicator that said gentleman was gay. I was a very young gay man in those days, and can honestly say I never knew a straight guy to wear Jade East.

Jade East had a cloyingly overpowering sweet smell that was instantly discernible. The only scent that approached it in popularity amongst the gay set was the even more overpowering 4711. But I, and countless other homos of the last days of Nixon, embraced Jade East as an exotic fragrance that we thought marked us as true sophisticates (albeit ones without any obvious sense of smell).

I actually still own nearly a full bottle of Jade East that I seem to have brought with me from the early 1970s. It has held up amazingly well for a relatively cheap cologne (or whatever it billed itself as). To this day, I'll wear it if I'm going to any kind of gay event, and just about every time I do, I can count on some other eldergay to come unto me and say something like, "Jade East! THAT takes me back"

Jade East was immensely popular.

I smelled Jade East once. It was sufficient.

Jade East was the Axe of its day.

Last year I found a bottle of Halston z-14 at an estate sale,still sealed and stored since the 80s in a cool,dry place. I bought it expecting it to be rancid,but it smells amazing ! It smells completely different than the z-14 of today . every single time Ive worn it people have complimented me on it. I have to be careful because a very little bit goes a very long way.

I have a bottle of 4711 and I don't find it overpowering at all. In fact, it lasts on my skin for maybe an hour or two tops.

[quote] I thought I answered this, and the answer was basically Eau Sauvage, which came out in 1966.

You did not answer it. You did not say at all when you used Eau Sauvage. We have no idea as to how old you are.

Wow, R47, I can immediately recall Joop! lol. My first year in college, this grad student was sitting in front of me and was wearing it. Of course I had to ask. I tried pursuing him, but nothing took off. Sigh. And Fahrenheit was definitely my thing for a while. And ashamedly, CK1 in high school. It's funny, I haven't worn cologne in 25 years or so, but those scents immediately remind me of certain times and people.

[quote]I have a bottle of 4711 and I don't find it overpowering at all. In fact, it lasts on my skin for maybe an hour or two tops.

But see, you use it how it's SUPPOSED to be used. In the days of 1960s—'80s gay bars, guys felt they had to bathe in whatever fragrance they were using. One of the funniest lines I ever heard occurred at work a couple of years ago. A co-worker came back from lunch reeking of various scents after visiting the perfume counter at Macy's, where she'd sampled too much of everything. "Jesus," said her matronly 60-ish supervisor. "It smells like a gay bar in here."

My older sister's, then boyfriend, left a bottle of Eau Sauvage at our home when he stayed over on the early 1970s.

He was a handsome Italian guy from Sicily called Luciano. I had completely forgot about that fragrance until now.

Ahhhhh the smell of it!

Now first I wore Aqua di Selva in High School? Anyone remember that? Green bottle.

Then in the late seventies I was a college boy wearing Pierre Cardin cologne. (bought it recently, smells totally different. Awful now)

Just Grey Flannel in the 80's -- we were preppy then. I kinda miss that scent.

90's -- Egoiste

2000 and beyond its bay rhum

Feedback

Yamamotosukikara Ushimourkatu parfum.

Catalyst by Halston for Men

I'll go with dried sperm an some ass crack grease. Subtle, effective, and not bogged down by elegance.

[quote]Just Grey Flannel in the 80's -- we were preppy then. I kinda miss that scent.

They still make it!

I don’t wear it all the time, and I’ve learned to just spray it once into the air and walk through it.

I never thought of Grey Flannel as "preppy." More "spray pits at the gym instead of showering."

Did you know that Pierre Cardin is still alive? He's 96 years old.

Didn't he date Jackie O at one time?

A great history of the changes of Grey Flannel over time. Side note: it was not a cheap scent in the 70.

R70 i don't know Aventus. I'm going to check it. Cacharel is interesting because it's subtle (white flowers in a men's perfume) and authentic (the wood and the sage). Very unusual at the time.

r91, even the ad looks gay

Yes, r116. Intentional? I think so.

What did gays wear in, say, the Victorian era?

1968: Aramis

my dad smelled great in Old Spice, 1950's

Jolie Madame by Balmain smells very similar to vintage Grey Flannel.

paco rabannone: magic elixer, transformed milk fed midwestern boys into valentinos

Where there's Charlie there's Chaz.

I still wear Hermès Eau d’Orange Vert. Fresh and citrusy and a little lasts all day.

