The 1980s are back. Not the economic boom or Duran Duran, but the shoulder pads, layered hair, and eel skin bags. Fresh from an evening of watching Dynasty, I spent time this afternoon rummaging through a trendy clothing resale shop, and I flipped past many a sequined blouse and whopper-bow-adorned formal. All that was missing were gashes of coral blush. It got me thinking: could perfume trends turn toward the '80s? If not, what perfume trends are coming up?
At the counter with my loot, I asked the baby-faced cashier what he thought about perfume. He twirled his Magnum P.I. mustache (popular in these parts now) and said, "I don't know. I don't wear odors — no deodorant, nothing. I rely on pheromones." The sledgehammer style of 1980s perfume won't gain a lot of ground here.
Right now, perfumes with a silky wood base, or a clean musk and wood dry down, crowd department store shelves. I'm thinking of Estée Lauder Sensuous, Lancôme Magnifique, Lanvin Rumeur, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, and the like. The fruity celebrity scent trend continues strongly with the fruit and patchouli combo taking the lead (think Giorgio Armani Idole d'Armani), and crisp, green fragrances (Issey Miyake A Scent, Estée Lauder Private Collection Jasmine White Moss) are making a show. Soliflores hold their own, but aldehydic florals and narcotic chypres don't merit much shelf space. The traditional oriental surely has its fans, but I can't think of many new oriental releases in department stores.
Fragrances named for country music stars seem to do well in drugstores, although other celebrities, from J Lo to Halle Berry, have bottles locked up in the glass case, too. Cheapened versions of classics, including Dana Tabu, Houbigant Chantilly, and Coty Emeraude live at the drugstore, as do probably more musk-based scents than at department stores or niche sellers. And then there's AXE.
Niche perfume houses are all over the place, but clearly oud and vanilla are au courant. Pink pepper is hanging on, and iris and incense, thankfully, simply won't die. Green chypres and fresher scents from Robert Piguet Futur to Ormande Jayne Tiare to Serge Lutens's new Eau de Cologne are popping up now, too.
What about the next trends? I'm going to make a few predictions.
Department stores: With burgeoning eco-consciousness and a still relatively small fragrance-literate crowd, I predict soliflore fragrances featuring naturals will emerge. Imagine an edgy Jo Malone with hip packaging and information about where its ingredients came from. Marc Jacobs is on the leading edge of the trend with his focus on single scents, but the "natural" aspect — and who knows how natural they will actually be? — will play more of a role. The bottles will look like old apothecary bottles, but the labels will be hyper chic.
Drug stores: Same old, same old here. Marketing will focus on sex, rebellion, and fame. Is there a NASCAR fragrance out yet? If not, I predict one. For women, Lady Gaga will front a fruity patchouli scent featuring an exotic flower we haven't heard of yet and a "patent leather stiletto" or "crème caramel cupcake" accord.
Niche perfumery: It's the year of China. Something Chinese — Szechuan pepper? five spice blend? — will show up. Plus, and maybe this is only hopeful thinking, a grand, old-style chypre loaded with oakmoss will come out from a house that decides to thumb its nose at the new fragrance regulations. This is the fragrance Lady Gaga will actually wear. Other trends in niche perfumery: Dirt. The smell of dirt in perfume will show up in some sort of perfume named after a famous garden. I also get a hit of "blue". Blue ocean? Sky? Sapphires? Something sunny and expansive and blue will kick off a mini-trend. I need Kreskin for the details.
What do you predict for perfume over the next couple of years?
Can’t make a prediction just yet, but I LOVE this article Angela!
I’m glad you like it. Ready to grow an early 1980s mustache yet?
Oh, I LOVED Magnum PI – what an indelible “masculine” image for a young woman! Also, Hawkeye from MASH, but hey we can’t have too many handsome, “manly”, dark-haired men saving the day…. My fav 80s fragrance was the original Salvadore Dali – so amazing, but I have no actual recollection of how it smelled. I just remember feeling very chic when I wore it when I was 16. I used to have a mini collection with that, Paloma Picasso, and Deneuve in it.
I have no predictions for the future, but I only hope regardless of what it smells like, that there are less launches and more better of whatever comes. I do not want my fragrance to smell like my toilet bowl cleaner.
OMG! Throw in Alix P. Keaton, and you’ve named all my childhood crushes!
Have you seen this? It’s pretty much everything I’m looking for in the internet.
http://selleckwaterfallsandwich.tumblr.com/
Nice!
I love the Dali bottles, but I don’t think I’ve smelled any of them!
Remember Erik Estrada? He had a following, too.
