Over the years, 5th Avenue has received numerous successors inspired by New York. As fashion changed, the composition style changed and modernized, yet focused of luxury. This year, with the launch of My Fifth Avenue, a bottle design that adorned the previous 5th Avenue edition has been changed. The bottle is decorated with facets of irregular shapes that "disturb" the strict structure of the previous editions. New design brings the new way of elegancy to the flacons. If you are the type that likes the candy, sweet type fragrances this might not be for you. Otherwise, I highly recommend it. This is soft enough where you could wear this at the gym, yoga classes without having to fear that someone may take offense to an overly strong perfume. This is a very elegant floral, that also happens to be smart, warm, a little sparkling, sensual, happy, softly sweet, a little bitter, and very demanding. Bold. This means business. I won't go further because the notes speak for themselves. It's got multiple personalities. Could be a good or bad thing depending on the person. It appears to be a good thing in my case. This is reason why my mom planned to get this perfume for me when I become of age. She says it is just like me, and so do my friends. She smelled this on a woman when we were shopping in a mall when I was about 15. The woman passed us by and my mother just stopped to admire the smell. When she got out of it, she literally ran to the lady to inquire about the fragrance. She gifted it to me on my 18th birthday. She told me that when she saw that girl it was as if she saw a "grown up version of me". It made her feel proud. It doesn't smell mature, or young. It is timeless. I can wear this anytime, regardless of occasion or season and it works.

Avenue has never failed me. It left a beautiful trail, and the silage was stunning. The notes that dominated this scent for me during the first few hours were lily of the valley, linden blossom and lilac. Later during the day I could feel a strong, but not overpowering, presence of lily of the valley softened up by a delicate touch of magnolia and jasmine. It is clean, but not fresh laundry clean or soapy - I just don't see the 'soap' references. Clean as in the crisp scent you'd feel when in a rich orchard in bloom, or in a field of flowers. More orange blossom-clean, a fragrant 'cleanliness' if you will, definitely not the 'freshly washed skin/body/clothes' kind of scent. For me, 5th Avenue is one of those perfumes that you probably get for Christmas or a birthday. You don't hate it, but you don't love it. But you like it enough to keep it around and on stand-by, for days when you know you don't want to go out without wearing a perfume, but you don't want to waste your really expensive stuff, or use up any of your go-to everyday scents. You just want to have a pleasant smell on you that will stop you being fragrance-naked, but won't attract any attention. It's pleasant, but it's nothing groundbreaking or unique. Definitely not the loud, defiant feminist fragrance of my mother's generation (despite Elizabeth Arden's feeble attempt to tie this fragrance to that cultural movement, lol). It's definitely riding the coattails of Estee Lauder Pleasures, which came out the year before. They both have floral, white floral, green, and soapy accords with a very noticeable lilac note. Pleasures is greener, less sweet, more complex, and (imo) better than 5th Avenue. It's also more expensive and more difficult to find at a good markdown. I'd personally swing for Pleasures over 5th Avenue, but if you like one you'll probably like the other. If you're on a tight budget, 5th Avenue is decent value for your money.

The Vintage version of 5th Avenue smells as if it is a predecessor for the Light Blue brand of perfumes. If you really like the notes of strong lemon, you will probably like the Vintage version (I would definitely try it, you never know -- chemistry is personal - it is based on your diet and the chemicals that are in your system; you may like it) . The Vintage blend does not harmonize with my chemistry as well as the newer formula. This is a first, because I normally like the Vintage version much more than the newer formula. In this case, they have really improved the formula where it is much more wearable. Bravo! (And NO, this is not mentioned where perfumers start changing the original formulas -- because this is TOTALLY RARE that I would like the newer formula as well or better than the original).

I love everything I ever sniffed and tried from Elizabeth Arden (tried them ALL, except for White Tea and its flankers), so perhaps I am biased or just prefer that type of perfume (strong, sweet or flowery, a hint of warmth that is NOT sandalwood, incense, spice, oud or anything else oriental). Elizabeth Arden puts a lot of fragrance on the market, much of it trivial, so it's easy to forget that some of its classics are very good. This is one of them. I'd overlooked it for years, even after complimenting a colleague on her sensational perfume and being told it was 5th Avenue. That was about 5 years ago. Anyway, better late than never.It’s what the rich lady might wear strolling along the boulevard, one perfectly manicured hand on her white wide brimmed hat to hold it in place. She’s the picture of class, enjoying the sun on a happy carefree day. It's probably not going to get all that many comments...unless you're absolutely lashing it on and you happen to be one of those very few people for whom the potion in question, just totally fits your personality. None of this is me trying to criticise this fragrance. It's more that it's of a time when these kinds of fragrances were more modern that other stuff that was on offer. That doesn't make it an old-fashioned fragrance exactly, but it's no longer anything special that we haven't smelled a bunch of times before. These have been compared, and there may be similarities, but I find them very different. VW has a more 'perfume-y' vibe with some sharper facets, and a stronger performance. Avenue reminds me of a mother, not because it’s a particularly motherly scent, and it doesn’t remind me of my own mother either, but I’m pretty sure my friend’s mum wore this when it came out in the 90s. I would’ve been around 12 and it’s strongly ingrained in my memory to associate this with someone’s mum. It is not however an ‘old lady scent’. In fact I think it’s quite fresh and young. It smells very classy and sophisticated, like others have pointed out, but in an elegant sophisticated woman sense who could be any age. I suppose for very young people this could feel somewhat on the mature side, due to it being so sophisticated and elegant, in that sense it does have ‘grown-up’ vibes. But being grownup doesn’t automatically make one old (unless you’re 5, then it’s perfectly legitimate to call anyone over the age of 12 old). The sparkling fresh floral scent of My Fifth Avenue evokes the energy of the most famous street in the world, featuring crisp citrus notes for a surprise burst of freshness complemented by an embrace of feminine florals. The notes evolve into the warmth and emotion of musk and woods, reflecting a woman’s strength and resilience, imparting the scent of success.

My in-laws used to own an apartment on Fifth Avenue, near Washington Square, and I can assure you that the real 5th Avenue doesn't smell anything like this. The real 5th Avenue smells like most major cities in the U.S.--like car-exhaust fumes and (intermittently) like garbage and/or restaurant food. Maybe every once in a while some glammed-up blue-blooded gal straight out of a Frank Sinatra song stalks down the sidewalk and you catch a whiff of her perfumed hair, and perhaps the perfume smells like linden and lilac, and that is 5th Avenue to you--this magical reprieve from the usual urban odor, an evanescent glimpse of the good life (although the vintage version of the perfume is reputed to be "eternal"--if only my bottle was!)

New York City, specifically 5th Avenue, was the inspiration for the fragrance. We wanted to capture the energy of the city through the eyes of a woman striving to make her mark. 5th Avenue is the heart of NYC, and My Fifth Avenue serves as an ode to the ambition and adventure one can find there. The goal was to capture all of these elements and translate them into a fragrant reminder of the endless possibilities that lay ahead.” I will preface this review by saying that I like this fragrance and find it fairly bubbly, joyous and jubilant. It smells like springtime in New York as the name would have one believe and it is a very pleasant and feminine perfume. Cassis is not mentioned in the list of ingredients, so it could just be something that is taking on a smell that is similar to the note of cassis. (This smells like ivy, a strange green note with my chemistry).