R123 I guess we know what happened to Chasity, now. One Christmas she asked Sonny for a bottle of Charlie, but like most divorced fathers he screwed up and got her Chaz, and the rest is history!

Smell of cum. Always in.

And then there is Lagerfeld.

The largest sillage and longest lasting mens scent in history that it would walk up to you and slap you viciously in a gay bar. More than two men wearing it made a gay bar uninhabitable.

Jungle Juice

My high school boyfriend was all Drakkar and Z 14. I myself with a 1-12 and Paco Rabanne man, the less said about my Polo overuse the better though I did find myself a fan of the Polo Crest in the late 90s - I stopped wearing cologne probably 20 years ago - don't feel the need for it and no one seems to mind

[quote] What did gays wear in, say, the Victorian era?

Oscar Wilde wore Malmaison of Floris of London.

Bottoms always wore JOOP! in the late 90s early 2000s.

My gigantic-dicked best friend wore Joop in high school in the mid 90s. He might be a bottom now, but when we were teens, his 9” dick was always in my mouth. Ah, heaven. I don’t associate that sexual memory with Joop, though. I just remember how musky his balls always were.

I wore all the cheap-to-moderately priced crap of the day as a not-so-discerning geek. Polo, Drakkar, Obsession, etc. But the most memorable one for me is Wings for Men. It was about $35 then and it’s about $15 now. I associate it with a trip to the mall to buy the then-new Liz Phair single “Supernova” on cassette. For a long while, my copy smelled of Wings for Men because I’d sprayed it in the car on the ride home as the cassette rested in my lap.

I still love the song but now hate that scent, similar to many of the ‘aqua’ scents popular today.

Question for the discerning colognists among us: what are some of the more popular, ex$pen$ive colognes one might smell on tasteful, wealthy men and tourists nowadays? There are a couple woodsy/earthy/slightly spicy scents I smell on yuppies and Euros in NYC lately, and I might want to pay a visit to the Bloomingdales fragrance counter.

In the 70s, Aramis was motherfuckin' IT.

Paco Rabanne

Before the wave of cologne for men in the 1970s, Old Spice ruled the day for men in the 1940's, 50s and 60s. Everyone's father wore Old Spice. Smell like a man!

Thanks for the pics, r134 r135 r136. Here's what I wore back in the day, 1973-1992, when I was in my 20s and 30s. It's one of those Photo Gallery pics you have to click, but I wasn't able to find any other that contained the cologne in this bottle.

One I did not finish the bottle of, c. 1980. Too old ladylike.

What the girls wore. My friend Linda would spray me with it from time to time. I loved it.

^ hippie era '60s, the Shalimar

"Oscar Wilde wore Malmaison of Floris of London."

The more you know! *shooting star*

Still, love Opium for men! Still, hate Poison for women which I still think is the most sickly perfume ever made.

Ahem

[quote] He might be a bottom now, but when we were teens, his 9” dick was always in my mouth.

That must have made taking the SATs quite difficult.

Krizia For men. Anybody else?

I loved Fendi for Men. I still miss it.

Old Spice was originally marketed as a women's scent.

I always am amazed Old Spice still sells well given that it has "Old" in its title.

[QUOTE]I loved Fendi for Men.

Was it as toxic as Fendi for women? Nothing made me sicker than that shit.

R147 Damn, you beat me to it.

Am I the only one who more or less stopped wearing cologne back in the early 00s and doesn't know anyone who actually does?

I remember it being a big thing still, even with my straight friends, in high school (mid 90s) in the Axe body spray days, but by the end of college most every guy I knew, gay or straight, had stopped wearing any kind of scent.

Even today, there's one client we have, he's sort of an elder-guido, for lack of a better term, and the women are always commenting on how odd it is that he still wears noticeable cologne.

As a high school kid in the mid-80's I wore Drakkar Noir, all those homoerotic ads in GQ sold me. But grew up in Dallas so Polo by Ralph Lauren was everywhere, inescapable. When I later moved to NYC everyone was wearing... maybe Issey Miyake? Or that Moschino one that smelled like honey(?). But colognes seemed out by then. People were more likely wearing scented oils, or talking about burning sage.

R151 Yes, you are. As I mentioned at R83 over $86 million dollars worth of men's fragrances are sold in this country every year, someone has to be wearing it. Also, stores would not have men's fragrance counters if no one was buying them.

