Favorite Vintage Perfumes

[Katue]

zombi, I got my Miss Dior in France too. So I know what you're talking about. And I actually like it so much that I think it may be the scent I've been looking for
for years! You know, every woman should have her own signature fragrance. And may be just may be I finally found mine!

 

[Isis]

Just got my first vintage Shalimar sample. Wow. Now I understand what the fuss is about. It's everything I've ever wanted in a perfume. Absolutely lovely. Must get bigger sample!

I have only tested the modern EdT (or EdP) and was so disappointed! Shalimar ought to suit me, but I just found it sickly sweet. I need to test the vintage version as I knoe they are usually very different for the better!

Could someone please arrange shopping trips to the past? I need to buy perfume, fabric and shoes!

 

[katiesparkles]

I have only tested the modern EdT (or EdP) and was so disappointed! Shalimar ought to suit me, but I just found it sickly sweet. I need to test the vintage version as I knoe they are usually very different for the better!

Could someone please arrange shopping trips to the past? I need to buy perfume, fabric and shoes!

Maybe send a letter to Stephen King, he may be able to tell you about those special travel-to-the-past-and-buy-supplies rabbit holes I WISH!

I bought Wind Song on a whim the other day at CVS.. I never smelled the vintage version but the new one, which was reformulated, smelled awful on my skin Boo. Or not awful, but very... very... very... soapy. I don't like to call perfumes "soapy" but this is the only way I can describe it.

I like the way it smells when sprayed on my clothes though, so that might be one way for me to use it.

 

[sheeplady]

Could someone please arrange shopping trips to the past? I need to buy perfume, fabric and shoes!

I also want clothes and jadeite dishes. We ought to have at least one lady who is a travel agent in the powder room, right?

 

[lframe]

I think my wallet is going to be a lot lighter trying out "new" perfumes. My Great-Grandmother smelled divine and I can't remember all of the notes. I know she bathed in Cashmere bouquet, and I have the Coty airspun. Just not sure on the dusting powder and perfume. I'll have to start working on those.

 

[Miss Retro]

I just purchased this http://www.rose-apothecary.co.uk/acatalog/Evening_in_Paris.html its beautiful and i love the bottle.

 

[Heather]

I just purchased this http://www.rose-apothecary.co.uk/acatalog/Evening_in_Paris.html its beautiful and i love the bottle.

I've seen this in the Vermont Country Store catalog and I've been curious about it!

 

[JennieWren]

It has been years since I have actually smelled either Bal a Versailles or 4711 - but I remember them very vividly and fondly.[/QUOTE]

I inherited a half-full bottle of Bal à Versailles from my mum. It always makes me think of when I was a very little girl and my mum was the most beautiful and glamorous woman in the universe. I used to really like perfumes until I got pregnant. I had terrible hyperemesis gravidarum (the pregnant lady pukies) that were aggravated by, oh, everything. After I delivered my sense of smell was so acute I couldn't bear many of the perfumes that I had once adored. Bal à Versailles is one of the ones that I can still enjoy.

 

[1961MJS]

...After I delivered my sense of smell was so acute I couldn't bear many of the perfumes that I had once adored. Bal à Versailles is one of the ones that I can still enjoy.

Hi

I sincerely hope that goes away. Our Baby is 22 now, and my wife still has the whole acute sense of smell. I think everything is o.k. and she's gagging.

Later

 

[St. Louis]

I find this thread absolutely fascinating, because I've been experimenting with vintage fragrances lately. I'm particularly interested in what an average working-class lady would have worn if she'd lived in my house in the mid-1930s. Right now I'm looking for vintage versions of Emeraude and some other Coty fragrances, as well as Tabu and 20 Carats by Dana. I have no trouble finding them in antique stores and on ebay, and they're usually in fine shape.

What do you all think of these scents, anyway? I tend to read the online reviews on fragrantica and basenotes, just to get an idea of what's in these fragrances, and I have to say that there seems to be a weird idea that these scents are "old ladyish." I can't figure out what they even mean by that. (Powdery??) I think Emeraude and Tabu are both so rich and lush that I can't for the life of me imagine why they would be "old ladyish." In fact, I find Tabu almost intoxicating--so spicy and warm.

