Flipping though a 1987 issue of Vogue magazine brought back all sorts of memories of my life in the 80s. It seems so many lifetimes away, but most of the 1980s for me was spent in corporate banking; working downtown and sporting shoulder-padded power suits. Egad. Considering that I am more of a Bohemian at heart, it was probably an aberration. I have since returned happily to my more laid-back style, thank God!
The perfume ads really caught my eye. Perfume was HUGE in the 80s – the more powerful, the better. Of course I got caught up in the scent craziness of the decade, everyone did. The workplace reeked of heavy perfume, but we all wore it so there wasn’t much complaining. You weren’t dressed for work unless you sprayed yourself with a good dousing of perfume. You felt naked without it. Here are some of the favorite perfumes that I wore:
Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. Hands down my absolute favorite! I started wearing Opium in 1983, have worn it consistently since then. It is one of the only perfumes I wear that I get comments on all the time, “you smell so GOOD!”. I do believe that YSL made in specifically for me in mind, it is so tailor-made to my body chemistry. If they ever stop making it, I will have to go into extreme hoarding mode.
Poison by Christian Dior. Of course I wore this too, all purple-y and mysterious. It was a little too cloyingly sweet for my taste, but I did love the bottle.
Coco by Chanel. Featuring the glorious French model, Inès de La Fressange. Who didn’t want to be her? We all wanted to be French in the 80s! I still wear this perfume today.
Lauren by Ralph Lauren. All-American fragrance that was romantic and sweet. I actually wore this quite a bit too.
Paloma Picasso ‘Mon Parfum’ by Paloma Picasso. She seemingly came out of nowhere, and suddenly she was EVERYWHERE in the 80s. So of course, we all wore her perfume – she is a Picasso, after all. I can’t remember what this actually smelled like though. I guess her name eclipsed her perfume.
Bijan by Bijan. The ubiquitous Bijan. Who was this guy anyway?! He always looked like he was having fun in the ads – grinning mightily and surrounded by lively models. He, too, was everywhere. So of course we all had to buy his perfume. It was a really strong scent as I remember. I wonder what happened to ol’ Bijan?
Thanks for strolling down 80s perfume lane with me!
~Marilyn
I'm Marilyn, and I'm obsessed with vintage clothing, thrift stores, clotheslines, and Chanel. Welcome to my down-to-earth world!
Dear Marilyn, You really crack me up and you just never seem to skip a beat with all of the fun things that were cool and of interest to most of us females during the late 60’s,70’s and 80’s!!!
I just found a few more of your site’s on Perfume of the 80’s…. Oh Lord… Mohair sweaters:)… Always loved them but they were alittle expensive…. Remember the knitted vests? They were basically worn with a plaid mini shirt… What a funny look….. And we thought we looked good!! Remember real leather shoes(flats) but made really well… Some of them cost less than 10.00!!! And of course, your Romeo and Juliet article…. I have a collection of original movie stills that I still treasure as well as display… One of my walls is covered in framed R&J photos…. I don’t care what anyone thinks…. I like it!!!
Thanks again for all your fun info… I love it!!!!! Diane
Thanks, Diane!
Like you, I have always gotten into the styles of whatever was going on at the time. And since we are the same age, we have a lot of the same interests.
Yes, I remember the real leather flats of the 80s! I can remember this particular pair of black pointed-toe flats with a bow that I wore to death. I am tall, and I had a short(er) boyfriend at the time so I felt like I had to minimize my height. One day he said, why do you always wear flats, I’d like to see you in stiletto heels! This was a guy who was comfortable in his masculinity. 🙂
~Marilyn
Cette conseill