I think fewer men are wearing it, though, r153. There will always be men wearing fragrance, but it isn't as big a thing as it was before the millennium changed. Back in the 90s there were so many scents (especially ones named after celebrities) that it was hard to believe things could continue that way.

R153 Actually the size of the men's fragrance market increases every year.

Do Asian men like fragrance? That could be part of the reason for the market growth.

These days anything other than Creed is not acceptable. Except Penthalogons.

R156 Asian-Americans might, but just so you know I was speaking of the the American market not worldwide.

I wear

Aventus By Creed

Creed Millesime (sp?)

Bottega Veneta (a woman's perfume which is insane to me- it smells like a man's cologne, so I wear it- and it is a really great fragrance)

Jo Malone Grapefruit

Jo Malone - Sea Salt and Wood Sage (or something like that)

Malin & Goetz Cannabis

Hispanics LOVE fragrances. There’s your increase in men’s cologne sales right there.

The vast majority of men wearing noticeable amounts of cologne in public in NYC are Hispanic, Black, or Asian.

I too have noticed that white men have drastically curbed use of colognes, notwithstanding the clueless tools at the gym who douse themselves in Axe sprays.

[quote]Hispanics LOVE fragrances.

Back in the day (1977-78, for those who need a specific "day"), Paco Rabanne's having the same initials as Puerto Rican was not missed by many.

[quote]The vast majority of men wearing noticeable amounts of cologne in public in NYC are Hispanic, Black, or Asian.

I could not say about Hispanics or Asians, but Blacks of both genders smell as if they wear more juice per square inch of skin than any other demographic.

R151 I agree with u. I’ve not worn fragrance sine the 90s. I don’t know any man in New York who does to be honest.

It’s fine that the fragrance market is growing, but not here in Manhattan. I mean I’m sure the tourists and guidos from the island and NJ come in and buy it, but I don’t know anyone in the city who wears it.

[quote] It’s fine that the fragrance market is growing, but not here in Manhattan. I mean I’m sure the tourists and guidos from the island and NJ come in and buy it, but I don’t know anyone in the city who wears it.

It's amazing that you know all of the one million men who live in Manhattan, and can speak for them. You must really get around!

Yet another perfectly fine thread degrades into being yet another conversation about race.

I think many Dataloungers think of nothing else 24/7.

Stupid comment, r165. If non-whites make up a disproportionate share of cologne-wearers, why aren’t we allowed to point that out? No one is denigrating them for it.

And r164, there are more than 1 million men in NYC

The first guy I ever kissed in 1980 wore Royal Copenhagen. It is a sharp overpowering scent which to me smells like a roll of tinfoil if you could liquify it. Yuck, but every so often I catch a whiff of it and it brings me back.

My grandfather was single for long while when I was a kid and wore Old Spice and other drugstore scents, but he pulled them off and was quite the ladies' man. I think they smell good!

R164 must wear LOTS of cologne.

STAND BACK!

There is no such thing as race, r166. Haven't you heard?

And thou shalt not opine in any way, shape, or form about anyone who is not of the same—what shall I call it?—as you.

Pierre Cardin in the penis bottle

Bitch, I wore Giorgio Beverly Hills in 1988!

[quote] And [R164], there are more than 1 million men in NYC

The claim at r164 was made about Manhattan, not about the entirety of NYC.

In fact, there are actually fewer than 1 million men living in Manhattan--only 1.6 million people total live on the island of Manhattan.

r171 The things some queens will brag about.

My apologies, R172.

R163 I agree with you and I didn’t see anything racist in your comment. I remember taking a friend, who was visiting, to the Lure once and he wasn’t allowed entry because he was wearing cologne. I guess at least it wasn’t white tennis shoes!

Middle Eastern men in L.A. love to wear fragrance. Applied a little too liberally, however.

A friend of mine in his mid 50's was wearing Canoe the other day, and damn, it smelt good. I seem to remember Dolce & Gabbana had a good run in the mid 2000's.

British Sterling!

Remember the Avon fragrances that came in the chess piece decanters?

I know the Piere Cardin I smell today doesn't smell the same

Neither does Grey Flannel.

Did they change the scent or is my nose changing?

I had tons of expensive colognes, but Avon’s Friktion was the one cologne I’d always get compliments on. It smelled amazing on me. I only bought it as a pity sale for my Avon selling coworker.

