Debbie (Hayes Warner) is having a rendez-vous with Ryan (Daniel Dale) at Susan’s party. On a vanity behind her there’s a box of Giorgio Beverly Hills, previously spotted on the dressing table of Debbie’s mother.
This is a realistic detail, considering the white floral fragrance created by Francis Camail was launched exactly in 1981, the year in which the story is set, and given how popular it was.
Debbie (Hayes Warner) has a conversation with Ryan (Daniel Dale) while attending a school event Susan has organised to raise awareness after the kidnapping of the fellow student Rhonda. She asks him what he’s wearing and his reply is not surprising.
Yves Saint Laurent Kouros [1] is an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Bourdon and launched in 1981, the same year in which the TV show is set. It quickly became very popular (my father wore it, too!), so it’s obvious that someone who takes so much care of his appearance like Ryan uses it.
This specific line (“It’s for men”) adds more depth to a simple exchange. We don’t know much about Ryan yet, but at the beginning of the TV show a relationship with Bret is hinted at [2]. This apparently unnecessary remark emphasizes the fact that the boy wants his public persona to be undoubtedly heterosexual.
Debbie’s snappy comment makes us understand that she’s probably seen through the surface, and senses there’s more to Ryan than appearances suggest.
[1] This is the second time a fragrance is mentioned in the TV show, and it happens to be another fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent.
[2] If you have read the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, you’ll remember how important the relationship between the two boys is. None of that can be found in the TV show.
While Bret is visiting Matt’s empty room, we see a bottle of Hawaiian Surfrider suntan lotion on the missing boy’s bedside table.
It’s a vintage product by a brand that has been off the market for decades. According to the description of the picture above on the website of History For Hire, a prop house located in North Hollywood, “Surfrider, back row left, was a product made in Hawaii and in addition to suntanning lotion expanded their line in other men’s products like cologne.”
As a matter of fact, Hawaiian Surfrider after-shave lotion and men’s cologne sets from the 1960s can still be found online for sale.
The opening of this scene deserves a moment of silence. This is the intricately ornate vanity of Debbie Schaffer (Hayes Warner), who’s getting ready for a night out. The “frieze” decorating the bottom of the mirror perfectly echoes the maximalist style of the early part of the decade. Honestly it’s left me speechless, because there’s a lot about the 1980s (visually speaking) that I have tried to forget over the years, but let’s move on from here.
A can of Aquanet super-hold hairspray can be seen on the table. It’s the first product she uses.
There’s a lot happening on her table, but I have managed to identify two bottles. The one with the milky white stopper is Dior Miss Dior eau de cologne; the other, with the milky white dove stopper, is Nina Ricci L’air du temps, previously seen in the pilot, although housed in a different bottle. Both choices are historically accurate: the original Miss Dior (a creation by created by Paul Vacher and Jean Carles) was launched in 1947, and the Nina Ricci fragrance (a Francis Fabron creation) was launched in 1948.
Among the nail polish bottles, there are a couple with a distinctive hexagonal cap: they are Super Nails nail polishes by Natural Wonder.
It makes sense for Debbie to own Remington 600 Super hand-held hair dryer, which came with attachments for different stylings.
When the girl opens a drawer of her table (she’s looking for something), more products can be seen.
There are several Lip Smacker lip balms, among which Blue Raspberry, Piña Colada and Kiwi. These are not vintage products, but these lip balms were first introduced in 1973 by Bonne Bell. They’re definitely a realistic choice.
Last, a Chanel compact. It’s impossible to know what it contained (pressed face powder or eye-shadows), but it’s another realistic choice. The advert above is from 1980: it promoted the make-up collection Les Provocatifs, which I haven’t been able to find more information about. In any case, in the early 1980s both pressed face powder and eye-shadow palettes were part of Chanel cosmetics collections.
Generational rivalries and half-hidden secrets run deep in the Schaffers’ household. Debbie (Hayes Warner) and her mother Liz (Evan Rachel Wood) mirror each other: they look alike and live in a world where money and appearances matter more than anything else. “You are me,” says Liz [1] to Debbie, when the girl confronts and criticises her questionable life choices.
Whether one likes it or not, the blue and gold bottle on Liz’s vanity is Versace Dylan Blue, a floral fruity fragrance created by Calice Becker and Natalie Gracia-Cetto, and released in 2017. The prop masters of the TV show must have had a great time by planting such a blatant historical inaccuracy in a 1981 context.
Debbie storms into her mother’s bedroom because she wants her Lancôme compact back. The content of the compact is never mentioned, but we can assume it is an eyeshadow palette, because that’s what Liz is applying on her face when Debbie enters her bedroom.
