Reviews of Pretexte 
Lanvin (1937)
DISCONTINUED

PRÉTEXTE is a gorgeous little oldschool number, with the "Lanvin-ade" aldehydic afoot. It has a slightly sweet vanillic/balsamic accord to it mingled with an herbal something... It almost seems to presage a marine oriental like DUNE (femmes) or even Mugler ANGEL.

It differs from MY SIN and ARPEGE in that its yellow floralcy is bright and cheerful. But like those two it is undergirded by ambergris, amber and an enduring warm styrax/leather note.

Gorgeous stuff... Almost sweet, but not quite... just sweet enough to be alluring and delightful. Wish I had a larger decant of it!

It is quite powdery and very similar to Zizanie de Fragonard. Patchouli and Sandalwood are the primary notes.
For me, the best is Scandal followed by My Sin from this house.
It is still a very decent fragrance.

With Vintage Lanvins, Extrait is generally your best bet.

Eau Prextexte is a delicate floral-leather.

Top notes: aldehydes, bergamot and narcissus
Heart notes: hay, rose, carnation, hawthorn, opoponax and iris
Base notes: leather, castoreum, patchouli, rosewood, ambergris, sandalwood, tonka, vetiver, civet, oakmoss

The ambergris in the base has aged so smooth to the point it makes it hard to delineate the notes. The leather quickly shows herself in my bottle and its one of the softest best done leathers Ive run accross. Dont let the list of the base notes fool you. They behave very well and expertly blended.

This is not powerhouse, but a throw backs to a toilette and lightness of fragrance. If you want a more pronounced experience, get the extrait.

PRETEXTE (1937): Amber, Hawthorn, Rosewood, Narcissus, Oak Moss, Patchouli, Orris, Bergamot, Coumarin, Rose, Carnation, Opoponax, Leather, Castoreum, Sandalwood, Tonka, Vetiver, Civet

Pretexte is an amber chypre, very much of the 1930s school of scent. It is totally unique, an original as I have never encountered in any other. Perhaps it is the hawthorn, a scent I do not know, that gives it the unique dryness and fizziness. This is helped no doubt by the hay-like coumarin and the dry orris.

It is quite perky and uplifting, very unisex by today's standards. This is one of Lanvin's classic six and is very worth seeking out.

I was lucky enough to find a small bottle of this vintage perfume, with its intaglio black glass stopper and art deco lacquer-and-paper box. The extrait itself had darkened to the color of old cognac, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't disappointed: Pretexte announced itself with a rush of fine leather, followed by a spicy-herbal, ambery warmth. Sometimes, as the scent unfolds, I can detect a floral note, sometimes a whiff of vanilla. It seems very much a fragrance of its time (late 1930s) and place (France) and that's a good thing. For an approximation, imagine Messe de Minuit or Black Cashmere, left to mellow in an expensive handbag, and you might get some sense of Pretexte.