Three Kings Day is widely observed in the Spanish speaking world and giving fragrances to men (as the Three Kings gave to the Baby Jesus) is a major tradition. In the days leading up to the holiday, television broadcasts are wall to wall fragrance commercials.

Irish Tweed by Creed is the best fragrance in the world.

"I don’t know any man in New York who does to be honest."

You need to get out more

"Old Spice" will always do it for me. I smell it anywhere and I'm in a primal haze.

I knew a guy who wore this

Pierre Cardin was actually quite subtle in the 70s. Jade East---my God I hadn't thought of that in ages. And Musk? I don't think anyone has worn that since the 70s. Aramis was something my pervy unlce--always trying to grop ethe nieces--would wear.

Jean Nate

Jean Nate Tingle

[quote]I have Dunhill Desire sitting on my vanity.

OMG Desire was my cologne for a good 10 years in the early 00s

Please welcome to the stage: DUNHILL DESIRE

Who the hell was Prince Machabelli? Made Hero and Wind Song and uber-slutty Aviance.

[quote]Who the hell was Prince Machabelli?

Don't drop the T, and you can google Prince Ma[bold]t[/bold]chabelli yourself.

Did anybody actually buy Matthew Camp’s stuff

It's not your nose that changed. They've reformulated a lot of scents to substitute for ingredients that are now illegal, too rare, or too expensive to use. It's destroyed a lot of once-good fragrances. They lose all their layers, dry downs, and staying power.

Sometimes I think I should start going to estate sales to snatch the vintage scents before they get mistakenly thrown out.

I only wore Giorgio Beverly Hills circa 1988.

All fragrances now use artificial musk that's why none of them smell as they once did and none of them last more than a couple of hours on your skin.

Eau L'Hiver by Malle is one I forgot above. I purchased a travel spray for around 59.00 as a Christmas gift for myself this year

It is supposed to evoke Winter.

It is almond-ish with a lot of Heliotrope... I like it! Its like nothing I have ever worn before and it is warm without being spicy. Its comforting.

The very first "adult" man that ever fucked my ripe teen ass wore Jovan Musk Oil . To this day if I smell someone wearing it (very rare these days) I instantly get turned on.

R199 it’s good that nasty odor isn’t around much! We DO NOT want you to get “turned on”!!!

Thanks for the backup R163

I am also in Manhattan and travel to LA and SF a lot for work and have not seen it in any of those three cities.

It's very much a class marker these days--white collar men under 60 and even younger women rarely wear any kind of scent, but to our perfume industry spokesman's point, it's very popular with working class men, especially POCs.

The other group that still wears a fuckload of "scent" (hence this thread) are effeminate eldergays to the point where it's often one of the easier tells as to a 60 year old man's sexuality.

I've even noticed that deodorants, which used to come in pretty strong scents (Axed, Old Spice and Mennen) have all been toned down whole lot so that you have to be pretty close to the guys armpit to actually smell them.

My first aftershave was given to me by a sympathetic older gay cousin. I was sixteen, I had a massive, massive crush on him (well why not - he looked like a male model) and he was so fucking sophisticated and fucking glamorous. The aftershave I got was Antaeus. Antaeus is not the same now as it was then.

First time I wore that to school I got the slagging of my *life*. Well, I'm sorry lads, I'm not into wearing Lynx fucking Africa, you bunch of chavs...

Mind you, for my eighteenth birthday he bought me a bottle of Le Male as a joke. Now, that's an aftershave I remember smelling all the time in gay clubs...yuck.

"It's very much a class marker these days--white collar men under 60 and even younger women rarely wear any kind of scent"

Not true - who do you think is buying all those high end perfumes that cost $100 an ounce - poor women? LOL.

Eau de Santorum

I don't think there's a big difference between what frangances use gay men and straight men (perfume is one of the things gays clearly influenced straight men in the last decades).

In Spain is all about One Million, Invictus, Le Male, Boss Bottled and Sauvage (none of them is particularly interesting)

Thank you for the explanation of the changing scents. I miss the smell of Pierre Cardin cologne.

Grey Flannel and Bowling Green.

R179: Probably both. A lot of old scents get a reformulation to make them more modern (in some cases screwing royally a great original scent), but with age is very common that taste change, so fragrances that you didn't like when you were young because where old man's scents suddenly smell elegant and great

[quote] It's very much a class marker these days--white collar men under 60 and even younger women rarely wear any kind of scent, but to our perfume industry spokesman's point, it's very popular with working class men, especially POCs.