I haven’t found the exact compact seen in this scene, but there’s evidence of Lancôme using red packaging (not the classic glossy black one) in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The advert above features Carol Alt: the American model became testimonial in 1979, when she was 18. She was the face of Lancôme for three years, more or less until 1981; her successor would be Isabella Rossellini. The compact she’s holding doesn’t look like the one seen in the TV show, but let’s just say it’s a realistic detail.
[1] Liz, a former model now trapped into an unhappy marriage, gives Elvira vibes, doesn’t she?
Leave it to Bret Easton Ellis (Igby Rigney, but I am actually referring to the real BEE) to know his beauty products/fragrances and to list them obsessively in his novels, along with the brand of pretty much anything else related to fashion and lifestyle.
In the screencap above, the protagonist of the TV show is about to have lunch with Terry Schaffer, an influential movie producer who is interested in the first novel the boy is writing, but who also happens to be the father of Debbie, Bret’s current girlfriend.
The fragrance he mentions is Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, one of the most popular and influential fragrances from the 1970s. Created by Jacques Polge and Michel Hy, this floral aldehyde eau de toilette was launched in 1971. The beautiful cobalt blue, silver and black aluminium bottle, designed by Pierre Dinnand, added an unusual touch of refinement to a fragrance that was named after YSL’s first boutique in Saint-Germain-des Prés in Paris.
What is the relevance of this fragrance in the narration? Terry is wearing a fragrance created for and marketed to women; Bret knows there’s a reason behind this choice (Terry is married, has a daughter, but he’s “very gay”), and that leads to a deeper reflection about (his own) sexual orientation.
Bret (Igby Rigney) is in his bathroom. In it we can see all the products spotted in the TV show pilot.
The horse-shaped column bottle is Avon Pony Post.
The black matte bottle is Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir, an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982.
The spray can with yellow cap is Gillette The Dry Look hairspray.
The only new addition is Fabergé Brut 33 splash-on lotion.
Katherine (Molly Payton) is home alone. She hears strange noises and sounds outside of her house, but inside it’s not safe either. Seeing the content of her bathroom cabinet rearranged (all the products are upside down or lying sideways) gives us a taste of what’s coming for her and for Los Angeles.
Let’s see what the Trawler (this is the name of the serial killer envisioned by Bret Easton Ellis, author of the 2023 novel the TV show has been adapted from) has taken the time to mess with.
On the top shelf there’s a jar of Noxzema skin cream, which we will see in Bret’s bathroom later in the episode.
On the second shelf there’s a cardboard box containing Secret cream deodorant.
On the same shelf there’s a can of Barbasol shaving cream. The picture above comes from a 1980s commercial and shows exactly the can seen in the TV show.
On the third shelf the fragrance game finally starts.
The first bottle on the left is Ralph Lauren Safari For Men, a woody aromatic fragrance launched in 1992. Yes, let’s that sink in: 1992. The TV show is set in 1981, so this prop choice is historically inaccurate. Has it ever been a problem in the glossy fictional worlds created by Ryan Murphy? Absolutely not, so let’s just move on.
The green and white striped box hides a gem from the 1940s — Carven Ma Griffe, a chypre floral fragrance created by Jean Carles and launched in 1946. This is an unusual choice, but I’ll take it, because at least it’s historically accurate.
In the 1980s owning an Avon novelty bottle was an unwritten rule: it simply happened, whether one liked it or not. In this case, the white ceramic container is armoire-shaped and contains a perfumed bath oil.
The bottom shelf gives us other two perfumed products.
The tin bottle is a talcum powder shaker: it contains Avon Topaze.
There’s also a beautiful bottle of Nina Ricci L’air du temps eau de toilette. This floral fragrance, launched in 1948, was created by Francis Fabron.
The very last product is a spray can of Rayette Aquanet unscented hairspray.
In the first episode we get a close look at Brett’s bathroom, and see some interesting products in it.
The spray can with yellow cap is Gillette The Dry Look hairspray.
The horse head bottle is obviously an Avon design — Pony Post. Traditionally, Avon’s quirky bottles housed several fragrances, so it’s impossible to tell what this one contained.
When the camera follows the protagonist (Igby Rigney) into his bedroom, we can also see a jar of Noxzema skin cream.
Half-hidden behind a perfumed talc shaker, there’s the unmistakable matte black bottle of a 1980s classic — Guy Laroche Drakkar Noir. It’s an aromatic fougère fragrance created by Pierre Wargnye and launched in 1982.
There are three Guerlain products on the round table besides Lucy (Emily Browning).
The jar with gold details on the left is Météorites face powder in pearl form.
Next to it, there’s a bottle of Guerlain Shalimar Eau Légère Parfumée, a 2004 evolution of the historical fragrance created by Jacques Guerlain and first launched in 1925.
On the right side of the table there’s a blue jar with a golden cap: it’s the Orchidée Impériale longevity light cream.
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