Saturday Question: What 20th Century Perfume Should You Have Stockpiled?

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hello Fellow Fumies,

At APJ we have a Saturday Question. Everyone gets to chime in with an answer, chat with other responders and it’s a fun event each week. Taking sides never means taking offence and everyone keeps it respectful and light, even though we can sometimes trawl the depths.

The idea is you’ll see it on the weekend or chime in through the week. Hopefully you will come back regularly and see if anyone has responded to your comment and you can reply to them. The aim is to generate real conversation and connection even though we are scattered around the globe.

Over 100 responses I will draw a Secret Scent Sample Pack (from my collection)

Last Weeks Winner:

eMail me at (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with your address please

Saturday Question: What 20th Century Perfume Should You Have Stockpiled?

This is a question I have had to deal with on more than one occasion. Obviously, as a child and young adult of the 20th Century a whole bunch of my perfume memories and associations are grounded in that time. Being a sentimentalist and loving a bit of nostalgia I like to have, and wear, those fragrances that give me instant flashbacks. Sadly, due to reformulation, management changes, cost cutting and a slew of other reasons many of the scents I loved are shadows of themselves, if not changed beyond recognition.

My Answer:

Tendre Poison by DIOR

I really wish I’d bought 100 bottles of this beauty. Not for me, though I quite like it. For my girlfriends who constantly lament its loss. There’s something about this green sparkling beauty that really captured the hearts of so many of my mates. I think it might have been around just as a bunch of my friends finally had discretionary spending money. Tendre Poison was an early buy that serves as a reminder of those early, fun filled, fabulous years before real commitments started taking precedence and life was to be lived. So many times I’ve heard the lament.

Every time I see one online for a decent price I grab it and gift it. The joy when mates have their hearts desire is wonderful. That first spritz and all the happy stories come flowing out. Perfume is magic.

 

My Saturday Question to you is:

What 20th Century Perfume Should You Have Stockpiled?

131 thoughts on “Saturday Question: What 20th Century Perfume Should You Have Stockpiled?”

  3. Perfume is magic Portia! It’a ability to transport us back in time with vivid scent memories is magical. I have stockpiled several as perfumes from the 20th century appeal to me more. Two are Cartier Panthere from 1986 (not the more recent Le Panthere) Givenchy Ysatis from the 1980s.

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  4. I would have loved vintage Chanel no.19 now, both the pure perfume and edt. However, back in 1985 or thereabouts it felt too harsh. So I never actually owned a full bottle, even of the edt.

    Of the bottles I’ve actually owned, Le Dix in edt (it lasted well on my skin) is one I wish I had stockpiled. I have never found anything like it. It had a bit of a serious side to it, while still being floral and with a dry aspect, kind of powdery. In fact, at first I wondered if I should have bought something more modern, but it grew on me and generally I like the classic French style in perfumery, so that time I did the right thing when I listened to the advice of the French sales assistant.

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  5. I can’t believe how timely this question is: I have just been on evilbay looking at Fragile. One seller has a 50ml bottle up for £249.99! Nope, that’ll not be happening 😯. I have my own small stash of it but was thinking of my daughter, hers is almost gone. Just broke the news to her that we won’t be getting any more, unless a miracle lotto win occurs. Maybe that’s the only one I would have bought up by the bucketload. I’ve done well over the last couple of years building up little stockpiles of my favourites so I think I’m well covered. I was so lucky to snatch up an almost full bottle of Tendre Poison a while back for a great price. You’re so right when you say perfume is magic. The greatest time-machine known to man.

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  6. Perfume is indeed magic.
    This question is challenging! Can I pick more than one?
    Cristalle from 1975 when it really was a chypre.
    Nocturnes de Caron from 1983 in the original art deco bottles….I would have picked up the pure perfume too.

    No 5, 19 and 22 in pure perfume as well as EDTs in those gorgeous lacquered refillable rectangular bottles. Original Coco too!!

    Prescrptives Calyx from the late 80s.

    Victoria by Victoria’s Secret.

    Pacifica first fragrance from 1997, Tibetan Mountain Temple….why was it d/c????

