Reviews of Givenchy Gentleman (1974)
by Givenchy

it smells like a cheap handwashing soap ..... maybe it was great in he 70's and 80's but it is not for these days .... wont wear it even if you pay me money :)

Just found a couple of small bottles of this in a thrift store. About 3 ounces for a buck! Couldn't pass that up. Tried it on a few minutes ago and thought it had gone bad. There was a what I can only describe as a "stinky" quality to the topnotes. But both bottles smelled the same. After reading the reviews here, I assume that "stinky" quality is part of the formula, the civet/patchouli combo perhaps? I've never smelled Gentleman before and hadn't much desire. Just assumed it was one of those forgettable mass market 70's scents, like, say, Jovan for Men. Not so! It's incredibly complex after the drydown and the stinkiness goes away after about ten minutes, leaving a really erotic yet calming little masterpiece that you can't stop smelling. Being an old-school cologne lover, it won me over pretty quick. Merci, Msr. Givency!

Some fragrances smell cheap, other smell generic, but other... other smell really bad. Givenchy Gentleman is on of those. When I first tried it, I thought the bottle had gone bad, so I gave it another shot, from a different store. The effect was the same. For absolutely no logical reason, I gave it a third shot... Again, a disappointment.
The opening is by far the most awful thing I've ever smelled: it's smoky, it's smother, it's choking. I simply couldn't be around that smell for more than a second or two. As it dries down, it becomes a little bit more bearable, but still, to call this a fragrance is an insult.
I certainly didn't expect this from a classic, especially a Givenchy classic. It's absolutely dreadful, it really, really stinks!

I want to like this one so much but everytime I wear it, lurking underneath that intoxicating smell is something that wafts of burning rubber! I don't know what the note is but I do know without it, this would be a stunner. Sadly, this will be the first thumbs down I've ever given on this site.

I do not like this. At first application it smells very strongly of civet, which smells much like urine. After an hour or so, it dies down to a powder that smells just like wick's "powder fresh." I don't mind strong scents, but the opening is strong and vile.

To me something turns me off about this 1 it may be the patchouli in it. Its too much. There are soo many other scents out there that I put before this 1 and I would rather wear. Would I buy this? Noo

The name says it all Givenchy Gentlemen. To me, it's an older man's fragrance. I'm not at all a fan of leather scents. Needless to say I don't think that it's not a quality fragrance. Definitely not for me.

I bought this one coz of the givency label, but frankly I find it too strong and I think it might be off putting to ladies. It smells yucky.

Like many of it's 70's peers, Gentleman suffers from the patchouli OD so typical for this decade. On me it's sour and nasty, very strong too. The base reeks of civet, which is fecal by nature, and doesn't improve the overall impression one bit... Stay away!

Gentleman is interesting. At first it smells like Patchouli and urine, but as it evolves, it starts to smell like urine and civet. What a striking combination. This one is just gross. H.O.T Always by Bond No. 9 is along the same lines, but much nicer.

This will certainly get attention all right. But you could also get attention by, for example, rubbing dog urine all over yourself. Extremely unpleasant, and I can't think of anyone for whom this cologne would be appropriate -- not even the "old men" to whom we usually relegate scents we don't like.

At first, I did like it greenish, classic scent. But after several spritz of it, I had noticed several people (notably *women* ;-o) who had winced in disgust. Then my *own* opinion changed: It just smells so....pimpish! Perhaps it's that body chemistry thing. Good thing is, I do like some of Givenchy's other stuff (i.e. Xeryus Rouge and Pi). A vanilla scent freak I am. 8-)