Lagerfeld Classic (1978)
by Lagerfeld

This can be had for next to nothing online or at discount perfume stores. I bought it blind based on the positive reviews on Basenotes, and also because i tend to enjoy "old man" scents. The reviews don't lie. At first it was horrendously nauseating. It smelled like a cheap floral perfume, imagine CK Euphoria mixed with Kenzo Flower and then distilled a hundred times until it becomes overpowering...it really takes some getting used to but once the immediate urge to wash it off wears off, its really not bad and dries down to a very warm comforting powdery base that lasts all day and projects well. In fact, it projects too well. Given that I just described it as "horrendously nauseating" and characterized it as overpowering, I am very careful how I wear this stuff: one spray on the chest, no more no less, and never on exposed skin such as the neck or the wrists, it really will disturb a lot of people if its not muted by a shirt or a sweater-hint hint, this is strictly a winter affair. I wear it simply because I enjoy the scent-the warmth that rises to meet the nose is magic, when I'm sat with a book i often lift my collar away from my chest and up to my nose to get a good deep breath of the stuff.
Do i get compliments on it? No
Did it repel people before i learned to wear it discretely? Yes
Does it occasionally smell like hard candy found at the bottom of an old lady's purse? Yes and No, its not something that would have come to me so obviously had I not read it here, I think more than anything the mid-notes remind me of incense which carries through to the base...but yeah...old lady's bag I guess

12nd December, 2011.

My biggest dissapointment so far. After reading raving reviews of this perfume I went ahead and bought an 8 oz . of this concoction and I was avid to try it, as soon as the mailman dropped it in my mailbox I unwrapped and apply on my neck and wrist and I almost gagged with this disgusting juice. To me it is Pierre Cardin pour Monsieur on performance enhancing pills. Horrible, loud, smells worse than the cheapest drugstore cologne. Big thumbs down.
Anybody interested in a slightly used 8 oz (huge) bottle?

8th October, 2011.

I must admit I'm biased towards LC. It was one of the first frags I ever bought. Was in high school and felt the intense need to smell "good". Can't remember why I chose LC over others but I never wore it and forgot about it. Haven't smelled it in over 15 years and bought a bottle, not realizing that it was the same frag I had purchased years ago. At first whiff, the aroma was unmistakable. The scent memory kicked into overdrive and suddenly it was 1988 again. Smelled the same as it ever did. Intensely sweet, powdery and musky. Vulgar and compelling at once. Back then, all I got was vulgar and dismissed it but who can blame a 16 year old boy? What I've since learned is that opopanax (surely a synthetic oil now) gives LC it's character. Combined with vanilla, orange and musk, opopanax's dirty, raspy voice is amplified like a microphone to sound like Sinatra at the Garden. There's really nothing quite like LC (combine PdN NY with Kouros and you're approaching it) and to find it in the bargain basements of the lower end of the shopping spectrum is either a pleasure or a disservice to this great frag. They broke the fragrance mold on this so get it while it's still good and available.

22nd September, 2011.

Revisiting Lagerfeld Classic after some years, I am certain that the formula has been changed. My memories of Lagerfeld Classic are of a rich, warm, full-bodied, boozy kind of fragrance that enveloped the wearer in an olfactory cloud as thick as an overcoat, and which somehow conjured up a number of vivid, if rather jarring, images - elderly aristocrats, gentlemen's clubs, decanters of cognac, rich brown oak panels, oddly juxtaposed with pimps, pink cadillacs, heavy gold chains and murky backstreet business. In a way, this identity crisis was almost part of its charm.
But, unless my nose, memory, and imagination deceive me, the newer bottle of Lagerfeld Classic seems an altogether thinner and more chemical affair - not actively horrible, but a poor ghost of its former rich glory. Or do I deceive myself?

13rd September, 2011.

Wow! It took a few minutes, as usual, for me to recognize where I smelled something similar before, and then it dawned on me: this is a light version of The Knize Ten, especially once you get beyond the opening. On the other hand, the Lagerfeld drydown is better balanced, yet still strong, which means I might actually prefer it to TKT. It is thick, yet not heavy, with strong spice, "dirty" jasmine, powdery iris/orris, and tobacco; also, there is an impression of leather, whether or not it is there, probably because it is dry. It is just sweet enough to keep it enticing, but definitely not cloying.

This review is for the original, which is Lagerfeld Cologne. I've also sampled the new version, called Classic Lagerfeld, and didn't like it at all, so don't blame me if you get the wrong one! The original has the word Lagerfeld on front of the bottle in a rather fancy font, whereas Classic Lagerfeld has a plain font. Here in the BN directory, the picture is of the original whereas the name is of the new version, so that can only add to the confusion. Longevity is great and projection/"sillage" are just right for me, with one or two sprays to the chest.

4th April, 2011.

Old Fashioned masculine scent; sweet and oriental; good longevity and sillage...

In my eyes (and nose) this is no weird or old man`s scent; this is what was available in the 80`s...and being born in the late 60`s...for me it is full of wonderful memories...

Give it a try if you want to sample a glimpse of the 80`s...

Big thumbs up...of Course...!!!

13rd February, 2011.