I agree with r203. I doubt very much working class men are buying up Creed Aventus and Green Irish Tweed, and yet those are two of the most discussed scents right now. They go for hundreds of dollars a bottle.

[quote]Sauvage

Does this smell like the original Eau Sauvage?

It smells like Fred Sauvage.

No, R210. A lot of fragrances you remember from your youth don't smell the same because a lot of perfume makers are using synthetic ingredients. Synthetic ambergris, for example, smells markedly different to natural ambergris.

Hilarity ensues when r211 walks in the room.

LOL No R203 and R209, not poor women

Older well-off homosexuals like yourselves, plus (maybe) affluent hetero Europeans and Latin Americans of the same age. A couple of wealthy white women buying them for their husbands because the salesman at Barneys talked them into it. (He'll wear it once or twice.)

Not like those bottles are flying off the shelf.

Sorry.

[quote] Creed Aventus and Green Irish Tweed, and yet those are two of the most discussed scents right now

Discussed by whom? DLers?

R210: NOt at all. It's an acuatic fragrance which frankly has nothing of wild

And no, perfume broke class barriers in the last decades and became more popular between blue collar population, but there's a clear reason why niche fragrances, and i can assure you no blue collar (and even most white collars) can afford to buy Creed, Roja or Clive Christian

why niche fragrances are on fashion (in fact there are an explossion of niche brands in recent years, and most of them make designer frangrances look cheap)

R215: Go to any frangrance forum and you'll see. Aventus is very popular

Don't be gauche, R216. All you need for a bottle of Creed is a credit card, a job to pay the balance back and a decent high street store. Tut-tut. Silly queen...

Be that as it may, R216, there is a distinct subset of affluent men, almost all of whom are gay, who buy those scents.

Walk through McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Paul Weiss, Ogilvy, Google, NBCU -- none of the white male executives under 60 (and few of the female executives) are wearing any sort of "scent" and would think it quite odd if one of their peers did.

We're not making this up. Times change.

I occasionally spray on Brooks Brothers Country Club. It's effete.

R219: Sorry, but not everybody lives in countries were more than 300$ in a perfume are something you consider to waste. I think i have to congratulate you because it's clear that your economy goes way better than mine

Wait-- so the ones screeching about how special these $300 "scents" are, aren't even American?

R223: Creed is a french brand.

And i don't know if it's special, all i know if people who like perfumes (like a lot, the types who are able to know the ingredients of the perfume just from smell it) seem to like Aventus and Irish tweed.

To be honest, i like perfumes but Hermes is my limit

The smell and taste go things matchmy memories pretty well as a rule.

Only grey flannel and Pierre Cardin smell different.

Old spice smells the same. And CK one. Ans Agua di Selva, actually

Sorry Acqua De Selva

R220, you are making generalizations. I don't know any women who don't buy perfume (or body spray)

LOL but they don't wear it to work R227, they wear it when they go out on a date.

[quote] I'm getting paid $200/hour to promote Creed and Irish Tweed on some gay website and this fucking preppy asshole keeps posting how none of his douchey white friends wear cologne anymore! Help! He's completely ruining my gig!

I don't think any self-respecting gay man ever wore the Donald Trump fragrance!

[quote]I don't think any self-respecting gay man ever wore the Donald Trump fragrance!

God, that sounds disgusting. What would a Trump scent smell like? My guess is gravy and cum.

We have the same taste R159. Love those 2 Jo Malone Scents.

"no scent" men are as tedious as vegans.

The "no scent" in the ultra corporate offices troll is probably right about that crowd. "Fragrance sensitivity" is a thing in the dull life of corporate America. He's probably also noted that peanuts are forbidden as well and gluten free rolls are mandatory in the corporate dining room.

My college roommate bathed himself in Obsession for Men in '89-'90. Our room stunk of it. I can't stand the smell since then.

Polo in the green bottle was very popular in the late 80's in Connecticut.

I liked Grey Flannel back then.

Grey Flannel was the first scent I wore when I came out in 1981, I used about half the bottle and then had that bottle in my collection of scents for the next 35 years. I would occasionally take it out to smell it and it would transport me right back to my very first dates and tricks at OSU in 1981.

[quote] It's very much a class marker these days--white collar men under 60 and even younger women rarely wear any kind of scent, but to our perfume industry spokesman's point, it's very popular with working class men, especially POCs.

