Just before the 80's (yes, I'm that old) I wore Shalimar, mainly because one of my mother's friends wore it and she was very exotic and hippy. It smells of vanilla but a thousand times more so. What was I thinking? Living in the USA now, where everything is either vanilla or cinnamon flavored, I would probably hurl if I had a whiff of Shalimar these days.
But moving on to the 80s I confess I wore patchouli, then when I got a bit more sophisticated I hit the Opium (perfume, that is), but only for evenings. Wearing something like Opium in the middle of the day would have been the olfactory equivalent of looking like this -
During the day I remember wearing Anais Anais and never quite knowing how to pronounce it. I also wore YSL's Rive Gauche - both of which I probably wouldn't wear now, but I always wear something. For some reason, going out without a scent of some kind is almost as worrisome as not wearing ear-rings. I mean, one just feels so naked!
Other perfumes of the day included Poison, Obsession and Magie Noire, for the evening and perhaps a light Jovan Musk, Oscar de la Renta or Girogio for day. My fave was called simply "Armani". It was quite a gentle smell, and - to my eternal sadness - they discontinued it. Oh sure, they've come back with pathetic renditions of it, like "Gio" and "Sensi" but nothing will come close to that lovely smell or that divine slim, glass bottle. Sob.
My mother says that there's nothing quite like having four young girls in the car, ready for a night out, all wearing a combination of 80's evening scents. She must have thrown up when she finally got home and I know the care retained that heady mix for days.
And the boys were almost as bad. Anyone remember Kouros? One of my friends at uni used to lather it on so thick we would have to announce a "Kouros alert" and open all the windows!
Ah...those were the (stinky) days!