Tuxedo

Tuxedo Perfume My wife was given scent this by her sister in 1985 by default I'm sure. It's a less than pleasant smell for a young girl. I'm sure her sister HATED it or she would have kept it for herself. Her sister's more of a taker than giver. Always has been. Always will be. I came onto the scene when I met my wife that same year. She had just graduated from High School & she was the Queen of her little town and the most beautiful cheerleader they've ever had in that tiny town! She was an utter knock-out without the snobbery that almost always comes with it. A breath of fresh air in the midst of her loose knit clique. On our first date, she had on this scent, but I thought was a little "old lady'ish." I didn't totally hate it, but I thought a girl of her beauty & stature needed something MUCH sweeter & not an older lady fragrance rejected by her big sister. I'm sure her big sis only bought it because of the beautiful bottle without much thought of the scent. Something to look nice on the dresser. I turned around a month later & bought her Georgio, which all the women in my family enjoyed. Years later, I fell in love with the sweet scent of 'Happy' after taking in the aroma of a woman across the parking lot of a mall. I have always loved the sweet scents. Flash forward to 2013. I asked my wife that I've now known for over 28 years, what happened to that old bottle of Tuxedo. I always loved the looks of that bottle. She said it was in her 'remember' box in storage. For some reason, maybe because I turned 50 & retired the same year, I got a little 'scentimental.' I drove over to the storage unit & found that old box that had both of our old letter jackets & other pieces of useless memorabilia that meant nothing to anyone but us. There it was. Wrapped so careful by my young bride that had decided retire this beautiful bottle & scent for a rainy day to remember. And, it was raining this day. I held it in my hands like a school boy who just found a naughty picture & thought this deep dark black bottle with this little red Polo must have really been special to the designer. It's got to be THE MOST beautiful perfume/Cologn bottle ever made. It's opaqueness gives it a mystique that any man or woman would wonder just what's inside. A smoothness for not just any girl or woman, but for that person who has everything along with the charm of good looks, personality & an overwhelming way of brightening up any room she enters. I shook but I felt no splash. Then I held my breath when I opened it. Then, & only then, was my mind magically melded back on that magic carpet ride to a time which I donned a flight suit for the next jet sortie in which half my mind was on the cockpit & the other on this perfect specimen of a lady. I saw that there was just enough for one or two dabs so I quickly closed it, for it was not yet time for this quarter century old fragrance to escape. When my wife arrived from work, I told her I had a surprise. I asked her to close her eyes because I had had a visit from an old friend. She smiled those beautiful lips in a way only she could, just for me. She closed her eyes just as I said "can you smell it" and laughed because of old tricks we used to play. She opened her eyes to that beautiful contoured bottle & said "I thought you hated that scent." And then she said, "I never really liked that scent either, but my sister would have had her feelings hurt if I wouldn't have worn it." I led her by the hand to the bedroom & dabbed just enough on her neck & a smidgen on her tummy to make her the smell of that 18 year old virgin I had met at the Officer's Club mixer. I have to say that I went wild & she followed suit. We both realized that our maturity had led to just this point in our lives that this scent was meant to be. I soon learned that some of these fragrances are for work and some for adventure. But the special ones sport a pheromone aroma exclusive for play. And for the rest of our lives, this scent will be there just for us & no one else. When I ascend the stairs, on our sleeping quarters route, I never have to ask, or worry myself about. I only use my nose, to know my lover's done her best, to make our loving wonderful, in this tropic island nest.