There are also newer fragrances like Escentric Molecules, very popular with celebrities who want to leave an impression of class and sophistication but not leave any impression of an actual "scent" behind per say. One spray of Escentric perfume is supposed to give an aura of being well put together and clean without leaving a detectable scent trail behind. Just a very subtle lemon pepper note, hardly noticeable when first sprayed. They're based on synthetic compounds like iso-E super.

First bf wore Ralph Lauren Safari

My first boyfriend wore Lagerfeld. Just a tiny bit, so I thought that was what he actually smelled like—divine, btw.

Anyway, Lagerfeld died. Should I send my first boyfriend a card?

R227: True, most women use perfume on regular basis (or at least in special occasions). And if you go to a perfume forum like fragrantica it's pretty obvious there are a good bunch of straight guys who are interested in perfumes.

With metrosexuality, cosmetics became quite common between straight men. In Europe is very common soccer players on cosmetic adds, so there's a straight market that the brands want

Aqua Velva.

Brian Buzzini did some wonderful adds for Cool Water in the early 90's. The SF Chronicle covered the filming and said admiringly that Buzzini had won the genetic sweepstakes!

I wonder if all these fragrance sensitivities arose from the advent of synthetic fragrances.

Synthetic fragrances have been around for eons

I miss men wearing leather jackets and cheap cologne.

That needs to come back.

My ex wore CK One, his body chemistry only enhanced it. mmmm I wish he was here choking me with his necktie. I wore and still wear Navy for men.

I don’t know if Morrissey still wears it, but I had to get a bottle of this when I read he did...I love it.

The only big gay scent I ever wore was the original Polo, of which I only ever bought one green bottle, which I stopped using halfway through. Otherwise, I wore Eau Sauvage, which was not something everyone wore whom I knew. Eventually I stopped wearing cologne, when a workmate complained to my boss that mine gave her a headache. I got used to not wearing it.

Happy by Clinique, circa 1999

I find men wearing perfume to be vulgar. To me, it's like wearing a pinky ring.

This is what I remember everyone wearing:

70s: Paco Rabanne, Grey Flannel

early 80s: Polo for Men, Antaeus, Lagerfeld

late 80s: Obsession, Fahrenheit

early 90s: Cool Water, Joop!, Curve

late 90s: CK One, Issey Miyake Pour Homme

early 00s: A*Men (Angel for Men)

late 00s: Tobacco Vanille, Terre d'Hermes, Light Blue

early 10s: Aventus, Spicebomb

BUMP

CK Eternity was my signature from the mid '90s (I think) until maybe 2008. When that last bottle ran out I just never replaced it and haven't worn any fragrance since.

Eternity for Men always smelled like cat piss to me. I never understood why that was so popular in the early 90's. Every guy in my high school drowned themselves in it or Cool Water.

As far as the 80's go, I cringe when I smell someone wearing Paul Sebastian. It just screams "Greasy Italian Guido in the Mob". Disclaimer, I'm half Italian before anyone gives me grief about being racist.

Glad to see the love here for Opium for women....it's divine.

Iquitos by Alain Delon sounds marvelous; alas, it was discontinued years ago and goes for $300+ on eBay.

You should only wear a couple of light spritzes or a drop of cologne. Other people shouldn't be able to smell it on you unless they're up close. You yourself shouldn't be aware of it once it's on you.

[quote]Chanel for Men (didn't like it, didn't hate it; but I wore it for ~a year)

Wonderful stuff—the lemony opening reminds me of Eau Sauvage.

I am a hiring manager for a security company. I was interviewing a security guard candidate and the second he walked into my office I recognized "Grey Flannel".

I had immediate flashbacks to my old nyc gay bar haunts of the 1980's - Uncle Charlies, in particular.

This guy was in his thirties, so I seriously doubt he knew the connection.

The scent lingered for quite a while - the whole office noticed. I regaled my co-workers with how that particular cologne dominated the gay bar scene in the 1980's.

This, OP - it was everywhere for a while. And I haven’t worn cologne since.

Still will wear Obsession or Eternity when I want to walk (in memory) back into the 1980s, early 90s.

My first husband used to wear something called London Fog--very limey and tart (he was significantly older than I). Probably have the name wrong. Any ideas?

Introduced my second husband to Obsession and he stills wears it. That throat, that nipple, that belly.