Today I wore a very old cologne made in Kansas City (of all places) some time in the 1940s. If I deciphered the tiny writing correctly, it's called "Mystique." It's just beautiful.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

Hi St. Louis! I adore perfume, and given the chance can ramble for longer than may be necessary. . While I'm by no means an expert, I can answer some of your questions.

"Old-Lady" smelling perfume: As I once told a co-worker, "my grandmother smelled great, did yours stink?" In all fairness, young women, who typically haven't smelled a great many scents typically prefer "simple" fragrances. These are often soliflores- scents built around a single note: rose, lily, orange blossom, etc.; or fruity-florals- your typical celebrity scent or Bath and Bodyworks frag. These are the white zinfadels of the perfume world. But like zinfadel, they can get monotonous. As you smell more stuff, you can appreciate a more developed perfume. An old lady perfume is the fine wine of the fragrance world. You have to be able to appreciate it. My coworkers always comment favorably on what I'm wearing. Usually along with a comment that while it smells good on me, they couldn't get away with it. Bah humbug!

There is also a rather unfortunate by-product of aging (or exclusively using the same scent). YOU can't smell it, but boy can everyone else! I'm certain that what many a granddaughter is complaining about is the heavy hand of her grandmother. My own grandmother exclusively used Tabu my entire life. Her bathroom always had a layer of Tabu powder on the counter (I used to write my name in it), Tabu lotion on the sink surround, and the scent of Tabu embedded in her clothing. I love Tabu, but it does scream of "Granny" to me. I love it, but I can't wear it. If ever there was a perfume meant to be worn in moderation, Tabu is it.

Another consideration. Tabu (1932) or Emeraude (1921) as they were originally formulated, can be very different than their modern incarnations. Formulations can be changed because some ingredients are no longer considered acceptable. These ingredients came from plants or animals that are now rare or endangered. Sometimes the scent was tweaked to appeal to a new audience. But the main reason is usually that a cheaper ingredient became available. Needless to say, this usually results in an inferior perfume. You are quite right to try and find vintage formulations. The close you can get to the original production dates, the more closely the scent resembles the original. Carry On!

Now as to your hypothetical 1930s lady. Let's assume the Depression didn't leave her and her family broke and she had money for perfume. If she had perfume, she probably had ONE bottle. Perfume was definitely a luxury item at this time. And it was probably a gift from a man. Like flowers, she most likely wouldn't have bought it for herself. A breakthrough in marketing was when Estee Lauder created Youth Dew in the 1950s. It was originally marketed as a bath oil. Women would buy their own bath potions. So while your 1930s woman probably wouldn't have worn her perfume on a daily basis, she probably poured something nice into her bathtub. If you'll look through the listings on Etsy, you can find a bunch of rose/lavender scented oils from the 1920s-1940s. These would be what was commonly used. That and scented powder.

As you have noticed, vintage perfumes can be found if you are willing to look. Online auctions, estate sales, Goodwill. They're all over the place if you're willing to look. While this is good for us, it does tell us what to me is a rather sad fact. Many a woman had her bottle of special perfume (Chanel, Guerlain, etc.) that she received 50 years ago. And she only used it for special occasions. And those times were so rare that the nearly full bottle is sitting on a yard sale table after her death. I am a firm believer in handkerchiefs, love letters, and sleepwear being treated to a spritz of something pretty. A spritz, not a dousing.

And now for a shameless plug. Now Smell This. http://www.nstperfume.com/. One of our regulars has just had her book about perfume published. Yay! Lots of perfume reviews. Lots of opinions. And "old lady" perfumes are usually held in high esteem.

 

[Flicka]

I'm going to admit I've gotten addicted to Chanel No. 5. It was getting the perfume rather than the eau de toilette - it's really a whole different scent, much softer and richer. Like the difference between a cheap, young wine and a fine, matured one. I just love it (despite it being my grandmother's perfume of choice).

 

[Isis]

I'm going to admit I've gotten addicted to Chanel No. 5. It was getting the perfume rather than the eau de toilette - it's really a whole different scent, much softer and richer. Like the difference between a cheap, young wine and a fine, matured one. I just love it (despite it being my grandmother's perfume of choice).