    Ok, I will stop now 🤣

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  7. So many…
    Jolie Madam
    Scherrer by JL Scherrer
    Any of the Chanel Les Exclusives in EDT
    Iris Ganache
    Slumberhouse Pear + Olive
    Mitzah
    Dior Cherie

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  8. I would also say Shiseido Feminite du Bois. I do have a little stash of it but I still want many more bottles of it. I do think I am fortunate to be in the US in this regard as I have been able to get many backup bottles of beloved discontinued perfumes at amazing prices that would have been very expensive and/or difficult to source if I lived outside the U.S. Being a major economy with significant population size does have its advantages.

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  10. Not having been a perfumista for long, I don’t have a lot of lost loves. There are things I would love to sniff, though – vintage extraits of Chanel and Guerlain…..

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  11. Not one really. Here in Sweden most of them still come on auction and are sold quite cheap. Just bought a vintage bottle of Obsession for men for 6 euro. I would like to smell Davidoff Goodlife again, we share some good memories.

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  12. Not sure about stockpiling but I would definitely love to get a bottle of the first Angel: I’m convinced it used to be different, and I’d like to re-live that first impression.
    Other than that, I would have preferred to get my own bottles of Miss Dior and preserve them rather than gamble with vintage purchases now. And I could never have enough Lancôme Climat: I don’t trust eBay for this perfume: too many fakes.

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    • Undina, you’re right about Angel being different (and better) years ago: ever since the Mugler brand got acquired by Clarins Group, Angel has changed for the worse. It would be nice to buy one of the first batches.

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    • Hey Undina,
      Oh yes, imagine if we’d picked up a few Miss Dior 100ml Edt and the 20ml extraits! We’d be laughing today.
      I’m surprised Climat has loads of fakes, was it a seriously popular contender? It was never a big deal here in Australia. Thank you for introducing it to me BTW!
      Portia xx

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      • Climat was one of those perfumes that my generation and older ones knew as one of “the French perfumes” (there weren’t that many available when I was growing up).

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      • Portia, I think the fakes of climat are due to its past popularity in Russia if I am correct. Apparently, it was very popular in communist part of the world and since many countries were closed to the outside world, they made lot of fakes to satisfy local demand. I suspect all of those fakes that have populated ebay are mostly Russian products. Since the fakes copied everything from box to bottle, it becomes a challenge to distinguish between fake and real today.

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        • You’re almost correct. There were no fake perfumes in times when the country was closed – just because there was no need “to satisfy local demand” since nobody cared to do that: there was no profit to be made, it was a different type of economy. But since the demand was high and not satisfied, Climat got its “desirable” status, which led to production of fakes in the decades after the USSR dissolution. I don’t know (or have a strong opinion) on where those were produced but I have strong doubts they were produced in Russia. ForRussian market – yes, definitely, but in Russia? I doubt. These days though it can be anywhere, including any of the ex-soviet republics.

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          • oh I see. When I said Russia, I meant to include former Russian states. Should have said USSR. I might be wrong but if I remember correctly what I read, the citizens of USSR, even when it was closed to the outside world, did lust after western brands so locals would sometimes find ways to smuggle gifts for their loved ones including perfumes, particularly when returning from a foreign trip.

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            • Yep, that was exactly how it happened. But “procuring” the original item was the only way of getting it, there were no capacity, ability, or incentives to fake them.

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  13. Like Brigitte some of the old AG’s, no 22 and Cristalle. And I know not 20th century but still….some more Vero’s.

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  14. I’ll try to keep my choices distilled to the ones I adored then and continue to love. Shalimar perfume (70’s), Musc Ravageur (first edition, heck, even the second!), Chanel No. 22 perfume (70’s).
    Of course, I could add loads more that I would love to sniff, but these are the ones I could wear on a daily basis. Forever and ever. Cuz they’re so damned great!!

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  16. Almost too many to count. From the 70s/80s: Cabochard, Chanel No. 19, Caleche, Sikkim, Jil Sander Bath & Beauty, Germaine Monteil Bain Douceur, Scherrer, Fidji, Miss Dior, Givenchy III, Ivoire………

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  17. Off the top of my head: pre-LVMH Guerlains, Patou, a few Carons, CdG insense series and maybe a few Artisans and Lutenses. My priorities have shifted lately, I’ve stopped thinking about perfumes as much as I used to so this list is sort of a residual memory 🙂

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  18. Portia, I think it speaks volumes that your choice is something to gift to your friends rather than yourself. What a great friend you must be 🙂

    My choice: D&G By Man. One of my all time favourites which is increasingly hard to find and expensive to buy.