Ann, I had the Dali, Paloma Picasso, and Deneuve, too! I get a hankering for them every now and then. The Salvador Dali might be the only one I break down and buy–it may not be as lovely as I remember, but I recall it being a sort of raspy floral. I may have to add it to my next spree at the online discounters.
Dirt – my, my…. MAYbe we’ll be treated to a new Hermes “Jardin”; I’m thinking Jardin du Pere Lachaise with a nice dirt accord. No problem for me – I like freshly-turned earth. Maybe something I can combine with Demeter Thunderstorm, since I gave away my bottle of Tumulte a while ago….
I’m sure they would come up with something more creative than I could, but they are missing garden representations of East Asia and South America. Un Jardain du Amazone – full of deep green leaves and ripe fruit or Jardin du Bali – maybe something with lemongrass, coconut and teak would be right up my alley. Not that I’m painting crude caricatures of large portions of the world or anything.
Both of those sound very nice!
Mmmm! Paint away! I’m happily on board with both of your wonderful suggestions.
Me too!
You’re hilarious! Eau de Pere Lachaise indeed! If it featured dirt from Jim Morrison’s grave, they could even add a hemp note.
Kind of like a posthumous celeb scent. Jim Morrison – I love it.
I have a feeling the real thing didn’t smell all that great. He looks like his pheromones might have taken over his odor profile completely.
Oooh!
Oh, you’re talking about while he was alive. I was going to say that one of the weirdest things about being around cadavers is how much they smell like a mix of formalin and KFC.
Yikes! I hope THAT smell never makes it into perfume.
Formalin and KFC… New from Etat Libre D’Orange – Poulet Embaume…. Embalmed Chicken…. Bwahahahahahahaah!
Poulet Embaume! And I thought Secretions Magnifique made me retch! Seriously, for a simulation, just open a can of Loaded Potato Pringles – it’s an aliphatic gag fest.
“I don’t wear odors…I rely on pheromones!” Fantastic — thanks, Angela!
I know! “I don’t wear odors”–charming and funny! A sweet guy, but he doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.
I don’t wear odors??? Does he simply emit them?
He was a darling man, but I think we’d both whoop him in Scrabble.
Can we try to convert him? Please? I can’t speak for my own talents, but I totally think you could charm him.
Maybe if we double-teamed him? Or had a scraggly chick in 1970s sunglasses do it?
Did the guy seriously say, “I rely on pheromones”????
Pretty much verbatim.
I loved that line as well!
I tried the pheromones thing mixed with sexy, masculine fragrances too. It works for some, but nothing happened with me…
Good thing perfume is about a lot more than romance!
And good thing romance is about a lot more than perfume, too…
(That sounded sort of cranky. It wasn’t meant to, sorry.)
Yes, it is!
Not taken a bit cranky. Really, the “good thing perfume is about more than romance” is directed at the cashier who really on pheromones for his power.
I don’t know about predicting, but I agree with you that I would love to see someone defy the regulations and formulate a stunning oakmoss chypre. That’s all I’ve been craving lately is OAKMOSS! Especially since I’ve developed an allergy to patchouli:-(
Oh no! An allergy to patchouli! Patchouli is in so many fragrances, too. Is it just when it’s fairly concentrated that it bothers you?
I know! Can you believe? And it’s one of my favorite notes! I just wear it about once a week. I try to wear it in my hair or on my clothes as another blogger here suggested.
It makes be break out in a rash, and if the spray hits my face, my lips get a rash too-weird! And I had just fallen in love with Mazzalori Patchouli! *sigh*
How about a scent locket? I’m starting to collect them, mostly as a novelty because some of them are really beautiful, but I use them for fragrance sometimes.
What a terrific idea! Plus, I bet they’re beautiful.
I never heard of them. Do they work?
Oh, I feel horrible for you. I’ll cross my fingers that the allergy mysteriously disappears.
Dixie, PLEASE see a good naturopath for your allergy – PRONTO! The `allergy` may not be so much a genuine allergy, but the tip-of-the-iceberg of a deeper ailment that needs attention – I speak from nasty and all-too-real expierence that I am still building back from 10 years later ( MUCH better!) Your MD will either laugh, go DUH, or say you are fruitchouli in the head!
I would love to hear more. I’m givemesomescents on MUA.
Yes, I have been wondering when we will see the Lady Gaga fragrance. It has to be any time now, doesn’t it? Thanks for the fun article!
It should be. Really. By Christmas at the latest, I’d think.
Lady Gaga: The Odor! I’d never thought of it before, but now that you mention it I’m super excited. I just realized that I had already assumed she smells like CdG x Stephen Jones; violets and meteorites.
