Artificial Nostalgia Leads To Real Longing

It’s apparent that I like to write about nostalgia as it relates to perfumes. Recalling perfumes worn in high school? Check. Reminiscing about the origins of my perfume obsession? Check. Ruminating about that wildly inappropriate first kiss at a rock concert, all thanks to EL’s Knowing? Check and check! Perfumes and I go way back, so I’d be remiss if I left the perfumes out of my memories or left the memories out of my perfumes.

Oh, what shall I write about now? Well, it’s only fair that I discuss my cravings as of late. In spite of the belabored talk of my nemesis, oakmoss, I find I’m kind of craving that green beastly scent or some facsimile. From where is this coming, you ask?

Thanks to Netflix, I’ve become completely obsessed with two 1980s inspired series: Stranger Things and Glow. (If you haven’t been watching these shows then you haven’t been making the most of your Netflix subscription. You need to get on that, quick!) Both shows are set in the mid-1980s and they really capture the times. Stranger Things follows the sci-fi adventures of a group of adolescents and Glow loosely tells the origin story of the fabled Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. The songs, the fashions, the slang—both shows practically have a smell to them. Bring on the Drakkar Noir and the Giorgio Beverly Hills!

Image taken from IMDb

Again, image taken from IMDb

Is it absurd to be inspired by false nostalgia? I’ll grant you, I was a 1980s kid; my recollection of the times might be inferior to someone who was older then. Still, I like to think I was a precocious child who was acutely aware of everything around me. I was a sponge soaking up everything from everywhere. And I was keeping mental tabs on the perfumes I smelled on others*. I could not wait to grow up so I could have my own sophisticated collection. I have the collection and yet I’m still yearning for that missing piece to complete my childhood.

What, exactly, am I looking for? I’m putting that out there for you guys. What’s green and dated from the 1980s? What is it I seek?

I’d be anxious to see what you guys suggest! In the meantime I’ll be enjoying a movie marathon this weekend while wearing a cut-up sweatshirt and hair scrunchie. May I laugh it up with Duckie, Marty McFly, and Inigo Montoya!

* If you care, here’s what I recall others wearing in the 1980s:

• Mrs. Hastings, my second grade teacher, was wearing Gloria Vanderbilt. (How did I know this? She kept that beautiful swan-emblazoned bottle on her desk. I may not have known the name but I never forgot the bottle.)
• Mom, ever the fashion and fragrance chameleon, was wearing Ombre Rose and White Linen to the office.
• My paternal grandma was a lady of yesteryear with a quiet demeanor, so it was fitting that YSL Paris was her signature.
• My maternal grandma was (and still is) a smart and hip extrovert; it was not surprising that she’d be drawn to Giorgio Beverly Hills.
• My aunt was the iconoclast who taught me to love Shalimar. On a side note, my aunt is still introducing me to new perfumes—Robert Piguet’s Gardenia was one of her scents to become my latest love.