There is just something about wearing a vintage perfume. A dab from a 1950s bottle of Chanel no.5 behind the ears... you want to dress differently, walk differently, maybe think a little differently. It's a time machine to another era. A tiny flask of Mitsouko holds all the secrets of an old love letter and while you wear it, those secrets are whispered in your ear. Because a vintage parfum is so different from the newest things being sold at the counters today, it can feel challenging to approach these steel magnolias. They can be imposing at times, like a fine wine with a name so French you are too afraid to order.
I suppose I should clarify..what do I consider vintage? Well, since I was born in the late 70s, I'm going with anything before that. But seriously, there are certain ingredients that for either financial or ethical reasons are no longer being used in perfumery. These same ingredients were the basis of the bestsellers from the early 20th century. Notes like oakmoss, civet, castoreum, ambergris, peru balsam, angelica root, tagetes, and many others are staples in classic perfumes which will no doubt be hurt by tighter ingredient restrictions passing. Reformulations are never the same. It would be like if your grandmother died and someone taxidermied her and tried to convince you she was still alive. I'm very sad about the new perfume laws, especially when you consider the chemicals that are still allowed in our food. Perfumes are easier to regulate precisely because they possess no nutritional value. Moving on...
I am a lucky girl. I've had the opportunity to own a few vintage bottles and also sample quite a few decants (check out The Perfumed Court website to get anything I talk about here). I'm having a hard time deciding which ones to talk about today because there are just so many good ones! Here are six that I have not spoken of previously on Essences&Reveries:
TABAC BLOND by Caron
Launched in 1919. How I learned to love leather. When it's done right it is soooo right. No tobacco in this perfume but the combination of leather, vanilla and spicy carnation, backed up with patchouli, vetiver and cedar...it creates the effect of the world's finest unlit cigarette. Trust me, there is such elegance in this. On skin, the carnation blooms and you won't smell like an ashtray, you'll smell like a million bucks. This was created the year women finally won their right to vote and it conjurs up the spirit of those independent chicks voting in President Warren Harding because he was like, such a babe.
SHOCKING by Elsa Schiaparelli
Launched in 1937. Nothing shocking about this. The civet only serves to make it "vintage-y" and temper the honey. This is heavenly. It rides that fence of being sweet and innocent but with an animalistic undercurrent that hints at naughtiness. Wearing this is like a bit of lacy slip or bra peeking out of your otherwise conservative outfit. People think "Well...does she or doesn't she?" The drydown is a sweet incense. This is big enough on character that the bottle being shaped after Mae West's curves is just the cherry on top. This isn't shocking, it's a great example of civet not being scary. It also proves that perfumes from the 1930s can hold their own against today's fruity little candy bombs being sold at Victoria's Secret. The only thing sexy about most of those is the word "sexy" somewhere on the label.
YOUTH DEW by Estee Lauder
Launched in 1953. For those of you who have seen the movie Mona Lisa Smile, that is the year and the type of nice young ladies (and their mothers) to whom this fragrance was being marketed. Look, I didn't want to like Youth Dew. The name is ridiculous, the reviews are polarizing (some people really HATE this) and it's made by Estee Lauder, a house whose perfumes have always been hit-or-miss in my book. But finally I caved when I spotted a vintage bottle after reading over and over about this iconic frag. I keep wanting to pick it up and take a swig. It looks like a Coke and it even has a slight cola smell. To be honest, I am still not completely sold on Youth Dew. I tend to wear it around the house rather than out, and my mind changes a lot. Sometimes there is a strange camphor-menthol quality that I abhor. Other times I can't even detect that and instead the smoked cinnamon and powdered clove seem quirky and soothing to me. And then there is the fact that men go crazy over this. Really. They are so strange.
BAL A VERSAILLES by Jean Desprez
Launched in 1962. I feel like Joan Holloway from Mad Men when I put this on. There are very few scents that inspire me to save them for a "fancy occasion" but Bal a Versailles does that. It was my first experience with some real knock-you-on-your-ass civet. A private and sexual scent and yet it's formal. I don't know how to better describe it than sneaking off to have a quickie in the coat room at a boring political fundraiser. It's a royal scent...powdery crushed wildflowers and sweet incense. It is feminine and soft but also skanky. My bottle ran out and I am so sad about it.
CALANDRE by Paco Rabanne
Launched in 1969. Quite an unusual scent. When I first tried it I thought "soapy, musky, it's nice enough" but then an hour passed and pure magic happened. That oakmoss and aldehydic blend over a rose settled itself into my natural skin oil. I thought perhaps it had faded already when I got into a taxi. The female cab driver told me I smelled beautiful and I realized that it had not faded at all, my nose had simply gotten tired of telling my brain about it. Minutes later, I met a friend at the airport and as we embraced he nuzzled into my hair and remarked how I smelled great. This is just a soft comforting smell, but also crisp and green. I also wore it the day we buried my grandmother and catching little whiffs of it was nice during that difficult time. I sure wouldn't mind owning a bottle of this.
MYSTERE by Rochas
Launched in 1978. Men followed me around like lovesick little puppies when I wore this. Civet, oakmoss, fresh carnations and hyacinth, biblical resins. Green, metallic, but also soft... words can not accurately describe this. That's why it is called Mystere! It's quite the magic potion. And it's been discontinued because life can be so unfair. Eventually I'm going to have to spend my hard earned dollars on a decant. That's all there is to it. I give up. Take my money. You win, vintage Rochas. You win.