Suddenly it comes to me that “odor” and “eau d’her” sound mightily similar.
Yes, I could definitely see her in Stephen Jones!
It definitely fits with her galaxy outfit!
It does!
A new real chypre? A new real oriental? *sigh*
Just give me something dark, mysterious, murky, exotic and heavy!
But i think you’re right about the 80’s. I know many perfume lovers who are now spending more time at discounters and on line, looking for the great classics of the 80’s, than at departement stores or at *gulp* drugstores (although I was able to get my hands on a few original bottles of Opium at the drugstore section of my local Walmart).
And I grabbed Joy at my local Duane Reade! I think the shoulder pad scents are coming back with a vengeance!
Better get on the net soon and start hunting down a bottle of Forever Krystle to got with the shoulder pads!
I bought a bottle of Forever Krystle at an estate sale once and gave it to one of my Dynasty watching pals. I remember it as a floral-amber, and I wasn’t sad at all to give it away.
I used to watch Dynasty all the time, my mom got a bottle of Forever Krystal for me one Christmas, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, it wasn’t my cup of tea. It did not wear well in hot humid Florida weather! Instant headache.
I hope big 80’s scents come back. I have been seeing more of Paloma Picasso’s Mon Parfum scent strips in magazines lately….. and Giorgio Red sets were everywhere this past Christmas too.
Paloma Mon Parfum again–I do really like that one. When they discontinued the EdT, I was afraid they were going to toss the whole line, so I’m glad they’re doing some marketing.
Shoulder pads were awful, weren’t they? Women weren’t made to look like linebackers. I’ll never forget a saleswoman at Macy’s telling me that the goal was to look like an inverted tree. My hips and I got a good laugh out of that!
I don’t mind the slightest bit of padding in a 1940s suit jacket, but the sharp-edged, gigantic shoulder pads of the 1980s–often without very good tailoring to go with them–were too much.
That said, I tried on an ’80s Mugler suit not long ago, and it was darned flattering.
Angela, your figure is probably better suited for that style. Didn’t work for me! :-0
Shoulder pads AND leggings… bad idea. My hips and I agree with you!
Wow! Nice score at the drugstore!
I guess I’m a glass half full gal. I have to hope some rebel with talent will do up a chypre to make us proud.
I’m not sure I’m ready for a resurgence of 1980s-style fragrances just yet.
I think chypres may be the next big thing. I predict three years between Un Rose Chypree and the department store chypre revival.
For some reason I’m totally feeling the aldehydic florals right now. I think they make a good counterpoint to the minimalist looks in natural fibers that have been all over the runways for the past two years.
Now you’re singing my tune. I love 1950s style chypres, and a nice floral aldehyde is always tempting. But I tend to think of them as not particularly modern–although Essence is a floral aldehyde, really.
Just in the last year and a half I discovered my attraction to the classic-style chypres and floral aldehydes. You can imagine the time spent on *bay since, trying to chase them down before they’re gone. What are my choices in currently-produced scents, really?
Every once in a while something deliciously grand comes out. The MDCI line, for instance, is good for that (if you’re richer than Bill Gates). But they sure aren’t the mainstream.
Ohhhhh… a resurgence of aldehydic florals would be so wonderful. Honestly, I don’t see it happening – although I’d be *very happy* if it did.
GREAT article! Only you could resurrect the eelskin bag! LOL! I remember those, with their slickery feel and look. I had a couple of them, in the strangest colors!
Aldehydes will never die, thank Floyd! The elegance of No 5 (I know it’s a love/hate fragrance). The restrained electricity of Arpege (and aren’t we lucky the new isn’t totally ginked up?).
No 22, bless its heart.
And now the delight of Cartier Brilliante.
Of course, these are my opinions. YMMV.
But I’m happy as anything!
Mals and Musette–I’m with you both 100%! Bring on the classic fragrances. (I’m less enthusiastic about the eel skin bags, though.)
A resurgence of aldehydic florals–be still my heart! Oh, if only!
Great article Angela! That cast photo takes me back … to when Dynasty was on (Wed, preceeded by Magnum PI), and my roommate and I would roll a joint, light up, and then do the “Dynasty Theme Song Dance of Joy” with arms upraised, tippy-tippy-toe, in order to emulate in movement the cascading, throbbing crescendos that announced another episode of bitchy Alexis, saintly Crystal, and slutty Sammy Jo was underway.
Nostalgia trip over … I think you are on to something with your prediction of department store trends. And Dirt as a niche concept could result in some great fragrances. I love IHP Black March – it really does smell like garden earth in early spring, before anything comes up.
