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!

I like a balcony for the literal boob balcony it creates. They make mine quite round. What kind of shape are you wanting Other?

Bras are so so tricky. Next time I find a really good one I'm going to buy at least 5.

Though it's a bit more figuring out, I have found the subreddit A Bra That Fits a really useful resource. It goes into roots and projection, etc. Proper nerdy about boobs and bras basically, best viewed on a desktop so you can get all the resources from the sidebar, they have an extensive recommended bra per size catalogue too. It's mostly UK based but they discuss quite a few French brands and a bit of US brands. The posters all seem very knowledgeable, though I never interacted, mostly just came there to confirm I'm best sticking with Simone Perele.

I love everlane for basics - I've bought some great black jeans from them this season - very little stretch, so feels more like wearing trousers than jeans as they hold their shape, and far more reasonable a price than lots of the much higher priced denim that I have bought in the past.

ksb I think I'll have a look at the jeans on Everlane, thanks. I haven't bought from them before but have heard good things, generally.

I'll have a look at that website later, thanks, bo. I'm sure I read somewhere that the french prefer a slightly looser band (so no back fat, hooray, or digging in) and a slightly smaller but more natural shape cup. TheOtherGirl I think we also had a long discussion on bras on one of the previous threads, some of us don't get on with the bra intervention method so well.

Vestoj! I knew I'd forgotten something, bo - when I couldn't buy a copy locally I suggested someone in the family send me one for Christmas but nobody did! I have a big piece of work to complete at the moment so not much spare time but I'll try and remember to order. Is this the edition that talks about authenticity as well as big trousers? Speaking of which, I always try and save up so I can give myself a bit of a 'Christmas bonus' and I've just spent it on some splendid (if not very Parisian) Vivienne Westwood trews which are due to arrive today..... If they don't look too ridiculous on me I'll come back and post a link.

TheOtherGirl - I think so, on me anyway.

Well the HL LL are lovely and fit well on the legs despite having the same sort of horizontal seam on the calf which is where the OUTNET ones dug into me. However I'm embarrassed to say I couldn't fit them over my bum I didn't want to force it and burst the seams, there's no zip or anything so big hips small waist isn't ideal, they are more suited to straight up and down people. These are a US2, I normally wear US0 when not overweight. However as I'm currently 7kg (a stone) overweight I'm hopeful they will go on and still look good once I'm back to usual size (I suspect they won't be super tight on the legs but that's okay). For eBay £130 I'm v pleased.

OtherGirl, have you tried Chantelle bras? I too am a buxom 32F, and the Hedona style has been my go to for some years. It's a natural rounded shape, seam free T shirt bra that doesn't show through clothes but gives good lift and support. I have tried lots of bras, but keep cooming back to this.

It's the 'On Authenticity' issue Flo. Have only had a quick sniff browse of it, haven't seen any big trousers, think you may have merged The Gentlewoman and Vestoj into one. Vestoj is more of an anthology, really.

ksb, are you in the UK though? I'm losing track, but IIRC Everlane only ships internationally on the days surrounding Black Friday, and this has to be the second year running that I've completely forgotten at the time and wanted to kick myself after.

Yes, quirky, I'm not a fan of the bra intervention method if you're in the smaller backsize/moderate breast size end of it. I also read recently that it's skewed towards certain UK brands who all receive their training at one school which explains the popularity of Freya, Panache, etc. Think it's great for those who it really works for but measuring in centimetres works better for me, the French will add between 5-10cms (which is still less than 4 inches) to the underbust, +2 inches imperial works best for me and is actually available to buy in most places.

I did wonder if HL was a good fit for a pear Grumpy, but perhaps it'll work out better when you're not pregnant.

Is that bra not officially a minimiser, Sock? It is a good one for lifting and separating (but too separating on me, I need bras to do the opposite). I complained to the salesperson it looked like I lost all sign of boobage and she did say it used to be sold as a minimiser but there's no demand for that label anymore. Though she did think it may have been available as a minimiser as well and wasn't 100% on it.

Since you're here Sock, off thread and really belonging to another, how are you getting on with the nuface? (That was you, I hope). Have been reading up a bit more on microcurrent technology lately and was wondering if you're still as enthused about it as when you just got it.

Botemp, the Hedona has never been sold, to my knowledge, as a minimiser and I have worn it for a decade. That may not be true outside the UK, and I do like it because it doesn't emphasise my embonpoint.

Re the NuFace (from one of the skincare threads for those who have missed the enticements thereof), after using it more or less as often as suggested, I think there has been a significant improvement on the cat's bum wrinkles around my lips and also the naso-labial lines either side of my mouth. I have had baby Botox (from a medically qualified aesthetician) twice in a year for my elevens, and the NuFace seems to be maintaining the effect quite satisfactorily. I didn't take pictures before starting, foolishly, so can't prove it conclusively one way or the other. If anyone asked, I'd say it was worth a go, especially as I bought my mini-gizmo while they were on special offer with a starter kit of their treatments (which I have barely touched apart from the gel, and I eke that out with aloe vera).

Most impressed with your recall for all your threads Bo!

