If you want really old school there's arch - compile everything from source.
One of these days--if I ever find the time--I'm gonna go back and try LFS again.
I’m also completely fine with gnome-shell 3. Even at work where I’m forced to use Ubuntu I set it up to use gnome-shell and I can work very effectively with it.
I think I’m weird that way. For all the gnome haters that exist I find that their emphasis on simplicity, clarity, minimalism while at the same time trying to deliver on functionality and being “modern” are things that I appreciate.
I find that the folks that work on Gnome are really thoughtful about UX design. I could never be that person - building mockups, debating on how big buttons should be or where they live - but I’m glad that those people exist.
Gentoo or one of it’s sisters, similar in ways, to Arch (compile from source), but has a very active user community.