That’s hilarious! What a memory. Magnum P.I. followed by Dynasty–now that’s some fun.
Really, dirt kind of smells like vetiver and figs. It could be a great base for a fragrance, I think.
Dzingnut, you and I may be fragrance twins. I love dirt in perfume, too. I love the nearly muddy note in Cumming. There is a wet dirt note in it, along with peat, brandy/whiskey that always makes me smile.
I’ll confess I gave a sample of it to a non perfumista friend who was puzzled as to why I would want to smell like dirt! She also freaked out about (her words) “manly stank” of Musc Ravaguer.
When does our quest for the unusual become just plain weird, I wonder? Dzing! and Black are two of my all time favorite scents, but they have some tough notes for non perfumistas. Animal urine? Lignin? Rubber? I think they are neato and interesting, even attractive, in homeopathic doses. Perhaps I’m driving away lots of other people, though. (Less educated noses, of course!)
I sort of figure perfume is sometimes like fashion. Not everyone gets a Comme des Garcons ensemble, and not everyone will get their perfume. I don’t try to please everyone with the way I dress, and I know I won’t with the way I smell (but at least I do try to keep the smell close to my skin).
But, boy do I love Dzing and Bulgari Black! Bring on the leather and rubber!
Neil Morris has a wonderful one called Dark Earth. I have a bottle. Perfect for early spring, especially!
I bet it’s wonderful!
My own shifting tastes have occasionally predicted a trend (even a stopped clock is right twice a day, right? ;-). I remember desperately seeking clean scents just before that trend started, but never being satisfied with the result. Now I find myself craving floral and other natural scents that are have a real presence without being heavy. AG Vetiver is my default fragrance, and I love a sample vial of AG Matin d’Orage because its flowers takes me back to dawn after tropical rain storm on the West Coast of Africa. Yesterday, I opened a vintage Caron Royal Bain de Champagne (in the tiny champagne bottle) that I can’t wait to wear in summer humidity: it has a dry, earthy melon tone a million miles from all the calone-soaked scents of the last two decades. So, Angela, you have my vote for the natural, floral, earthy scents you predict.
I hope you’re right! It sounds so refreshing.
love the lady gaga shout out! I imagine her wearing a thierry mugler fragrance because she wears his designs so often. Alien would suit her perfectly, she certaintly has a Martian queen aesthetic
You’re so right! She’d be great in Angel, too. You know, Thierry Mugler is another 1980s throwback…
It seems that Gaga’s perfume tastes are actually far more conventional than we’re giving her credit for. According to http://www.ladygaga.com/forum/default.aspx?tid=324295&cid=594, she wears Ralph Lauren Polo and Marc Jacobs Daisy. Who woulda thunk it???
And although the name “Alien” suits her better, I think Angel would be absolutely perfect for her. Apparently she prefers florals, though…
Oh boy. She might be edgy in some ways, but olfactorily she’s a bust. We need to take that girl out for an afternoon of sniffing. She might just end up with both Alien and Angel!
Totally! Maybe with extra metallic outer space accord! And Mugler does such great bottles. I’d fancy something like a glossy white and chrome sea urchin.
I can see it…
I WANT
. . . to see that bottle. (Sorry, hit the enter key too soon).
Maybe to go along with the Prix Eau Faux, someday we should have a bottle design contest!
I love it! I’ve been enjoying the heck out of the Barbara Dickson “Welcome to My Home” videos which are sadly down from YouTube. Lately I’ve been relishing Donna Mill’s Knots Landing style make up tips. I love her tutorial on th e”natural” look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hTSG7tUepM
Wow! That’s a whole lot of work to look natural. But what a soothing instructional style she has.
It’s so soothing! I think she just hypnotized me to stop smoking.
She’d be great reading bedtime stories, too!
I really hope the 80’s are NOT coming back in fragrance trends. As in fashion, is there nothing new under the sun, that there need to be retreads? We cannot afford over the top extravagance in clothing in these tough times. Hippie clothes have had a resurgence; why can’t designers create something new (some certainly have done their own thing) as a trend? If we’ve lived through a fashion trend once, we tend not to embrace a re-issue. It’s the same with perfume!
The 80’s spawned the vilest perfumes in my opinion. Surely fragrances can have character and depth without being horrible. Vintage perfumes succeeded in doing just that.
