Chaps (original) (1979)
by Ralph Lauren

In all these years I never felt an impulse to test Chaps: My heroes have never been cowboys and I guess I thought this had nothing to offer for me… I finally took the plunge and I don’t mind saying that I was amazed at the first sniff. Granted, it’s old-fashioned, uber-masculine, cowboy iconic, and potent; but in my mind, there’s no doubt that it is a very good fragrance – smooth, balanced, rich, and comfortingly endearing. It isn’t complex: It doesn’t seem to have movements among levels of the scent pyramid. Its intricately massed combination stays solidly what it is, and that is an invitingly enjoyable masculine scent. I can’t really separate out the individual notes in the fragrance: It’s not constructed for that and its ingredients are likely not expensive enough to stand close analysis – but that doesn’t stop Chaps from being a satisfying scent. I don’t get sweet, and yet I don’t get dry. I don’t get more than a modicum of powder, and I don’t get “leather,” but it does seem leather-like so I can understand why other reviewers claim leather, but what I get is a well integrated floral / patchouli / mossy / ambery combination with just a touch of sweet – probably a honey-like note. I don’t apply it on cloth or any exposed skin… it’s too strong with that kind of application. I apply it on my chest and that method also increases its rather poor longevity. Chaps is a very good scent for the money… It’s just so danged masculinely fulfilling. (Edit of 06 August 2009 review.)

This (the old version) is what I wished Stetson could have been. It's still a sweet brown brew, with honey and flowery spices yielding to a gentle musk, but while Stetson smelled like my mom's Norell and had no balls, Chaps probably has one. It's not very strong so sometimes I try to do a double dose. Even so, the base notes are pretty weak and I sometimes will re-splash myself to smell anything at all. If I breathe deeply over the splash spot, I get a slight pee residue smell. I wish there were something astringent or sour other than that pee in the mix, even if only for the first few minutes, to break up the monotonous, though not quite overpowering, sweetness.

OMG! I think this may now be a discontinued fragrance.
It wasn't at any of the usual pharmacies and I ended up driving all over town, in vain, trying to find a replacement bottle.
Chaps opens with a comforting, sweet and powdery accord layered over stark botanicals, viceral sweaty musk, dry leather and a long sandalwood drydown. A freakin' brilliant fragrance that oozes rugged masculinity.
I have seen Chaps receive plenty of bad press on other sites, and I think this is a result of 'fragrance elitists' letting the western-stylized name and bottle evoke their own negative imagery. Their minds are muddled before the first sniff!
Chaps sits proudly on my shelf alongside the Lutens, Guerlains, and Carons.

Yes, I confess my first She Who Must Be Obeyed loved this on me. So macho. So Western Rugged! She would give it to me as a gift--or a peace offering after throwing some piece of crockery at my head. She loved me so. Stunningly beautiful and much weirder than the body pierced goth girls that lurk in California these days.
I believe she ended up in prison for securities fraud, or owning a mansion in Pasadena. Or was it both?
There's a moral to all this, but I'm not quite sure what it is. Evil scents end up in drugstore shelves? Beware of beautiful babes that choose Chaps? I must reminisce further. . .

It's just a lot of leather, spice - a punch right in your olfactory sense. It is to be worn very sparingly and in carefully chosen company; it carries much potential to be one of those unpleasant, overpowering perfumes that make you unpopular at parties. It is not clean; the fragrance pyramid makes you think of something complex but pleasant. That, it is not. It is ABRASIVE. I think the marketing initiative to associate Chaps with the dirty, sweaty cowboy is just about right. I repeat my caution to use sparingly. It certainly does broadcast itself well (sillage is STRONG). But again, this fragrance is akin to a profane topic that would not ordinarily be considered acceptable to discuss amongst polite company... I'm not sure when I'd even find it appropriate to put on a splash of this stuff. Perhaps right before mowing the lawn or changing the car's rear differential oil.

I'm not saying it's TERRIBLE - it certainly isn't my style. I wouldn't want to smell this on someone else at the office or at a party. Nor at a restaurant. Nor walking by them on the sidewalk. It's simply too loud and abrasive.

My brother used to wear this while dating his girlfriend, now wife, back in 1980. It is a very nice masculine fragrance which smell almost identical to the original Royal Copenhagen or Zizanie. However, I think I prefer the Chaps over the other two because it seems to have more lasting power. It seems like the people over at Royal Copenhagen have really watered down their fragrances and the don't last on my skin for 5 minutes, especially the Royal Copenhagen Musk (which I absolutely used to love, but not anymore). It seems fragrance companies are getting cheap by using less essential oil. Consequently, they will lose my business and hopefully they won't be in business too long after cheating their customers. I find that the only way to stay safe is to buy the eau de parfum, if available, in men's fragrances. Most of the time those will last. I do like Chaps though.