This 90’s batch is incredibly powerful, long lasting, and rich. An all time classic, although not one that fits well with many occasions due to it’s strength and complexity. If nothing else, worth having in the collection simply to spray yourself and smell it while working from home during polo dress shirts the COVID-19 pandemic. I love Polo, but I would not consider this a very safe or crowd pleasing scent. This was what my dad wore when I was a kid. I associate it with my dad which is why it feels like an ‘old’ fragrance, but it definitely is dated regardless of that association.
By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdale’s sold Lauren’s men line exclusively. It was the first time that Bloomingdale’s had given a designer his own in-store shop. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, which introduced the Polo player emblem, appearing on the shirt cuff.
Women love this one and it is the epitome of masculinity. Several women I’ve been with or past girlfriends express that they love the smell and tend to borrow/keep my clothes that have the scent lingering. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. The bottle polo dress shirts is stunning as well and looks luxurious on your shelf. I mainly wear this as an everyday cologne outside of work/office settings. It is my signature scent and although I’ve seen mixed comments about the formula changing, it seems similar to me.
Polo is one of the easiest scents in the world to overspray. I think we’ve all been in the room with a guy who wore too much of this on too warm of a day. Also, the presence of personal body funk (or the dreaded ‘older man smell’) can render this fragrance just a really ugly air pollutant. I’m sure encounters like this have turned more than a few people against Polo. I think men who have a strong natural smell to their person are better off with a fresher fragrance to wear. But where Polo shines is in longevity and projection.
I got my 118 ml bottle at a discounted price of less than $60 (normal price is $100) which is a huge bargain for this type of quality fragrance. I will gladly repurchase in the future. I am glad I made this purchase, but I think I may have been better off seeking a clone of the original formula. I had a department store knock off from years ago, and it was closer to the original than the current formulation. To me, this is more spring and fall oriented.