The 1980s weren’t my favorite fragrance years, either, and paste a photo of my head on the body of Krystle Carrington and I guarantee you’d laugh until you spit up. I passed up all the ’80s clothes at the resale shop and left with a lovely pair of 1970s Ferragamo pumps, a 1960s Pendleton jacket, and a darling 1950s lilac houndstooth jacket with poodles printed on the lining.
Some exceptions to 80’s “bad” scents for me would be the original Jean louis Scherrer [very similar to Timbuktu imo], Fendi, Missoni and Calyx in the late 80’s. I loved all of them – and more, but that’s all that comes to mind at the moment.
My JLS bottle just came in the mail yesterday. It’s a powerhouse chypre for sure!
Ooh – good find!
Yes, that Scherrer is fantastic, and I love Fendi, too (R.I.P.). I’m also a fan of Paloma Picasso, Diva, Coco, and probably some other 80s fragrances I can’t think of now–but if I never smell Obsession again it will be too soon. Or Giorgio.
Poodles! Love it!
It’s fabulous! I couldn’t believe someone else hadn’t snatched it up.
Angela, you know the best resale shops in the world, I swear. Even in the big-money districts of the SF bay area, I don’t see anything that good. Maybe the good picks get snapped up too quickly here. Lavender houndstooth! Poodle lining! What a score.
Anglea has excellent vintage score karma.
Pawing through thrift shops is relaxing for me, so I go out probably once a week. I think it’s the persistence that pays off in the end–that and having done it enough to visualize tune out the garbage. On my way home from a meeting this afternoon, I ducked into the Goodwill nearest me and came out with a brand-spanking-new pair of Andrew Gn heels (they sell them at Bergdorf’s for goodness sake!) for $4.99 and a new, 3-wick Volupsa candle for $1.99. I wish I could find some way to turn a life of writing mystery novels and scrounging in thrift stores into a living!
The portrait of the Dynasty women is such a hoot. I get a kick over how tacky we were in the 80’s, but we thought we were so hot. I was a singer in a band at the time, so my look was really over the top – Madonna meets Debbie Gibson meets Dale Bozzio – LOL!!! Gosh – how’s that for a ‘Who Cares’ [and apropos of nothing]comment?! You sent me on a trip down memory lane and I couldn’t help myself.
I LOVE your description of a Lady Gaga scent with the black patent leather stiletto accord – perfect! They will probably steal that idea. ha
Thanks Rustic, I choked on my diet coke, “Madonna meets Debbie Gibson meets Dale Bozzio”. Love it!
hehe
The 80s looks weren’t just over-the-top – the heavy make-up and teased hair was so *aging*, too. My friends and I all laugh when we look at pictures of us in high school and our early 20s because we look younger now, 20 years later, than we did in the 80s.
I love heavy-hitting 80s fragrances – the key is to apply with a light hand and not do the whole “spritz with abandon thing”. I have a bottle of Obsession in my cabinet right now – I’d grab a bottle of Giorgio, but I think that it’s been reformulated and is hideous now. Sigh.
I have a picture somewhere of me and a friend wearing aqua leggings with matching, long, shapeless sweaters. Hideous.
Angela- what’s hilarious is that I am 18 right now, and I have friends who dress the exact same way. LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS!!!!
Make sure you take lots of photos of them that you can use to humiliate them in a few years!
Oh, god, I just had a flashback… As if leggings weren’t bad enough, remember stirrup pants?? What the hell was that about??
Horrifying! Stirrup pants! You had to have socks the exact same color as the pants or you were screwed.
Yeah, but I’ll bet you never wore a bubble skirt!
Actually, stirrup pants are great for wearing with boots! I never thought of wearing them any other way.
I don’t need any extra bubbling in those regions, thank you. As for stirrup pants and boots–o.k. I get that.
I really think they’ve messed with Giorgio – I used to like it smelling it in the halls of my high school, but smelled it recently, and it is absolutely horrendous. Accident-in-the-chem-lab dreadful.
A few people have mentioned in comments that Giorgio just isn’t the same anymore. Someday I’ll have to get up the nerve to track down a vintage sample of Giorgio and a new one and do a review.
I got a new, small bottle of Giorgio recently and I think its better than it used to be. Oh well, each to his/her own.
It sounds like the new version is definitely different.
You should put Dynasty on your Netflix list! It’s a real wake up call, in some ways. I’ve been loving watching a few episodes from time to time.
Oh, I want pictures!! You have to share!
That’s too bad, really, because I would welcome some “sledgehammer” style scents right now. Obsession anyone? Or Poison? I also remember a whole lot of Red Door there in ’89. I think 80s perfume was probably formative for me…
Oh, gosh, no. I lived through the roommate-who-wore-Obsession and the roommate-who-wore-Poison nightmares… THAT was formative for me.