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    • JD you know I can get almost any vintage that speaks to me, most of the ones I love there are a couple of bottles around here already. My mates don’t have the knowledge or access to as many places to find things and it means I can exercise my desperate need to shop. Quite selfish really. He He he.
      By Man was fabulous. It came in the zebra print tin yeah?
      Portia xx

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  19. Diorling. I think that’s pretty much the only one that I still truly miss and can’t get hold of. But oh, the prices…

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      • ❤ I will not die from lack of perfume!
        But if I ever do find a good one, for reasonable amounts of dosh… i'll happily share it with you 🙂

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    • The last vintage Diorling I got smelled of generic vintage perfume (not awful but just not distinct enough to wear), so I stopped even looking for it.

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      • Oh, how disappointing, given that it was anything but generic while it thrived.
        Hey ho. All good things must come to an end.

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        • Oh, I know – that’s why I was hunting for it. When I said “generic” I didn’t mean it the way we usually say about modern perfumes. I meant that “vintage” smell that stays in many perfumes of the past once most top and middle notes are gone, but the base hadn’t spoilt.

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  20. Portia, you are such a good friend! I am one who misses Tendre Poison, too. It’s absolutely magical to me. I have a little dragon’s hoard of it and I buy it when I can and when the price isn’t outrageous. Like others here, I also love Ysatis and have a couple of vintage bottles squirrelled away. I seem to be drawn to vintage and discontinued fragrances. Many of them have a depth, almost an actual ‘thickness’ that I love. Thanks for the topic; I know I am going to want to seek out more vintages after this. Like Fragile *sigh*! Never sniffed, but want!

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    • have you guys tried Gres Cabotine. It seems to me to be a pretty good clone of Tendre Poison and very affordable, too. Unless I am wrong, cabotine actually came before tendre poison.

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      • Hi Fazal. I have Cabotine, and I like it, but it doesn’t have the same depth and complexity. One hint I received on Fragrantica was to layer it with Grey Flannel and apparently it brings it closer to Tendre Poison. I still haven’t got around to getting some Grey Flannel.

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  22. More then one for me: Rumeur by Lanvin, Jungle Gardenia by Tuvache, Dana’s 20 Carats, Platine, Emir, Jolie Madame, Diva, Gres Cabochard, Avon’s Regence, Bird of Paradise, Revlon’s Intimate, Secret de Venus de Zibelene oil, Simonetta’s Incanto, Bal a Versailles, Fame by Corday.

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  23. I dearly wish I had stocked up on vintage Worths Je Reviens. I would be ecstatic to still own some. And Envy. I recently tried some on which had turned and would not come off and a day later I kept getting hints of the glorious green lotv I used to douse myself in. I took these two for granted. I can’t decide if they were the freshest scents I can think of or if everything was generally just fresher because I was so young.

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    • Yes, Envy is sorely missed by many. I bet it was fresher with the top and midnotes in pristine condition…. sometimes the fresh ones don’t age so well.

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  25. I wish I had bought a couple of slabs worth of something like Gucci Envy for Men. I could finance my retirement selling them at insane prices on eBay,

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  26. I posted earlier today. My comment vanished?? 🙁
    I need Anais Anais, Arpege, Shalimar, and Poison (because my mum loved this one). Fingers crossed this comment stays 🤞

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  27. Late to the conversation. I have so many I wish I could get my hands on now. Chanel No. 19. YSL Opium (the first perfume Dear Husband bought me). Guerlain Mitsouko, Vol de Nuit and Samsara (nothing compares to the vintage sandalwood). L’Artisan Santal and The Pour Un Ete. Dior Diorella and Pure Poison. L’Air du Temps (I had a bottle of this on my dresser when I was in high school.) And I know it’s not a 20th c. scent, but Frederic Malle Portrait of A Lady before Lauder bought them out. Sigh. Should have bought two more bottles the minute I heard the news that Lauder was making an offer on the business.

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