It's such a huge difference, isn't it? I truly hated the scent when I was younger- I remember reading it was Marilyn Monroe's favourite and sniffed my Mum's bottle of EdT (She never wore it though) and recoiled. Nowadays I like both version, but the perfume is much more wearable to me.

BluebirdMarsha, that's a very good analysis, I think. I do believe that part of the "old lady" thing is just because we connect it wih an older woman. My paternal grandmother wore a perfume that was heavy on patchouli, and to me patchouli smells "old lady", though most seems to connect that with the 60's and flower power. Which my strict grandmother, born in 1912, had nothing in common with.

 

[St. Louis]

Bluebird Marsha, thanks so much for that insightful & helpful discussion. I realized pretty early on that I would have to hide most of my vintage fragrance experiments if I wanted my dressing table to look authentic. I have to admit that I found myself becoming deeply immersed in these scents (like Alyssa, the subject of your blog entry.) For me, this is principally about enjoying the fragrance itself, and trying to understand how a woman would have felt wearing it in, say, 1937 or 1939.

I've been astonished at the richness and softness of some of these scents. Recently I wandered past a modern perfume counter and tested a tiny spray of one of Paris Hilton's perfumes. Now this is just my opinion, and I don't mean to offend anyone who might enjoy that fragrance, but I have to admit I recoiled. It was so overpoweringly sweet and loud that I couldn't wash my hands fast enough.

Right now I'm wearing a perfectly beautiful Eau de Toilette by Millot, called Crepe de Chine. Marsha, I see that you blogged about this fragrance in 2009
http://www.nstperfume.com/2009/08/31/millot-crepe-de-chine-fragrance-review/

I think this is now my personal favorite, but I'm not completely positive that my 1930s lady would have owned it. Perhaps some gentleman in the insurance business bought it for her? My tiny 1929 bungalow (which is the setting for this fragrance experiment) is one of dozens of identical house-lets in south St. Louis. If I understand the history here correctly, this little development was originally planned to house employees of the Hartford Insurance Co. Perhaps one of them traveled for work and found a bottle of CDC in a fancy department store?

Anyway -- back to Tabu -- I completely agree with you. I don't wear it outside the house. I find it deliciously spicy (in every sense of that word) but I'm not sure I would inflict it on, say, a movie-goer sitting in my vicinity.

 

[St. Louis]

I feel a bit weird replying to myself, but I've been thinking more this topic ever since reading Bluebird Marsha's post. Two things; first, after researching the launch dates of various perfumes, I've come to the conclusion that it is absolutely possible to scent vintage clothing with the right fragrance. Today I'm wearing Chantilly (1941) with a cotton late '40s blouse and I can see how different, how much more ladylike and powdery, this fragrance is from Emeraude (1927.) I find the original version of Emeraude absolutely intoxicating -- so delicious I almost want to gnaw at my own arm (kidding.) It's richer and plusher than Chantilly, though the two scents appear to have some things in common. Anyway, something for me to think about: the right perfume with the right era. That said, there's no reason a 1940s lady would have given up her beloved Emeraude, is there?

The second thought is more philosophical, I guess. Bluebird mentioned that "my" 1930s lady would probably have only one perfume, but I have ... well, never mind; let's say that I'm running out of room to store them. I collect vintage scents because I want to know how women from the first half of the twentieth century wanted to smell--if that makes sense. While this isn't an expensive hobby (most of my bottles cost under $10) it's still a lot more perfume that my 1930s lady would have owned.

What I find interesting about this is that my miniscule bungalow was obviously built for hard-working, respectable, but not very wealthy St. Louisans. I have to be careful not to let it get too cluttered because there is just no room; the original owners would never have had the storage space for the amount of clothes, books, and ... perfume ... that I'm trying to accommodate here. Well, I don't exactly know where this is leading, but it's certainly food for thought.

Chantilly is lovely, by the way. I found the original version by Houbigant, which is apparently much richer and less "sweet" than the modern version by Dana.