The Baron and of course Arden Sandalwood for Men.

I wear fragrance every day, and I'm white.

The most popular in department stores in 2021:

*Sauvage by Christian Dior

*Bleu by Chanel

*Aqua di Gio by Giorgio Armani

*One Million by Paco Rabanne

*Platinum Egoiste by Chanel

Plus, huge black markets exist for:

*Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford

*Aventus by Creed

R261, I’m an elder millennial and Le Male was my first cologne. I’ve worn Diptyque l’ombre dans l’eau for the last 10 or so years, which I believe they tout as unisex but I think started as a women’s fragrance. I work in a fragrance-free office, so I only ever really wear any when I’m getting dressed up for a “date night” with my partner.

R261 that crap smelled like cheap cherry cigars.

The cool water you see in stores now is a fraction of the juice you could get in the 90s. That's what happens when a fragrance becomes a discount brand--different ingredients, reformulations, etc.

Cool Water a ripoff of Green Irish Tweed by Creed, or vice versa. I forget the lineage but the same fragrance designer was involved with the development of both. So if you want some high quality Cool Water, give yourself a few sprays of GIT when you are at a store that carries Creed and see if it works for oyu

Jean Paul Gaultier's LE MALE was a king of the mid 90's and is still carried at retail price by Macys. They release new flankers (versions) every other year or so and also keep sales humming with special edition bottles. It was unique because it had a softer smell (Lavender, vanilla/tonka, and mint) than the earthy power fragrances of the 70s and 80s.

Fun fact: when it was new, some Macys refused to carry it because the box was a tin can and they thought that was low class.

Gaultier's Fragrance Company was sold a few years ago for several hundred million.

Every single fraternity man at my college wore Ralph Lauren's Polo, along with at least two Polo brand golf shirts, collars flipped up.

It's amazing how many of them were willing to accept a blow job when offered.

HOT R270!!!

Grey Flannel

Grey Flannel in the 80's

Joop in the 90's

After that, I just stopped trying

D&G Masculine was pretty popular back in mid-2000's, but then it was discontinued here in the U.S. I was visiting Switzerland in 2010 and was able to buy one last bottle which I savored.

Embarrassingly, there was a designer from the 80's named Jessica McClintock, who made prom dresses but then got into the fragrance business. Her men's line, Scott McClintock, was on my dresser for years back then.

I still love Green Polo, R1 & R12. I also wear Aramis, & Z-14. However, I am at a point where I'm wanting to change things up. I still miss Ralph Lauren's Safari, Higher by Dior, & Gucci Rush.

My father wore spicy scents, so my taste in colognes developed around those. I remember the Tommy & CK-1 crazes, but never liked them. Tommy Girl (it FILLED the halls of my high school) was and is especially heinous...and I let every one of those fucking skanks know it.

Chanel for Men and you snickered at the guys who wore Aramis.

There was a guy at the gym who wore Joop in the 90s. It was the most intoxicating scent I have ever smelled. I was fawning over him some nights. It was crazy.

I really wanted to play with his nipples. After a while, he enabled me to accompany him home. I worked them hard. When I went lower, I discovered he put Joop in his very large bush and on his cock and balls. He exploded in my throat. Afterward, we were still pals at the gym, but I never approached him about sex again.

So when I smell Joop today, my mind goes right back to his crotch.

HOT R277

Yep. the hot guys wore Chanel for Men and the cheap smelling, overpriced Aramis was the scent of desperate young whores at The Townhouse.

Chanel for Men (which now is only released by its name in French, Chanel Pour Homme) and Aramis are both two of my favorite fragrances now for men.

it's weird to think of some sort of hierarchy that was once established between them (I assume in the late 60s and early 70s) based on class difference among their consumers, since they both are famous examples of a genre of fragrance which I love, the chypre, which is considered now very unfashionable. (Other famous & wonderful--and out of fashion--examples of this genre: Eau Sauvage from Dior, Monsieur de Givenchy, Versace L'Homme.)

The hottest guys didn't wear scents at all and the aroma from their pits was everything.

Not everyone likes B. O., just as not everyone likes fragrance.

Aramis was created by Bernard Chant, the nose behind a number of classic scents, including Cabochard by Gres and Azurée by Estée Lauder, Aramis's feminine equivalent. (He also created similar yin/yang pairs with Aramis 900/Clinique Aromatics Elixir and Aramis Devin/EL Aliage.)