MN Vogue - volume 21

[shopafrolic]

A happy and safe place to talk fashion (from high end to high street), beauty and the arts. All welcome to bring a positive state of mind, lots of links and an eye for detail.
Continuing on from here

[LinusDKD]

this one as well

[Topazandpearl]

Liberty my DD goes on the 28th. The spare bedroom, aka my office, is full of boxes and she hasn't packed any clothes yet. I think we'll be taking two cars at this rate. She snorted with derision when she read a student guide recommending taking three pairs of shoes (she's a future MNV girl).
She is busy at the moment with lots of nights out as friends leave. It will quieten down next week as most will have gone by this weekend.
I know she has mixed feelings, saying goodbye, if only temporarily, to home and friends, but also excitement at the adventure ahead.
And, of course, my feelings are mixed too...
One I have the M&S version of those leopard flats, not quite as nice as JCrew but only a little more than a tenth of the price!

[shopafrolic]

any good Linus?
or tissue tee
Size up and they are nice and draped.

[LinusDKD]

I pinned that first one shop and I really like it. And the second one as well.

But they are more expensive than the Asos ones and I am still being good and not buying things because I need to buy a down wintercoat.

Very tempted to buy them though ...

[SpaceIsBig]

Hello, I'm delurking to ask a question if I may? Sorry to interrupt near the end of the thread but I'm trying to rework my wardrobe after 2 children and thought I'd try to buy fewer things but more expensive, rather than just living at gap and h&m as usual.

So, having lurked on here for a bit (thank you!) I've dipped my toe in the murky waters of The Outnet, but I'm a bit confused - quite a few of the nice coats and woolly jumpers I'm looking at are heavily mixed with polyester and nylon. A J Brand coat costing almost £700 before discount was almost totally devoid of natural fibres. So - I always thought man-made fibres were the preserve of the cheap end of the high street, and paying more would mean better quality and more natural wools etc. Or am missing something - does polyester actually work well in some situations, and is there a reason a designer would chose it over something else?
I saw a PP mention this too, so I'm hoping I'm not totally mad...

[santamarianovella]

shop i want to buy one of those j.crew tops ,so will wait till the opening,as i would like to try more than fit,i just hope i dont buy the marant ones,they are really fab and warm .

space welcome, and dont worry we are always more than happy to help,do stay!
i was thinking the exact thing yesterday while looking at some sweaters on the outnet!,i think sadly that its to cut production costs! manmade fabrics can be "tough" but they can never replace wool or cashmere or cotton which are very expensive now days.

[QueenCadbury]

Hello space. I'm not the best person to ask about fibres as I've only become aware of them recently thinks to MN.

Thanks to you all that responded to my pin about the ash boots. I've emailed my wardrobe and I've looked at these pictures and they all do seem quite distressed. I'm far too tired to make any decision about whether they're keepers or not tonight so will ponder tomorrow.

[LinusDKD]

Welcome space!

I don't really know the answer to your question but I think santa is right and it's usually to do with cost.

[SpaceIsBig]

Hello santa, yes I did worry that was why, but wasn't sure if I had missed something or maybe just being naive. I really don't want to spend a couple of hundred on something if it's not really good quality (by which I tend to think of as being natural wools etc)

I'm looking at chunky jumpers - this - what do you think? Nice or dull?

[LinusDKD]

I bought two tees shop I completely blame you!

That is a lovely jumper space!

[Drywhiteplease]

I bought Grazia "Big Fashion Issue" today....joy!
Grumpy those J Crew animal print loafers are lovely sorry no help
Hello Space I object to paying a lot of money for synthetic fibres! For me, the whole point of investing is to get quality.
QueenC aren't you happy with the boots?

MNHQ ....we need:
A chocolate symbol
An award symbol
And a celebrate symbol
Thanks

[LinusDKD]

Oooh dry do you think MNHQ reads MNV?

In that case, can we please have a shoe symbol as well?
Oh and a shallow symbol.

[mignonette]

Hi Space The reason why man made fibres are incorporated into natural cloth is because they can help minimise some negative characteristics of a natural fibre. A sweater made of 100% cotton can be very heavy, so heavy that it drags itself out of shape whereas if you add a man made fibre, it holds its shape better.

The days when polyester was the cheap option are over. In fact when it first came out it wasn't seen as a cheap option at all. Many of these fabrics are chosen because they are actually very durable, take dye in a particular manner and hold onto it or because they wash and iron or dry clean better.

A lot of cashmere and wool items pill, even the higher end stuff can do this. They use very short fibres (sweepings) which will not last. Cost is not always a reliable indicator unless you buy Lora Piana or Brora.