Wow. And you’re still a perfume lover!
I am currently going through the “roommate who wears every scent Victoria’s Secret has ever made” phase. Of course, to be fair, she’s going through the “roommate who wears all of those “old-lady” perfumes” phase.
You’re advanced (just like the rest of us, naturally). Not everyone recognizes our sophisticated aesthetic.
At least she’s o.k. with perfume!
Who knows? Your wish may come true!
I hope no one says incantations over a dead civet before they read its entrails in a heavily-incensed yurt when trying to make predictions…
I can’t and won’t predict… I’m just interested to see what evolves and is launched. It’s exciting to think what we might be discussing one year or five years from now.
I do have a WISH, though: That the number of launches — both mainstream, drugstore AND niche will slow down. I have a feeling the bookies won’t be giving good odds on that type of bet, though.
No reference to État Libre d’Orange here, but I will just say, “Le parfum est mort! Vive le parfum!!”
Joe – I totally agree with you on a wish for fewer fragrance launches in 2010 … I often wonder if the companies just keep cranking them out in the hopes that ONE will prove to be the next mega seller? Even so, it must cost a fortune.
I know! They’re just jading the masses. Make us wait for the next perfume, please!
Well, Joe, my incantations are always vegan & cruelty free.
Yes! A little red wine or gin might be used, but that’s it.
Gosh can only hope the wonderful ELdO gets to Gaga and Winehouse before Coty or LVMH do… (and this is from one who is old enough to be their MOTHER!)
Yes! ELd’O! That would be perfect.
No animals were hurt in my predictions! All seat of the pants guesswork. I’m with you on the fewer launches bit. It’s impossible even to think of keeping up.
Angela,
What a great article…loved it! There’s not much I could add that hasn’t already been said. Thanks for the nice afternoon break.
Any time!
I hope the 80’s don’t come back in ANY trends. Although I remember some serious uglies from the early 70’s – for those of us who can remember HOT PANTS and super wide bottomed bell bottoms and white lipstick.
White lipstick– I remember that from the early ’60s. I was scared of the mean teenagers who wore it. They ratted their hair, too, way up high without smoothing it down in the back. THERE’S a hairstyle I hope doesn’t get revived. Well, maybe Lady Gaga could bring it off. . .
I might have seen that look in a Tim Burton movie. (shivering now)
ggperfume, this look is still going strong in some areas of Baltimore. I think they consider it their duty to uphold the “Hairspray” look.
The “Hairspray” look, that’s a good phrase for it. You have to distinguish, though, between the standard version where the hairdo was smooth on the outside though teased on the inside (like a bubble-hairdo Barbie or like Laura on the Dick van Dyke show), and the “hard chick” version which was back-combed up high, smoothed and sprayed in front, and a snarly mess behind. Worn with white lipstick and a ton of black eyeliner, Cleopatra-style. Still not as ugly as those ’80s spazzy perms, imo, but easily as damaging to the follicles.
Have you seen Dolce Gabanna lately? Screaming ’80s. My eyes ache to see it. I wish they would bring back what *they* were doing in the ’80s.
What a great article, Angela! You’ve got me thinking about a type of 80’s/early 90’s perfume I really love–the attractive career lady fragrance, exemplified by the numbered Jil Sanders, Anne Klein II and the like. Since the Jil Sander no 4 is the only easily findable one still in existence, I wish somebody would bring the style back. I think most of them were pretty heavy on the oakmoss, though, so I’m probably wishing in vain.
“Attractive career lady fragrance”–brilliant! Someone should make that an official category.
I did see a picture of a NASCAR cologne box, with what looked like a toy car perched on the lid. There is also the Daytona 500 cologne for the racing fans out there….
O.K., well I guess it had to have been done. What about a Monster Truck fragrance?
The thought of a NASCAR frag is cracking me up, but Angela, your predictions might be more accurate than you would’ve thought! I see all sorts of crazy things at Walmart, there’s Kiss fragrances for men and women I believe (yes, like Kiss, the band). Maybe they could get Danica Patrick to front the NASCAR fragrance. Or maybe they’ll have a professional wrestling frag, LOL!
Danica Patrick is an Indy car driver, for those not in the know, who’s about to make her NASCAR debut, and the fact that she’s a female driver is strangely gratifying to me! (Also, Duran Duran never went out of style, IMHO.)
Oh boy–I bet Coty already has a contract with her! It sounds like a natural fit.
Actually, she already made her NASCAR debut at Daytona last weekend. I think that she placed 6th – besides her driving ability, she has a helluva fast car.
