Dolce & Gabbana Perfumes & Colognes

Twenty-five bottles, and just two names account for more than half of them. If this page feels repetitive at first glance, that is why — and knowing which family you are looking at makes it navigable in about ten seconds.

Milan on the label, Sicily in the bottle

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana opened their house in Milan in 1985. Dolce is Sicilian, and the island has been the fixed point of everything the brand has done since — the black lace, the lemons, the Mediterranean light in every campaign. It is not decoration bolted on afterwards; it is the whole idea.

That matters here because the fragrances are literally built on it. Light Blue, the house’s biggest seller, is a Sicilian summer rendered as a scent: citrus peel, salt air, cool skin. Once you have smelled it the rest of the range makes more sense.

Light Blue, seven ways

Seven bottles on this page carry the Light Blue name: the men’s and women’s originals, Eau Intense in both, Forever, Sun, Love Is Love and Summer Vibes. They are variations on one idea rather than seven different fragrances — brighter, warmer, saltier, sweeter — so pick by season rather than by name. The originals are the lightest and the cheapest; Eau Intense and Forever are where the family gets richer.

The One, and K

The One is the other big family, at six: the men’s Eau de Parfum and Eau de Toilette, the women’s, Gold Intense, and the two Only One bottles. Where Light Blue is fresh and coastal, The One is warm, spiced and built for evening. If you find Light Blue too light, this is the direction to move in.

K by Dolce & Gabbana is the newest of the three, in three strengths, and the most modern-smelling thing here — drier and woodier than either of the others.

Outside the families sit Devotion, Intenso, Dolce, Dolce Garden, Pour Femme and Pour Homme, which is where the house does its quieter work.

Evenly split, and worth crossing over

Thirteen bottles are listed under men’s and eleven under women’s, which makes this one of the more balanced ranges we carry. It is also one worth ignoring the labels on: Light Blue in particular wears well on anyone, and the men’s and women’s versions are closer to each other than either is to The One.

For Italian designer fragrance at similar money, Giorgio Armani and Versace are the two we stock alongside this one. The men’s thirteen are filed under men’s cologne, the women’s eleven under .