Jean Paul Gaultier Classique is one of the very few fragrances that I’ve owned in all its available formulations: first the Eau de Toilette, then the Eau de Parfum, Parfum, and Summer flanker. When it was launched in 1993, it was simply called “Jean Paul Gaultier.” At that time, I had recently lost interest in the fresh, light florals I’d been wearing for the previous few years. I was developing a new interest in sweeter, richer florals and gourmands, including Guerlain Shalimar for evening wear, and Gaultier's creation soon gained a lasting place in my affections and on my bureau.
I’ve always liked Classique for being just a little bit vulgar, a little too made-up and over-dressed for the occasion. It’s a big hug of powdery flowers and liquored-up vanilla, and it still makes me smile when I wear it or catch a whiff of it on a passing woman. It’s like a colorful faux-fur scarf that you might buy on impulse and then end up wearing more than almost anything else in your wardrobe, because it’s warm and whimsical at the same time.
All this retro-love for the original Classique is basically a prologue to my disappointment in Classique X, a new flanker that launched this past winter. The list of notes seemed promising enough — mandarin, bergamot, orange blossom, peony, vanilla, iris, cedarwood — mostly because it's similar to the basic Classique recipe. I was intrigued by the news that this fragrance was inspired by Gaultier’s Fall 2009 ready-to-wear collection, which included plenty of leather gloves, fishnet details, masks, and black garments with X-shaped cut-outs (see sketch above right). I relished the neo-noir description on the Gaultier website: “She is not really traditional. She is even X-rated. The new Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Woman plays a double game and wreaks havoc.”
However, the only “double game” that Classique X seems to be playing is a bait-and-switch, since this fragrance turns out to be oddly tame and conventional for a Gaultier creation. It starts with a very synthetic mandarin note that softens into something like an upscale creamsicle accord (or would it be an orange-vanilla sorbet, at this price point?). The sharp plywood-peony note of the fragrance’s heart should be familiar to anyone who has sampled Gucci Flora or Chloé, but Classique X turns out to have less personality than either of those recent successes (which is saying something). Its dry down is a dusty-but-clean rose-iris accord, nice enough, but somehow apologetically subdued and very short-lived.
Classique X, unlike its parent fragrance, is suitable for daytime wear and office wear, and it may very well appeal to fans of the above-mentioned Flora or any number of other sheer, orange-blossom-and-peony florals. (Then again, Flora admirers may not gravitate towards an X-marked bottle designed by the man best known to the American public for costuming Madonna in a cone-bra.) The Gaultier website suggests, “X like a secret identity. X like forbidden desires.” Unfortunately, Classique X’s “secret identity” seems to be a close kinship to various other mass-market fragrances, and the only “desire” it evoked in me was a craving for my tried-and-true, love-it-or-leave-it Classique Eau de Parfum.
Jean Paul Gaultier Classique X Eau de Toilette is $65 for 50 ml or $89 for 100 ml.
When I smelled Classique X for the first time in Sephora, well, actually I couldn’t smell anything, save for a bit of alchol.
So, in keeping with my notion that I can’t properly smell anything in Sephora (it’s like an olfactory vacuum in there), I asked for a sample, which the assistant happily made.
At home, my opinion didn’t much improve, though in I could finally “smell” Classique X. I was met by a still alcoholic, naff bug-repellent, generic type of modern “perfume.” I washed it off, though upon the second try, really didn’t have to because on my skin it disappeared into nothing in under twenty minutes.
It was a huge disappointment: I, too, own a bottle of Classique, which I sometimes love but mostly hate, but own for sentimental reasons (I first smelled it on a cruise ship in Greece.) But, the point remains, Classique is “about something,” whereas Classique X is most certainly not.
I expected more – even Ma Dame, which is a modern, lemony-vanilla, sparkling burst of fun, is still beautiful and a little off-kilter and totally worthy of my investment. Not so with the aforementioned X.
BeccaB, We’re in agreement! I’m not a big fan of Ma Dame (well, I love the bottle/advertising), but I do still remember how it smelled, months after trying it. It has a personality, as all Gaultier products should! This one is just sort of flat and timid, and as you said, fades away to nothing.
The bottle looks like the offspring of JPG Le Male and Schiaparelli Shocking.