Where I see problems is in the use of techno fabrics- wool bonded neoprene, raffia bonded onto leather, metalwork, embroidered leather, plastics, feathers and mother of pearl paillettes. How in God's name do you wash or even dry clean some of these clothes? It can cost over £700 to dry clean a high end item.

And I am sick of buttons being so badly sewn onto costly garments. Plum Sykes wrote a great US Vogue piece on this some years ago after the buttons fell off her new Stella and Balenciaga coats.

[LinusDKD]

That's very interesting mig!

Is there an 'ideal' amount of manmade fibers in an item of clothing?

How about the t-shirt I linked to earlier? It's 65% polyester which seems an awful lot to me.

[LinusDKD]

santa yes please pin a picture. Those jeans are lovely.

The LV scarf is absolutely gorgeous. I tried on two colours in the shop: the one you pinned, which we ended up buying for DM and a fushia and pink one (not on the LV website at the moment) The latter looked better on me than DM's one but not stunning so I wasn't tempted to buy it.

They feel lovely and drape beautifully (not that I am trying to convince you to buy one )

[shopafrolic]

Linus did you use the discount code?
Space welcome. I have some info that DonaAna gave me a while back on fibres. Am at a friend's house ATM but will try and dig it out for you tomorrow. A lot of it is cost I think.

[SpaceIsBig]

Thanks mig, that's fascinating. Am now also pondering the same thing as linus about optimum amounts of fibres!

[LinusDKD]

Of course I did shop!

Ok, time for bed. Night all.

[mignonette]

Linus and Space I'm not sure but there was an interesting blog article posted by somebody earlier that discussed this and made the point that not all polys are created equal. Some viscose doesn't crease; some does. Some silk creases badly; some does not.

NAP will answer queries about fabrics and some higher end fashion houses will explain why they use particular fabrics.

I am not too far from a couple of very famous weaving/fabric mills and i will ask them next time I pass them. They weave fabric for world famous fashion and design companies such as Paul Smith. Maybe they'll shed some light.

This Ted Baker blog explains some basics about names of fabrics and this one too. This is comprehensive.

Finally this explains in more detail about natural V man made.

[santamarianovella]

mig thats really interesting,
just like there are various degrees of cashmere,,but its the idea that we are spending a great sum on an item that has a very high percentage of poly blend.

[mignonette]

Santa I agree, we cannot help equating poly =cheap. However it helps mitigate creasing in many garments. There is of course the issue of how it aggravates perspiration in some people though. The new fabrics such as Tencel are better.

I buy a lot of pure cotton cardigans because at a lower price point, the wash and wear very well. I buy the light cotton knits though, not that heavy cotton ramie which tends to hang from even very small breasts making a woman look saggy and lumpy. I also find heavy cotton knits do sag and droop especially in the heat and look very scruffy.

I love silk but go for Plisse, Organza and Seersucker because their crispness means that they look fresh even after a heavy day. I'd probably not wear a poly shirt because I don't like clingy fabrics. I like my shirts to stand away from my body if that makes sense?

Seersucker is apparently the choice of fabric for men especially in the Deep South because of its freshness and many men have suits made from it. Come Labour day they go into storage along w/ white shoes!

Queen and One I hope you are both recovering from your fall/operation.

[SpaceIsBig]

mig thanks for taking the time to explain. I'd always thought of it much more simplistically as synthetic = bad, natural = good. Clearly it's a little bit more complicated than that, which is probably going to confuse my online shopping trip a bit. Oh well! Just one more thing to factor in when deciding what to buy I guess.

[Drywhiteplease]

I need inspiring ladies..... Tops to wear with jeans for smart ish nights out.
Have bottom sorted (snort) , footwear is ok but I need a few nice tops.

The criteria;
Not too long so as to drown me but hip length is good
I don't mind sheer
I'm not good with deep plunging necklines
I don't mind smallish print
Not fussy about sleeve length....
Love silk
Would look good under stone biker jacket or black blazer

What do you wear nosey

[mignonette]

Glad for the chance to express my inner nerd Space. I love that kind of fashiony/style information.

[mignonette]

I have a lovely dark green deep V sleeveless top in sheer crepe de chine with a heavily embellished neckline that i wear w/ jeans and fierce shoes. Top Shop do this style very well if you want to not spend mega bucks.

Pleated plisse or organza shirts look great. Comme Des Garcons do them well as do COS/GAP/ &OtherStories.

That's the kind of thing I like. I'll post some links tomorrow Dry