Tuxedo was indeed marketed as a fragrance for women when it was introduced in 1979. Remember, sugary/fruity/candy fragrances were NOT the norm back then. No, frilly femininity was on the way out and empowered femininity was on its way in. This was the era when Charlie was introduced (1973) with (I believe) Cheryl Tiegs wearing a pantsuit in the ads, something that was quite a new deal at the time... In fact, at my public high school in upstate New York, girls were strictly forbidden to wear trousers and one very, very cold and windy winter day saw us holding a protest by all wearing trousers to school when temperatures in the early morning (when we'd wait at the bus stop) had plunged to below zero. We prevailed and were allowed to wear trousers to school from that day forward. Tuxedo was an oakmoss wonder, very deep, dark and even a bit "chewy" in the way that only fragrances with lots of patchouli are now. Labdanum, ylang ylang and clove also played prominent and very noticeable roles. I used to walk through a department store on my way home from work and spritz myself royally from the tester before breaking down and finally buying one of those marvelous black bottles. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to purchase a couple of 4oz bottles of Irma Shorell/Long Lost Perfume's recreation (from the original formula) when they were closing out their stock. It is identical and I treasure every drop. The juice is very dark and the aura created is one of a comfortable orchestra seat in a beautiful old theatre as the lights go down and the curtain begins to rise. Simply marvelous!

Bliss in a black lacquer bottle, Tuxedo is mysterious and sexy, a shadowy chypre that doesn't merely pay homage to its hallowed forebears—it takes their delicacy and adds a dusky depth. There is the usual Ominum gatherum of fancy, flirty florals all humid and sumptuous, the ylang ylang, jasmine, narcissus, all in an emulsion of milky peach. However, this isn't just a 70s reinvention of Mitsouko. No, Tuxedo is far more chewy, unctuous even, with a thick, viscous expansion of labdanum and a magnificent emblazoning of oakmoss and vetiver. The result is drenched foliage and damp wood in the most enchanted, covert corners of a forest. I even pick up suggestions of fennel and tarragon in the mix. Something about its base seems almost like a tobacco, and recalls Habanita or even Tabac Blond. It's remarkable that for a fragrance of its time, it gives flashbacks of classics from nearly fifty years prior to its release. I often mention those perfumes that take a theme from the past and modernize it for its contemporary palate, and Tuxedo could fall into that category, as there's something also quintessentially of its time as well. It has a radiance and persistent fond that belies its supposed cologne concentration: the dry down is unreal. God, it's good. I do my best to avoid clichés like "smelling like old money" or "luxury", but I will say that the next time I ever mind myself attending a black tie affair, Tuxedo will be the one to wear.

Years and years ago, my best friend's mom gave me this little Ralph Lauren makeup kit. It had two eyeshadows, a deep sparkly plum and a sparkly pink, a brick-colored blush, and a pinkish lipgloss. It also had a little sample of Tuxedo perfume, of which I took one whiff and fell instantly, deeply in love. It was soooo grown-up and sophisticated. I doled that stuff out like it was unicorn tears, and I even kept the tiny glass tube when it was gone, just to smell the remnants. I recently snapped up the Irma Shorell Long Lost Fragrances version of Tuxedo and received it last week....and I don't like it. I sprayed it and immediately thought YUCK but I figured be patient, wait for the drydown, and the drydown was no better than the top notes - harsh, chemical, unpleasant. I am so bummed. It doesn't smell at all like I remember. So either I'm not remembering correctly or they just didn't get the scent right. Scent is SO evocative though. I feel like I would know, and remember if they'd gotten it right. I wish Ralph Lauren would bring the original back.

In agreement with a reviewer that just mentioned Tuxedo by Ralph Lauren and asked - "Where is Tuxedo"? ---------- Tuxedo was just one of THE BEST PERFUMES - EVER!!! I LOVED that perfume! You are right -- like, what happened to it? Where did it go? Why on earth would they EVER take THAT ONE off the market? ------- Have you ever found anything even in the same ballpark with Tuxedo? If you have, please let me know -- There is one by Avon - called Imari Mystique which has some similar notes... And recently, I tried My Burberry Black - which has some common themes with Tuxedo. Bill Blass - Basic Black is another truly AWESOME perfume - and is similar to Panthere by Cartier, but I actually prefer Basic Black because it lasts longer on the skin and has a bit more tobacco in its base. These are all really good - but Ralph Lauren really had a WINNER with Tuxedo -- I was so shocked when that went off the market. Why on earth would they do something like that -- Anyway -- You are so right! Where is TUXEDO? I miss Tuxedo!