Tuxedo (1979)
by Long Lost Perfume (orig. by Ralph Lauren)

Tuxedo reminds me of cotton candy and soft leather. Pretty, sweet and sexy. A random image but thats what I think of. It's very sexy and mysterious at the same time. I loved it. It seemed to have a very short time on the shelves before Ralph Lauren pulled it off the shelves and made everybody who bought it cry! A beautiful black bottle like ralph's classic brown.. but ebony shiny black and a tiny ralph emblem in red. Gorgeous scent. Once applied it was almost overwhelmingly sweet.. but then it would settle down and give off a warm clean scent. I would love to see the original brought back. I have bought what was guaranteed to be the original from a company online, however when I applied it, it didn't have the same warm notes of sweet cleanliness that the original had. I also noticed it was more alcohol like in smell than the original was. The original by ralph had the actual perfume oils .. I would love to see this scent brought back. I would also love to see the after bath powder and perfume body lotion and bubble bath in a beautiful black linen tote with a little red ralph emblem embroidered. What d'ya say, Ralph?
-Thimble

Tvlampboy says it best - this fragrance was truly born too late. Yes, it would have been right at home alongside the likes of Tabac Blond, Bellodgia, etc. I feel lucky to have fallen upon this old RL sample vial...leather sweetened with the softness of silken rose petals, spiced and grounded by wood. Slightly resinous, but so polite! What a shame it's not part of the RL brand anylonger.

This review is for RL version; I hope it is close to LL's. This is a very rich, classic/vintage smelling perfume. I did not know this was for women on smelling it at first. From the name, I thought it was a men's fragrance, but that would be better on a woman. Now I know why. This scent is mainly a leather scent for me. It is decorated with tobacco flower and other repressed florals may accompany it. But to me it is really a smooth buttery leather scent. Actually if it were leather, it would have to be a thin sheet of leather dyed black on one side with golden sueded split leather back. The blackness comes from a whisp of fennel or licorice amid the vegetal/spicy notes. It dries down quickly to slightly sweet animalic almost dairy/butter smell, a buttermilk note almost. I will seek out the Long Lost version, as all I have of the original is a smidge in an old sample vial.

Should have been put out in the Twenties or Thirties, not the Eighties. Great stuff, but more along the lines of Bellodgia and Tabac Blond and Habanita than almost anything introduced a mere twenty-odd years ago.

In short, I can see why this was discontinued in that it was (and I mean this in the best way) behind its time.

Perfumery notes: Top notes of Italian citron, peach and clove buds. Mid-notes of coriander, ylang ylang, tarragon, jasmin, rose and gardenia. Dry down notes of benzoin, labdanum, musk, oakmoss and vetiver. It's classified as an oriental (because of all the spices, I suppose) but seems more in the character of a complex chypre to me. Slightly resinous, and definitely warm, round, and more womanly than "feminine"; to my nose the spices and wood dominate, and the florals subtly fill in the background. Not a modern scent at all -- more along the lines of the classics, but with a nice, slightly edgy strangeness.

Many comment on how womanly this scent is. It's round and warm has a certain va va voom a mature woman does not shy away from. I detect some rose but it's well-grounded with other notes & does not cloy.