Great article, Angela. I think you’re right on the money with the “naturals” trend, although I guarantee it won’t have any natural ingredients in it at all.
Re: the 80’s. It is so, so, strange to be old enough to see these 21-year-olds recycling the stuff I wore in highschool. Things that really were not so hot to begin with. I have to restrain myself from walking up to them and saying, “Oh, honey, no.”
“Oh, honey, no”– there’s a great refrain. I’d be using it daily.
I know! The flat boots with scruffy tops, the sandwashed, tight jeans (hello yeast infection). What’s next? Flashdance?
sweetlife, how I weep over the ridiculous 80’s style clothing that so many of my fellow college students insist on wearing. I already posted this above, but I will say it again: LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS!
I have begun a little routine I like to call “The Jane Fonda”. It goes like this:
Me: Oh my God, it’s Jane Fonda!!!
Girl in leggings: Umm, I’m not Jane Fonda.
Me: You’re not?? THEN WHY ARE YOU WEARING LEGGINGS?
Dynasty has a few classic aerobics outfits scenes, too, complete with gigantic headband and striped leotard with leggings. Whew!
I meant “leg warmers”.
I feel like I see people running around in leg warmers. A lot. I don’t get it.
Leg warmers are good for that little gap between skirt and boot when you’re riding your bike, but that’s it. Unless you’re a dancer, I guess.
Oh dear, “Flashdance” comes roaring back. . .
SNL did a great parody of an ’80s aerobics instructional video a few years ago, with guest host Drew Barrymore. It has the costuming down pat. Must look for it on youtube. . .
That sounds like a good one!
You know what? I would take it all–the big hair, the shoulder pads, the halls reeking of Obsession and Poison–to have the economic boom of the 80s again!
Ah, wouldn’t that be great?
That’s the sad truth. This economy is brutal. I only hope it will bring us back to some wonderful, cheap things: spending time with friends, reading (no cable bill!), cooking, walks, board games–things like that. The sooner we all have work and health insurance (for example), the better.
Love your article! I don’t want to go back and revive anything. Moving forward suits me. I’m with those of you who wish the pipeline would slow down, however!
Great attitude! But, yes, slow that pipeline!
No predictions here, but the much more OPEN AVAILABILITY of ingredients for the perfumers`organ to be stocked with was mammoth in the 80`s when compared to now – I`d go back to selling blush-tinted prom/cocktail dresses w/ huge bows in a heartbeat to get our perfume history restored!!
Sometimes I have fantasies of walking into a department stores in the 1950s and buying loads of perfume. Then magically getting it back to now. But the 1980s wouldn’t be so bad, either!
“I don’t know. I don’t wear odors — no deodorant, nothing. I rely on pheromones.” LOL he just might be wearing BO without the deodorant
I have no perfume predictions but I’m not into all these ’80s styles. I’m not interested in gigantic shoulder pads!! My shoulders are high enough! Attacked by Bedazzlers isn’t a look for me either lol
…and I really hope Lady Gaga’s perfume is crazier than a fruitchouli!
The wild bedazzlers! Gosh, I forgot about them! Bedazzled bedspread anyone?
Ack!! keep it away from my vintage cotton chenille!!
I think that’s the problem with a bedazzler. You get one, and pretty soon you’re eyeing the dog and wondering how he’d look studded in rhinestones.
I actually put on rhinestones by hand on some garments, sans Bedazzler. I won’t tell you what garments, but suffice it to say I was into heavy metal in the 80’s.
I think you need your own bedazzler. I’ll keep my eyes open at Goodwill (not that I’d know what a bedazzler looks like).
The 80s for me was mostly Poison, Paloma and Halston. I often toy with smelling those again, especially Poison – I loved that stuff.
I would love more mainstream perfume houses to wake up and understand that adults have money and like to spend it, too. Maybe tailor some scents for hip folks that aren’t 19 anymore.
Actually what I really hope for is a torches-and-pitchforks uprising against this IFRA nonsense. I want documented proof that more people have been injured or killed by oakmoss than by peanut traces, and then maybe I’ll see their point.
I don’t care much for Gaga (so I insist, anyway, as her hooks dig deep into my psyche), but if they came up with a scent that actually went with her persona, I’d at least try it. She needs CdG to do it – rubber, metal, depilitating wax, lipstick, yeah.
Tama, I’ll pick up a pitchfork with you. We could all have our own kind of revolt with banners that say, “Adults have money and like to spend it, too!!!”
I love that line.
Here here!
Halston, now that’s a good one (if I remember right)!
