Bonne année, Parisiennes de Mamansnet! C'est Le nouveau thread full of nouveau ideés!

[TossDaily]

Excuse the franglais.

Here it is - the third thread in the series, where we add a little je ne sais quoi to our lives, inspired by the style of our souers across the Channel.

Thanks to our top contributor and style guru Botemp, we are finding ways to lift ourselves out of the style doldrums with a slash of red on the lips, a touch of white where it counts, an insouciant scarf or even an over the knee sock or two for the brave among us.

Take it as far as you dare, Mariannes!

canters- would you mind if I PM you about Singapore?

Luna I think you are absolutely right, I think Parisian style is about attitude and being the best you possible.

bo thanks so much for the kiko recommendation, the lipstick is lovely, creamy but longlasting. I will try out the eyeliner tomorrow.

Ah bless you ladies, wasn't trying to wallow or 'poor me', but you're very lovely. Yes very much a case of changing styles due to age as well. I sort of emerged out of a very dark period feeling quite emotionally aged as well as physically. I hadn’t really given a shit about my appearance, so giving my wardrobe an overhaul, and starting to take a interest in skincare and clothes again, was def a big part of trying to re engage with the world. cactus what you describe is exactly that.

Although I have to say, my neon hair was something I did after I turned 30. I had very sensible hair until then - and only after my 30th did I get it all bleached and start going nuts with the colour. My wedding hair was indeed VERY pink - as per photo. It was very much NOT monochrome Although I think having my hair silver / grey was still one of my favourite shades - I adore striking grey hair on a woman. Christine Lagarde is beyond chic, IMO

BTW thanks for the Kiko recommendations - I popped in last week as I wanted an alternative matte orange-red lippy, as I’m finding MAC Lady Danger just too drying at the moment in the winter / parched by central heating. I picked a lovely shade and a lip pencil - with the pencil filled in as a base, then two layers of the lipstick, it lasted pretty much all day without being too drying. So major thumbs up from me!

Wow! That is one amazing wedding pic, the hair is fabulous!

Sing not at all, please do!

Banana that wedding photo is stunning, your hair! Your figure! Wow.

I was very pleased to see Cos in Melbourne. It's where we'll move if we decide not to go back to the UK (Melbourne, not Cos!).

Bo high twenties at the coolest. Dreadful humidity but is also currently the rainy season, just for fun! Yes to not having to do own ironing

In terms of Parisian style in the heat, just this morning I saw a woman wearing a simple white t-shirt, high waisted wide leg cropped trousers in cream with a blue pin stripe and charcoal trainers, sporting no make up but an orange-red lip and carrying a matching red clutch. She looked amazing.

bananafish amazing photo. I definitely get much more compliments from people with very silver hair, I think it's probably quite unusual though I see more and more natural hair around here now. I keep toying with the idea of putting some mad colour through it once the blonde is all cut out but I'm not sure it's really me now.

cactus that sounds very chic. I find dressing for heat hard (not necessary here today, as it's currently 0°C) but do love loose trousers in the hot weather. I think there's nowhere to hide with summer clothes, as you lose all the layering etc.

banana that wedding photo is amazing! I also had pink hair once, when I was sixteen or so. I died my hair, the bath, the towels and the side of my face pink...

That might be where I am going wrong, Elle. Trouble is I'm not sure the low/mid rise jeans work for me.

Anything fully tucked in or visibly belted seems to cut me in half and make me look shorter, too.

Love the pink hair, banana

Great wedding photo Banana

Love that dress Lib you really suit a shirt dress.

I'm more of a Luke's than a poster but am hugely enjoying this thread. I have a denim shirt and struggle to style it. It never looks right with black jeans so I think I will pair it with white jeans instead.

Someone mentioned upthread about the demi tuck. I've been doing this for a while but recently I've stopped doing it as much. 1 because it made me look a bit scruffy, especially for work and 2 the style of the trousers/jeans didn't suit the look. Especially with high waisted jeans.

Oh and I have that grey Uniqlo IdF sweatshirt and it wasn't great quality. The neck stretched badly, it was huge, and not in a good way - it stretched out of shape pretty quickly. It was also too think to wear under a fairly fitted blazer so never managed to achieve that sweatshirt under blazer look.

Ages ago Bloomed asked about the softness of the next sweatshirts. They're not super soft but they're not scratchy either. I find them fine to wear even without a vest underneath.

"I died my hair, the bath, the towels and the side of my face pink..."

I did this with purple. Even got some on the curtains.

banana the photo is simply stunning. I can also add to the Kiko love, I bought a red lip liner after Bo suggested it as I found red lipstick made my lips look thinner, I bought a few red from them most didn't work for me but the one that does is totally fab it's a berry red. DD1 is loving all my rejects.

I can tuck as I keep my weight in my tummy, but have been low carbing since NY day so hopefully by spring I'll be in better shape. Have also perked up my interest in skincare, so dug out my Korean stuff and am waiting for a delivery from The Ordinary. It feels good to put myself first instead of the family.

