The Art of Mixing Old Perfumes with New Fashion

Renee Perle by Henri Lartigue

 There's nothing worse than taking an uber-cool trend too far and ending up as a caricature.  That's why when it comes to wearing vintage, you're smart to follow Coco Chanel's own best advice and make sure to remove one vintage item before going out, something the effortlessly chic Renee Perle always knew.

As much as I love vintage perfumes, I just can't see pairing them up with vintage clothing- way too matchy-matchy. If you're going to wear beautiful vintage clothes, set them off with a stunning new perfume. Anything by Andy Tauer, Frédéric Malle or Francis Kurkdjian would do nicely.

But what of the converse? What sort of costume does one don in order to compliment the finest vintage perfumes?

Freeing myself for a moment from the boring constraints of reality- I've been dreaming of epic fashion fair, something appropriate for my current perfume fixations- something suited to my moody iris-rose, leathery tinted dreams. Something to wear with vintage Shocking, No 22, Cuir de Russie and the fervently persued Iris Gris.

Creative Lab

I would turn the idea of a signature perfume on its head and pull from far and near exotic scents to go with the clothes of a single signature designer. And just for today, it would have to be designer Iris Van Herpen. I love her ideas about fashion, and how she thinks about wearing clothing literally like a perfume. A quote from her speaking about her 2009 collection had her musing, "if we will always be wearing clothes/fabrics, or would it be possible in future to wear other substances like smoke?" Like smoke indeed- these clothes have a perfect sillage.

If it's Hip, It's Here...

The Vintage Perfume Vault, where the scent of yesterday's vogue lives.