It seems like so many scents are made for the trendy 20-year old or the “mature” woman. What about the rest of us who aren’t in our twenties but aren’t ready to settle down to snuggies and Oprah?
Okay, now the comments scared everything out of me. Leggings? After having all this images in my head I am afraid to even close my eyes… no please!
Prediction: Roses.
Prediction 2: Weird organics.
Prediction 3: Weird niche perfumes (I mean WEIRD)
Prediction 4: AXE will not disappear, will make a fortune. AXE is really 80s.
Parisienne may be starting the new load of rose fragrances! As for AXE, all I can do is sigh and shake my head.
If Lady Gaga doesn’t come out with something more along the lines of Comme des Garcons, I’ll be pissed. It should smell totally weird and dirty, something like the rest of their synthetic line. Don’t even try to be mainstream! If any celebrity were to take risks, I would hope it’d be her.
It sounds like her personal perfume choices are pretty mainstream. (But that doesn’t mean she’d have much, if anything, to do with any perfume bearing her name!)
My own prediction for La Gaga is that her perfume will be
1. Unisex
2. Sold at Urban Outfitters
3. Secretly own by LVMH
4. Smell so weird that the hipsters will find it ironic enough for them to wear, the wannabes at Urban O’s will wear it out of desperation to smell cool, and the perfumistas will secretly laugh at them all because it will smell like something by CDG but at a lower price point. Vive le parfum!
Those sound like very savvy predictions! You have the makings of a marketing professional for sure.
Holy crap! Danica Patrick really does have a fragrance coming out! Maybe I read that somewhere and just forgot.
http://www.examiner.com/x-31463-Sports-Babe-Examiner~y2009m12d10-Danica-Patrick-to-release-her-own-perfume
Or you have supreme perfume prediction skills!
I have to confess that if Lady Gaga put out a frag, I’d be compelled to try it just because I like her as an artist. Even if that artistry is just as manufactured as the rest, we actually bought and liked the album. I thought her shade for MAC’s Viva Glam would be more edgy, so here’s hoping she channels all her creativity into a startling yet awesome perfume.
With regard to the eighties, I just recently tried Coco in the parfum strength and adored it. I could definitely see myself owning and wearing it on a regular basis. But then again, I love Paris, Diva, Calyx and a few other heavy hitters from the period so it really wasn’t surprising. I don’t remember much of that decade and was more of a 90’s kid, so the over the top-ness of the 80’s is just a lot of fun sometimes.
I’m a fan of Coco, too. And occasionally a fan of over-the-top! So, let’s see what (if) Lady Gaga has in store.
Mmmmm…. I love Coco and just recently acquired some, which made me very happy.
I need to get myself a bottle, too.
Great article Angela
My only love of the 80’s…Paloma
My predicition: If you talk enough about what you want, it may cause it to happen so….oversupply in the fragrance industry causing a crash and then…..a release of FEWER, AMAZING, REAL perfume releases of various types with…smaller and cheaper botlles!!!!!!
I like your theory! Bring on the fewer, the amazing, and the real! And definitely the smaller and cheaper!
I’ve just gotten nostalgia for some of my favorite 80s fragrances, like Bob Mackie (floriental), Fred Hayman 273 (nuclear-strength tuberose), Byblos in the amphora-looking bottle (fruity-floral, back in the day when fruity florals were rare and revolutionary), and Molto Missoni (one of the great orientals ever in one of the most beautiful bottles ever). The first three can be bought for a song on the ‘bay, the last cost me the proverbial arm and leg. Go figure.
There were some good Italian fragrances then! I remember Byblos, too, although I didn’t discover it until later. It seems like some of the ’80s Italian scents hand tangerine or mandarin, and I loved that.
Perfumes are difficult to predict…new trends are comming up every time but what will survive ?? Unisex is over..its feminine or masculine .But feminine with masculine aspects or masculin with feminine aspects will go on ! Think woody/chypre will be trendy this winter…frankinsence/oud/patchoulie/iris/sandelwood/vetyver/brown sugar (not vanilla) is trendy for evening perfumes. Colognes are still comming up for daywear ,what you can combine with the woody warm perfumes.
There will be interpratations of 80’s fragrances,but not that exploding …more personal,more exclusive. In the 80’s it was not a problem if you weared the same perfume as yoyr friend or neighbour. The trend seems to be…special,mix your perfume with others. Freshness in perfumes can be found in orangezest,champaca(!),geranium and SALT.
fruity is over (at last,cause strawberry etc is to much!)
Great predictions, Henry! I’m so glad you think fruity is over. And I love your prediction for salt!