Okay Ladies Admit the truth...Do you ever wear "retro" perfumes?
- Thread starter dmitchell15
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My mom still has a bottle of Halston lying around in her closet.. I think it smells good, but I wouldn't wear it myself. I do like her Diorissimo, though. I'm not sure if that's a classic, but I'm sure it's old. She says she used to wear it when she was in her 20s! She's 55 now.
^^^ Yes it was popular in the 60s and 70s, as was Miss Dior. Both of them smell like canteloupe on me, though, which for me is not a good thing.
But those who happily ride the whole smell-like-food juggernaut should definitely try these perfumes and see if they make you smell like a canteloupe.
But those who happily ride the whole smell-like-food juggernaut should definitely try these perfumes and see if they make you smell like a canteloupe.
I want to wear "retro" perfumes. They seem so appealing in theory... after all, Marilyn Monroe wore Chanel No. 5 to bed (and nothing else). But when I smell them, they just don't work for me. I keep wondering if they smell different on, but I'm not willing to walk around smelling of "Eau de little old lady" all day if they don't. Guess I need to buddy up with a Sephora SA and try to get some samples!
I love many of the remade classics, though. Coco Mademoiselle and Miss Dior Cherie are two of my favorites.
I love many of the remade classics, though. Coco Mademoiselle and Miss Dior Cherie are two of my favorites.
chanel number 5 is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to strong! i was marilyn for this past halloween and went to dillards to put a dab of it on, and oh my gosh that bone dot was strong haha :shame: it was old lady smelling though too.. haha
i wonder what people our age now are gonna think about our perfume when we are 40 years older
cristalena56 chanel number 5...was old lady smelling... haha
PurpleRose ... "Eau de little old lady"...
Well, I guess you have your answer!
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i loove retro perfume and i´m sad that some of them are hard to find. 
i think they were more sophisticated than today and there are so much memorys afflicted with them.
For example, my best friend is american and she brought me from there a little bottle of Nokomis by Coty (you probably all know that scent) and it always reminds me of the friendship even if we are a living far away from each other. And she was always wearing Exclamation
i think they were more sophisticated than today and there are so much memorys afflicted with them. For example, my best friend is american and she brought me from there a little bottle of Nokomis by Coty (you probably all know that scent) and it always reminds me of the friendship even if we are a living far away from each other. And she was always wearing Exclamation
^^ I have never heard of nokomis I may have to look for that one. I do like sand and sable though. I saw Tabu and emeraude at the grocery store and I am definitely not a fan of either. Although, the ladies on makupalley say that Tabu is great to wear. I'm not sure about that. I like chanel #5 and I wouldn't expect anything less of Marilyn Monroe. I think anything chanel is classic. I also think that most YSL and Dior are classic scents.
Also retro perfumes...we always call them old lady scents, but if you look at the time when they were made younger ladies wore them. I guess we call them old lady because they eventually grew up and still wore those same scents? So now the new younger generation associates them with the past generation?
Also retro perfumes...we always call them old lady scents, but if you look at the time when they were made younger ladies wore them. I guess we call them old lady because they eventually grew up and still wore those same scents? So now the new younger generation associates them with the past generation?
I LOVE Mitsouko!!
I forgot I have that, too! Almost anything Guerlain is a favorite of mine...
Wow, when I think "retro" I think both of 1980s retro (for me) and the real classic stuff like Chanel no. 5.
OK, I was in college in the mid/late 80s and it was absolutely de rigueur to be drenched in Giorgio perfume if you were a woman or Drakkar Noir for a guy. Or Dior Poison! I loved Giorgio but Poison was too OTT on me.
I think Eternity came out shortly after that and I STILL love that today...it's a clean, basic white t-shirt fragrance for me.
Fracas! I discovered this about 10 years ago and it's insanely fabulous...and I believe was launched in the late 40s so OK there's a retro one for me!
Chanel No. 5...I have some but honestly it doesn't work that great on me, brings me to tears just writing it.
OK, I was in college in the mid/late 80s and it was absolutely de rigueur to be drenched in Giorgio perfume if you were a woman or Drakkar Noir for a guy. Or Dior Poison! I loved Giorgio but Poison was too OTT on me.
I think Eternity came out shortly after that and I STILL love that today...it's a clean, basic white t-shirt fragrance for me.
Fracas! I discovered this about 10 years ago and it's insanely fabulous...and I believe was launched in the late 40s so OK there's a retro one for me!
Chanel No. 5...I have some but honestly it doesn't work that great on me, brings me to tears just writing it.
I like to distinguish between "classic" and "retro" too. I like Coco Chanel for classic, but when I think retro, I think Tatiana by DVF. I haven't smelled it in ages, but I remember loving it when I was in school. I might just have to buy a small bottle for nostalgia's sake, but who knows if I'll still like it!
PG - before I read your post I was thinking Georgio - that was the scent when I was in high school....I thought I was so cool to have it LOL. This almost (almost) makes me want to go get a little bottle. I loved that smell..............
I couldn't wear Poison it was so sickly sweet on me. Chanel no 5 doesn't smell good on me either, but like the scent when I smell it in the bottle. I am curious about 22....
I think you are both right, and both those statements are part of the same question, though when we talk about perfume, as with any art, opinions will always be subjective, and subject to all kinds of factors, like individual level of sophistication, exposure to different fragrances, etc.
There are exceptions, of course. To say that the ancient fragrances, like sandalwood, are "classics" will not meet many arguments, but that does not mean that someone whose grandmother wore that scent, and who has a relatively unsophisticated "nose" and limited knowledge and exposure of fragrance generally, is not going to have the perception that sandalwood is an "old lady" scent, whereas someone who always smelled it on both men and women of all generations, within a context of many different scents, both old and new, is going to have not only an intellectual understanding, but an emotional perception, of it as about as classic as you can get, and the same thing is true of oud, and some of the more obscure and ancient-extraction/distillation-method-obtained single floral attars, like rose.
Thus it is my prediction that while the very light, sweet n' fruity scents popular with young women today will indeed be perceived as old lady perfumes in 2048 by some of their children and nieces and nephews, depending on the overall place fragrance has in the hearts and minds of those children, the ancient scents will be just as loved and sought after, and probably even more expensive then as they have been for thousands of years!
I think of it as a classic and wear it at least 2-3 times a week.