Am also waiting for some Arket merino tops, thanks for whoever mentioned them, it's not a brand I was aware of.

Can't tuck!

Just been catching up as been away.

Dressing in hear/humidity does sound a challenge. I live in England here so we certainly have seasons. The downside of winter dressing is that you can wear a great outfit but if outside, you're predominantly just in some form of thick waterproof jacket and boots. I have been looking at the thin puffy down jackets to wear under smarter coats but not really sure.

Banana- I think my style has evolved in a similar way to you. In teens/20s it was very much retro/vintage/big flares etc. In early 30s I had a massive shift towards neutral basics and felt much more together. I think this reflected my age, but also went back to work after 4 young children VERY close in age. I needed to be able to put together smart outfits easily and also had very little money so needed my clothes to really earn their place in my wardrobe and be able to work with each other.

The past year I think I've evolved again. A similar experience to lady (sorry can't remember who) who said they now have hints of their other style, so I might wear a 'grown-up' chic (in my mind at least) outfit but with a vintage bag or jeans with a vintage t-shirt. I doubt this will stay forever as I enjoy clothes /styling myself. I no longer dedicate large swathes of time to shopping for fast fashion/chasing the 'in' look, but I really enjoy conscious purchases , playing with what I have and looking for real life/ cultural muses (both past and present) to take inspirating from.

Forgive me if the answer lies in previous threads but did any of you find a Kiko alternative for Mac Ruby Woo? It's my all-time favourite red but so drying and I just can't wear it in this weather. I have scanned back but can't see........

botemp, inspired by you I got those pointy flat ankle boots from Other Stories in the sales, they're lovely! I was galumphing around in DM biker boots for a couple of years and I do love them but found myself craving something a bit more feminine.

Re Hermes scarves, I think there's a certain age they look great. I had two former colleagues who wore them. One was a very pretty 20something who looked good in anything. The other was a fabulous grande dame of 60ish who also wore Chanel no.5 and red lipstick; she was a very formidable woman who could carry off such classics without being overwhelmed by them. In between is trickier. I think they're beautiful to look at but at 40something they are total frumpsville on me.

I'm also enjoying the wider trouser leg trend, the skinnies era was not kind to the sturdy calved! I got two pairs of these in the Toast sale because I will wear them all the time at work

www.toa.st/uk/product/sale+womens+trousers/c4icb/soft+wool+workwear+trouser.htm?categoryref=%2fcategory.aspx%3fcategoryid%3dsale%2520womens%2520trousers%26seoterm%3dsale%2520womens%2520trousers%26&pcat=sale+womens+trousers&adimage=&clr=C4ICB_DarkNavy_sw

When I tried the tuck, DH said 'oh, you've got your top caught in your jeans'. I said it was a fashion thing and he declared it looked silly. No sense of style! But I desisted from tucking.

I liked the half tuck at first as I thought it gave a lovely casual vibe, but then when it became rather ubiquitous and on every blogger etc, it seemed a bit try too hard rather than casual undone iyswim.

At the moment I wear tucked with stiffer fabrics (e.g. shirts) but looser ones (such as linen t-shirts) emphasise my post-crimbo paunch and so they will be worn out until I drop half a stone.

The half tuck is bloody great for me cos that's how I dress anyway. I don't think I've never managed to keep a shirt fully tucked in - I'm not polished enough. But if you're normally drawn towards a more groomed look then it's going to look as if you're just following a trend and it won't sit quite right. I think the trick is to spot the trends that work with your own style.

Methen that was me with hints of previous style. I always joke in summer that I do boho lite .

Trying the kiko longlasting eyeliner, hasn't stayed in the same way as liquid but it hasn't smudged all over my lids (looking at you, bourgeois), it maybe that I need some kind of primer if I wear pencil eyeliner. But still better than others I've used.

cuirderussie toast do lovely trousers, I just usually find I am between sizes, sadly. I think the changing silhouettes thing is very true, I got out an old gap pair (20yrs at least) of black velvet bootlegs. They are slightly cropped, so look like a kick flare, great for the cold weather and have a slight faded/washed look on the seams that I like.

Yesterday, I was looking for new grey skinnies, but instead ended up trying on a pair of levi's that were straight 714 (?), last pair in the sale and too big, but I realised how much I like the style. I may look out for some in a smaller size.

shop
I got Kiko 114 but if I recall it was 115 ??
Nevertheless you could go and they will find a good red for you .
Any recommendations for waterproof mascara and liner anyone ?
I have oily eyelids

Thanks pinkpeppermint I don't have a local store but saw one in Westfield the other day so will take a look the next time I'm there.
I use this Clinique waterproof mascara to swim in which doesn't budge.
I find these Chanel eyeliners have great staying power and a good range of colours

Lancome waterproof mascara is great.
I think our kiko has opened in the last week or so.

I cant use anything Clinique on my eyes sadly.

@Pinkpeppermintteaforme the Kiko pencil eyeshadow is unremoveable! I don't know if they do a similar eyeliner