Nothing wrong with a minimiser, of course, I imagine it's actually quite useful if you're proportionally heavy set, especially with certain items of clothing. I actually find it quite odd that the label of minimiser has been, well, minimised, over the last decade or so.

Good to know the NuFace is still giving you results. We were recently discussing things beyond skincare (as it can only do so much) and what the options are beyond injectables (which aren't really anti-agers). I did wonder if they got you with the electrode gel like a printer cartridge. I suppose you could just do it with the old Spektra 360 instead. Is it mainly wrinkles/fine lines you've noticed a difference with, I'd thought it was marketed more towards anti-sagging/tightening, or is it really a combination thereof?

I rarely venture much further Sock MN can be a disturbing place

OC - I'm off to google NuFace and book in for my 11's - I usually have botox and for some reason have forgotten to go and the damn things are moving again.

I went to the Arkett site to see what's happening to my parcel only to realise I hadn't checked out and half the stuff I'd added has now gone, so only a couple of things are now due to arrive.

Had a good sewing session yesterday and binge watched Justine on YouTube at the same time, which was an absolute joy.

Bo Am wearing a roll neck grey jumper with shirt underneath today as per your earlier post, added a wool blazer (made by me) and cashmere scarf I took the dog to the vet (oh the glamour) and was complimented by all the women - "ooh don't you look stylish today ". It's a great feeling, I've got my 50th coming in the next few months which I'm not too happy about, but this thread is really helping my determination to grow old with style.

Apologies, Parisiennes, for the derail! Bo, the electrode gel that came with it appears to be fairly inert stuff, but it's thicker than aloe vera. And using too much gel seems to make it less effective.

There may have been a slight lift, but I wouldn't have said I was particularly jowly or sagging before; I had the face an ex-smoker gets (I know, and knew ) for 30 years. Disclaimer: all my family have very good skin and look youthful for their age; my mum, 83, has exceptionally fine textured skin and good tone. I am 61 (ouch!) but some people seem surprised when I say so.

Chango, if you take it further, NuFace offer a 90 day return, and I am still within that period, though the cut-off looms soon. I got it early November. I don't think I'd go for the full size though; mine, on offer, was £125, so less than a single Botox appointment.

grumpy that's great re the Hl leggings. I'm very at your bargain buy.

Well on a completely different note I went and had my colours done today with an independent consultant. I ended up being with her for nearly 2 1/2 hours and it was actually really useful for me.
At no point did I feel hurried or that I was on some kind of colour conveyor belt.
We painstakingly went though all the seasons-twice. She said it needed to be done twice because the first time round i would be shocked at having to stare at myself so intently and would be looking at the colour of the drapes rather than what they did to my complexion and face colour.
She was absolutely right.
We finally narrowed it down to winter/autumn, but autumn won out.
We then went through all the autumn colours and I had stickers to rate them in my swatch booklet so i knew which ones were ok, good, great and wow.
It was good to discover that lot of the colours I love and think suit me like reds and greens do indeed suit me, but also discover that ones I would have turned my nose up at look really great on me.

It was useful to look a a lot of navy swatches and see which ones were better.
Apparently my eye colour dominated a lot of the choices and some colours suited my complexion and undertone but not my eyes.
it turns out I have warm undertone which surprised both her and me.

I was so impressed with her I will go back and do a style workshop when she has her next one.

I don't suit any white unless it has a deeper colour dominating and black makes me look dead frankly.

She also had a very sensible attitude to the clothes I already had and said that changing wardrobes had to take quite a bit of time.

Sorry, completely off subject. But I wanted to share that my experience had really been a helpful and positive one.

So it turns out my orange-red lippies are infact the best choice after all!

Bo, would it be possible for you to post some parisiennes in skirts, please? Especially work skirts/smart casual rather than denim mini, please. I can picture the skinny jeans/shirt/jumper look, but somehow I can't imagine much else and searching on instagram had been very hit or miss. Also different silhouettes of trouser to the skinny would be awesome, if you have time, please? Are cropped wide legs okay or would they be more British style?

ProperLavs as a fellow autumn, which orange-red lipsticks do you use? I'm currently thinking about Stila liquid lipstick in Tesoro.

I've redirected my Parisian eBay impulses into an Isabel Marant chambray shirt. I'll keep a beady eye on the HL leather leggings, they've been up for a while without selling and the seller may drop the price.

thelongrider I have and love Chanel Incandescente and Este Lauder carnal which bo recommended. Blue reds make me look baaad, which I thought was odd what with being cool toned- except it turns out that I'm not[ wink]

I love the Dior 999 that Bo recommended for me when I said I needed orange reds/true reds as a blue red wouldn't suit me, way back on the first thread.

I've had so many compliments since I started wearing it

A real contrast to the corals or subtle browny reds that I was used to wearing!

Don't apologise Sock, I was the one that asked and derailed, so if anyone should apologise for derailing it's me.

Mary, I'll put some pics up after this post but just wanted to emphasise there is no 'ok' or not to all this. Nor is British Style the antithesis. I personally find cropped wide trousers very hard to pull off no whether where I am, but some it really suits so let that be your guide rather than geography.

Skirts

So generally they're short, the suede A-line is a staple but so is leather.