Olenska, I believe the shape of the original JPG/Classique boottle was an homage to Schiaparelli Shocking!, and it has been released in several limited edition “outfits.” I love the Male bottle, in its striped sailor jersey, too.
Yes, the inspiration is certainly clear– but the “X” motif on the new bottle is even more clearly borrowed from the measuring tape that criss-crossed the Shocking bottle’s torso like a bandolier.
Haven’t tried X, but I never found affection for Classique. Something about it was just too heavy and cloying to my nose. Probably won’t go out of my way to smell X.
But Ma Dame I LOVE!
Karin, Have you ever tried the summer version of Classique? You may like that one!
Hi Jessica! No, haven’t tried it. Now you have me curious.
Me too! So disappointed. My favorite is the Eau de Toilette, which my husband calls “the marshmallow perfume” and is one of his favorites.
Megank4, heh, it is quite pillowy-sweet! I often wore Classique as my “dress-up” scent back in the days when I met my husband. I’m still not sure whether he likes it or not, but I hope it holds some good associations for him, as it does for me!
“Plywood/peony”, hah! Yes, I was confused by that sharp note in the heart of Flora (and Gucci II), and finally decided it smelled like dried broken thorns from a blackberry cane.
Jinjur, I’ve coined that phrase and I’m going to try to bring it into our scent-lexicon. It’s the wood note in some “woody-floral” fragrances that smells thin and sharp and fake.
Jessica, yes you are right. It is not such an expressive scent as Classique. I like the EdT, but I cannot always wear it, sometimes it is too heavy. The Classique X is for me an easy-to-go scent. I cannot smell Gucci Flora.
PLH, I love Classique, but certainly can’t wear it to work, on hot days, etc.! It’s just too much for certain settings. Classique X is definitely easier to wear.
The original Classique reminds me so much of a friend of mine who used to wear it in the ’90s and had the bottle on her dresser (I was not so into perfume at the time and it was very unusual to me!). It suited her very well and I’m sure if I were to smell it now a flood of memories would come back. I’d like to try this one. The only Gaultier I own is a Ma Dame mini!
Jill, Classique seemed really unusual to me in the early-mid 90s, too — a new scent, rather than a “classic,” but such an over-the-top sweet and feminine one. The Gaultier minis are adorable, aren’t they?
The minis really are cute! I don’t wear Ma Dame very much, but I like looking at the mini.
I had wanted to like this – it has a number of notes I usually do enjoy – and was willing to get over being embarassed by the bottle and the hype. However, the sampling on my skin went from a chemical-ly off-citrus note to a quick creamsicle drydown. Different, certainly, but not in any way that tempted me!
Maggie, Well, at least you know now that your own “chemistry” wasn’t to blame!
Now I’m interested in Classique, having never tried it. Classique X I will skip. A thread of prudishness from my upbringing always meant that my eyes would slide over Classique if I saw it in the shops. Without articulating, I would regard it as vulgar and move on. Now I think I will give it a go. Sometimes when I look my dressing table I wonder and regret that I have ended up with such a collection of serious, intellectual fragrances. But, I’m realising, life is short!
Annemarie, I think I was a little bit offended by the bottle the first time I saw it. (Maybe I was just in a bad mood.) The next time I really looked at it, I thought it was quirky and charming, and then I tried the fragrance. True, life *is* short. We all need some silliness!
The model in the ad looks like she’s sitting on a cactus.
Hah! Well, there’s an interesting idea for a fragrance. JPG Gaultier Classique Prickle: with a startling note of dewy cactus flower.
There’s a lot odd about that ad. The reflection of the bottle at the bottom looks like the same color as the model’s stockings… so my first thought was “what’s with the knee-less stockings?” followed by “WHAT is wrong with her KNEE?!” (Clearly, I was scrolled down to where only the bottom half of the bottle showed, and once I scrolled back up, it was obvious.)
Hmm, a bit late for the comment but well. Today I’m wearing it so I thought it would be nice to give an opinion. On me it smells like new leather and grapefruits. I was disappointed when I first smelled it (in winter), thinking it would not last one hour. But surprisingly, it goes on for the whole day. It’s a relief for my nose abused by sweet strong wintery fragrances. In the eternal spring/autumn climate I live in it’s a perfect match. I’ve shipped my Classique to my mother and kept this one
I’m so sorry I can’t smell my own neck today; I have to walk backwards to smell it…