 

[Heather]

Speaking of Chantilly, after buying a full size of the body powder at my local rite aid, I found it in a gift set at a local charity shop. I was thrilled since I'm almost out of the perfume and now I get to try out the lotion plus now I have two containers of the powder. Makes me look forward to my next soak in the bath!

 

[fortworthgal]

I remember wearing Chantilly and Jean Nate body splash as a kid & teenager.

My favorites are L'Origan (hard to find), 4711, and Je Reviens. I do also like Emeraude and Tabu. I know the modern formulations are not the same, but they are great bargains, as I can usually get small bottles at Walgreen's for around $5.

 

[St. Louis]

Actually, I've found quite a few bottles of L'Origan on ebay. Just search for it in the Collectibles-Vanity category. 4711 is still being produced, and I can't tell much difference between the current & vintage versions, or even the German and U.S. versions. You can find that in a lot of stores. Try Smallflower -- they have a lot of wonderful vintage (and vintage-inspired) brands.

I feel that Je Reviens, Emeraude, and Tabu are really much more beautiful in the vintage formulations, and best of all, they're also very inexpensive & seem to be quite plentiful on ebay and Etsy. I usually find those in antique malls and vintage stores. I got a huge 1930s black rubber bottle of Tabu for $20, which is a splurge for me -- and the fragrance is gorgeous.

Try asking about perfumes the next time you're in a vintage shop -- they seem to keep vintage perfumes behind counters, and they're easy to miss. I wouldn't even have seen that bottle of Tabu if I hadn't asked.

 

[Bluebird Marsha]

FortWorthGal, I wore Jean Nate, Tatiana, and Cachet as a teen. Pretty good stuff. I still keep a large bottle of Jean Nate after bath splash in the refrigerator. It feels great on a hot day. And it seems like every day has been a hot day lately.

I can't say with any authority "why" a woman would have a limited perfume supply, but I have some theories. YMMV. Perfume was proportionately to income, more expensive then than now. A good chunk of it was "French", and costs for transportation, etc, would have been higher. It really was an indulgence, so unless you were well to do (or had several generous boyfriends ) the likelihood was that you had a favorite, and stuck to it.

I have a suspicion that it would have seemed a bit ... risque maybe?- having a bunch of scent. Most of my perfumista friends will happily admit that we wear perfume for ourselves. Just like our makeup. I wouldn't wear something my guy hated, and I would trend on wearing what he liked, but I don't buy the stuff while firstly thinking of him.

But I think that during the 20's-50s, most people would have accepted that perfume was something you wore as a male attractant. And that your guy would have bought you what he liked. Would having too much indicate an overtly *cough* sensual nature? Just my thoughts.

But just because the average Jane didn't have that much fragrance on her vanity, doesn't mean we can't. Would Rita Hayworth or Jean Harlow sit around thinking, "Really, I don't need any more perfume. It's just too self-indulgent".

My own collection. Two shots, same stuff.

 

[fortworthgal]

Actually, I've found quite a few bottles of L'Origan on ebay. Just search for it in the Collectibles-Vanity category. 4711 is still being produced, and I can't tell much difference between the current & vintage versions, or even the German and U.S. versions. You can find that in a lot of stores. Try Smallflower -- they have a lot of wonderful vintage (and vintage-inspired) brands.

I feel that Je Reviens, Emeraude, and Tabu are really much more beautiful in the vintage formulations, and best of all, they're also very inexpensive & seem to be quite plentiful on ebay and Etsy. I usually find those in antique malls and vintage stores. I got a huge 1930s black rubber bottle of Tabu for $20, which is a splurge for me -- and the fragrance is gorgeous.

Try asking about perfumes the next time you're in a vintage shop -- they seem to keep vintage perfumes behind counters, and they're easy to miss. I wouldn't even have seen that bottle of Tabu if I hadn't asked.

I've found a lot of my perfumes at estate sales & antique shops. I have several large bottles of L'Origan and Je Reviens (picked up a HUGE brand new bottle for $2 at a local antique mall), and a few German bottles of 4711 (I'm actually putting some in the upcoming beauty swap box because I have so many!) Good tips though. I've typically found perfumes in the "glass case" section of antique shops, rather than out on the regular shelves.