Rumeur (original) (1934)
by Lanvin

I haven't quite managed to understand Rumeur in its different vintage forms I have. There is one very butch, leathery and mossy version (which I like most) and others that are very chypré and, yes, smelling very modern and, yes, with a pronounced ginger note on the sweeter side. If the latter is your thing and you are desperate to find a substitute, look no further than Roja Dove's Unspoken EdP and Extrait! I think these are very close.

12nd May, 2011.

This review is for vintage Rumeur. A scent called Rumeur was put out (I can't even use the word "reissued" in this case) a few years ago by Lanvin (or whoever owns the company now) that is absolutely nothing like the original version of Rumeur, which I had been curious about ever since I bought that awful new version from T J Maxx a while back.

I had read elsewhere on the internet that vintage Rumeur was kind of medicinal smelling and heavy on the carnation/clove notes. But what I'm getting is spicy dried ginger note on a bed of very soft and subtle leather and oakmoss. If I didn't know what it was and somone had slipped their wrist up under my nose wearing this, I would swear someone had layered Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan with his Arabie. If you would have told me this was s Serge's newest release I would have believed it. This smells unbelivably contemporary.

I sat up late one night watching the 1930's coffret of 4 Lanvin parfums that this was a part of on ebay because I was after the scent Scandal. However, Rumeur turned out to be the big surprise. The sillage is decent. This is a scent that can be worn by men and women. People keep saying that they can't believe Scandal was discontinued. Well, I can't believe Rumeur was. This scarce scent is highly unusual and should be experienced.

11th September, 2009.