Elevated Classics

I have always admired women with beautifully considered wardrobes. I do not mean enormous closets filled with every passing trend, but collections built slowly and intelligently: a good coat, beautiful shoes, handbags chosen with care, clothes that suit the woman wearing them rather than whatever happened to be pushed by an algorithm that season. There is something revealing and powerful about a woman who knows how to choose.

I feel the same way about perfume collections. The ones I admire most are rarely the largest. They belong to women who know their taste, who buy selectively and who can explain why a bottle deserves a place in their collection. Size alone does not impress me. A wall of perfume can represent knowledge and curiosity, but it can just as easily represent impulse, repetition and an inability to stop buying.

This is probably why, when I saw a fragrance influencer packing 25 full-size bottles for a vacation, I gasped. Not because it was a crisis, obviously, but because I refuse to let us pretend this is normal packing. I don’t believe perfume should be enjoyed sparingly. I own more than I care to admit. But there is a difference between having a large collection at home and feeling compelled to transport a substantial portion of it every time you leave the house

Twenty-five full-size bottles for one vacation struck me as oddly indiscriminate. Not luxurious. Not particularly glamorous. Just excessive.

For most trips, I would bring three to five perfumes at the very most. One for the day, one for dinner, something easy and familiar, and perhaps another chosen specifically for the place or occasion. Decants and travel sprays exist precisely for this purpose. They take up little room, they are less vulnerable in transit, and they allow for variety without turning a suitcase into a mobile fragrance cabinet.

Here is a radical idea, although Andy Warhol understood it perfectly well: bringing only one perfume is completely normal. It may even be the most romantic choice.

Warhol reportedly wore the same fragrance for several months before putting it away, allowing that scent to preserve a particular period of his life. A vacation is an ideal occasion to try the same experiment.

Wear one fragrance throughout a trip and it begins to absorb the atmosphere around it: the hotel, the light, the meals, the heat of the afternoon, the clothes you wore and the people who were there. Long after you return home, one spray can bring it all back with remarkable clarity. That association is harder to form when every morning begins with another bottle.

I do not believe everyone needs to travel as I do, and I am certainly not arguing for austerity. I enjoy beautiful things. I simply prefer them to be chosen with intention. The same principle applies to clothing, interiors, luggage and perfume. Abundance can be wonderful, but accumulation is not automatically evidence of taste. What I admire is the edit.

So here is my challenge for your next vacation: bring one perfume. Two or three, if you must. Wear them fully, live with them for a few days and see whether you actually miss the rest.