Giorgio (1981)
by Giorgio Beverly Hills

This was perhaps the first "phenomenon" perfume. It was inexplicably the one EVERY woman had to have. It literally suffused the atmosphere in most American metro areas for the first half of the 1980's. It captured the zeitgeist and then created a new zeitgeist. That it launched the same Fall as "Dynasty" premiered seems to make perfect sense. Giorgio announced the arrival of The Big 80's in a big way; setting the stage for over the top distaff scents that kept rolling in during the decade, like so much disposable income. Obsession, Poison...all those subliminally sinister concotions that were the witch's brew of wanna be Crystal and Alexis Carrington's. And it seemed that every woman identified with one or the other. And both seemed to choose Giorgio as a signature scent. That it wasn't right for most women didn't seem to matter. It was a grand dame sort of thing that should've been saved for formal occasions. But it was worn everywhere from the office to the beach...ad nauseum.
The scent itself was actually quite lovely. It was an immediate, "What is that!?!" in a good way. But again, it was way too mature and ball-gowny and strrrrrong. It's popularity ruined it for everyone. It was so cloying after ten minutes it was like the world was being smothered in Kitty Carlisle's bosom and you could run but you couldn't hide.
It's still too soon for a revival. Give it another ten years for the air to clear.

24th January, 2012.

Love this scent, but if ever a fragrance needed to come in a 5 ml roll on, it's this one. I just spent the entire day apologizing to people "I swear I only sprayed it once." Going to surf the internet for tips on how to not smell like a room monopolizing jerk while still wearing Giorgio...there must be a way.

10th January, 2012.

floral, feminine, youthful, beautiful. wow.

2nd December, 2011.

I never liked this scent much to begin with, and after a few years of being unable to escape from it pretty much ANYwhere, especially at work (my secretary just about bathed in it), I came to loathe it. Had it been less concentrated, it might have been a _little_ more bearable, but it was so strong there was truly almost no way to use it discreetly. A single spray and the wearer was at. . . or in hot weather or a stuffy room, slightly over. . .the limits of good manners. After a warm afternoon in a smallish office with Kelly the secretary, I could TASTE the stuff. Not a good memory.

22nd October, 2011.

I was one of those lucky Vogue magazine subscribers back in 1983 who opened up the newest issue and discovered a scented paper sample, impregnated with one of the most remarkable and exceptional fragrances theretofore. It was simply DIVINE; it was flamboyant, it was fun and it was very unusual. It was Giorgio Beverly Hills, and rightfully called "extraordinary cologne". There was nothing else like it.

To kipe a phrase from SJP's Covet ad campaign: "I had to have it". And because it was, back in the day, rather expensive comparatively speaking, I had to budget for it. But pinching my pennies wasn't a hardship at all; I would've cut back on almost everything just to get my hands on that juice.

To obtain it, I had to mail away for it. Yes, one had to send a paper check through the mail, and I waited rather impatiently for the parcel to arrive. But the wait was worth it. Yes, this was heaven!

Potent is an understatement, but I was judicious in how I used it, never more than one mist-and-walk through spray. I would not let it shout, but its presence was delightfuly apparent, and in those days before it became available in department stores, I had many, many appreciative comments and compliments. "What IS that fragrance? It is WONDERFUL!" I don't think I've ever received as many compliments on a fragrance I've worn since. It was absolutely a head-turner, for both women and men.

And so, I was a happy young woman, happy because Giorgio Beverly Hills is, at its heart, a happy, fun-loving fragrance. Happy because my chemistry made this fragrance blossom and sing, and this unique fragrance was "mine" and mine alone, at least for a short while. But soon enough, that all changed.

Everyone loved Giorgio Beverly Hills, and when it became available in department stores, everyone got it, wore way too much of it, and it became a sorry cliche; a cariacature that represented the worst of the 80's decade. Primo, the imposter body spray just magnified and further bastardized the situation. It was no longer "mine", no longer unique. And familiarity, while not breeding contempt, did bring a sense of cookie-cutter clones, the very opposite of my personality.

So, I put it away and moved on to other perfumes.

Gradually, others put theirs away, too, and it's now rather uncommon to catch a whiff of it while out and about. I can't remember the last time I smelled it on someone.

My bottle is now 28 years old and only the last third of it remains. The juice has slightly darkened and a few of the sparkling top notes are gone. But overall, it's still all there, still as fabulous and delightful as it was in the very beginning. And I still wear it now and then, without apology. It still suits me, still elicits compliments, still makes me happy. And that's what it's really all about, isn't it?

13rd September, 2011.

i did not think much of it (apart from it giving me a mild headache) when i sampled the current version. But when i chanced upon a vintage bottle yesterday, the smell instantly brought me back the 1984, when i was smelling it right from the scented pages of vogue. The ones i remember most vividly were giorgio and obsession. It is weird that it was only the vintage version that evoked my memories but not the existing version. i just cannot explain it. Scent-wise, i find the older version simply luscious, fuller and more rounded.. also less headache-inducing and does not sting my nose and make me sneeze like the new one does. And, of course, the scent lasts and lasts...

5th September, 2011. (Last Edited: 1st November, 2011.)