10 of the best... classic perfumes

As a teen, I was obsessed with vintage clothing. Of course, then, it wasn’t called vintage. (At best it was “secondhand”; at worst “dead people’s clothes”.)

No other 13-year-old went to a grim south London adventure park wearing a navy blue 70s trench and 60s platforms. But my penchant for old people’s clothes never stretched to fragrance – I preferred the overpriced, cheaply constructed, mass-produced stuff. I had zero interest in classic scents and didn’t understand why any teenager would want to smell like (shock horror) a great-grandmother.

I reasoned that my sartorial stance was different: that was cool and ironic; smelling like a centenarian wasn’t.

Now, perhaps as a sign that we are all nostalgic for what we believe to be a less-fraught era, the old-fashioned perfume is making a comeback. These powdery scents – intense, addictive, comforting concoctions – typically carry notes like violet, iris, rose and vanilla. And they have staying power. Hence, many contemporary perfumes are taking their cue from their enduring predecessors.

The so-called old timers, it seems, are having a modern-day influence. And this time round, I’m here for it.

1. Parfums de Marly Valaya £165, johnlewis.com