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

993 replies

TossDaily · 28/12/2017 11:00

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!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
185
EnidButton · 20/01/2018 13:01

Grin yes! bo

botemp · 20/01/2018 14:52

I got massively sucked into Pinterest when it was just new, had quite the following and met some great people through it but at some point, it just got too big for me. I don't really know what it was, it was just hugely overwhelming and time-consuming all of a sudden. Since I used it predominantly for work stuff I also got hassled a lot by brand reps wanting me to look at their stuff, hoping I'd utilise it in projects. They're hard enough to keep out of your inbox and off your phone as it is, or even worse, from continually knocking on your door, it kind of ruined the happy bubble a bit.

What YouTube accounts are you looking at quirky?

Flo, I've been fruitlessly searching for knee-length boots for about 3yrs now. In my mind they're 70s YSL style, covering the knee cap when standing straight slightly with a straight shaft that doesn't slouch and a bit of a heel. In my mind they exist as this perfect thing, but nowhere have I been able to find anything even approaching them. All I can find are the ones that go in at the ankle and those I find rather unflattering and stale looking for whatever reason. Alternatively I'd love to find the knee-length versions of the Maison Margiela for H&M I have in the black ankle version. I loved the colour and look of those but they didn't fit over my calves back then but would definitely now. I saw someone on the street with them the other day and was still absolutely mesmerised by them.

It's not the attached picture of CB you were thinking of, was it?

Speaking of 'I-don't-give-a-shit glamour', recently came across a coffee table book with Patti Smith photographs from yesteryear and I was instantly sucked in by her attitude to style. I give you the biker jacket when it still had edge. It's all definitely a bit more grungy than the polish of Françoise Hardy. Maybe I'm romanticising it too as she was one of my mother's favourite singers, but I'm adding her to my collection of people whose attitudes towards style I admire under the I-don't-give-a-shit subheader.

Just to clarify wrt capsule wardrobes and MK which I keep reading as Micheal Kors, I don't have issues with these concepts at all in theory, it's when they become movements that I start raising my eyebrow a bit. It can go slightly oppressive and lead far too many to believe that everything they own is wrong and they need to 'invest' in an entirely new wardrobe and places huge expectations on that new end result. I'm all for making changes to make life easier but when it becomes too directive and black and white I struggle to see how it achieves that. I do think it's great for insight to your own thinking and rationalisation, like proper described, 'fine' just isn't good enough anymore and those are things that will stick and continue to be helpful in the long term.

Canters, UK-esque as in, wet weather and mostly cool for 3/4 of the year approx? If not suits, I assume it's good work dresses but not the very tailored sheath types, proper trousers (or very dark denim in less casual shapes) with shirts/blouses/fitted fine merino knits type atmosphere? And congrats! Wine

I'm shocked Moss is shocked, whenever I see another random colab with her name attached to it, I keep thinking, perhaps unfairly, of the Bill Murray character repeating, 'Santori Times,' over and over. Not that I blame her at all, people flock to buy those colabs in huge numbers and they are on brand (just at hugely varying price points). Considering how much 'influencers' have to expose of themselves to even get close to inciting that type of purchasing power, I always like to think KM got it right by being so private, even in that interview she's not exposing herself at all, barely answers a question. If you want a piece of her, the closest you'll get is buying something with her name on it. It's rather transaction-like but no one is pretending it isn't either.

Methen, no worries I wasn't offended, nor did I read it as mean. Your comment just made me realise that whilst it was quite clear to me in the dressing room that in the right size those trousers would be a great fit for me because they're not high waisted (as most of those type are) but by just posting it on here I was assuming you all had the same imagination I had wrt my own body, which pretty much makes it as useful as the COS website as they seem to ask much in terms of imagination of its customers on there.

In Windows, you can select pictures either by holding down SHIFT whilst clicking left (for a series of pictures), or holding down CTRL if you want various pics not in order, then right click on any selected pic and click print, on the right hand side you can choose various options and it will automatically scale pictures and print several on one page, so 2, 4, 9, 24 (or something in that range). They all get printed one direction though so if you're presorting them in groups something to take into consideration.

Alas, I'll be missing out on checking out the 'special' charity shop, I'm plagued with hormonal nausea today, they're closed tomorrow so will try and have a look in sometime next week.

Bonne année, Parisiennes de Mamansnet! C'est Le nouveau thread full of nouveau ideés!
Bonne année, Parisiennes de Mamansnet! C'est Le nouveau thread full of nouveau ideés!
Bonne année, Parisiennes de Mamansnet! C'est Le nouveau thread full of nouveau ideés!
TheGrumpySquirrel · 20/01/2018 15:17

Feeling a lot better now all the too small clothes are packed away! I know what weight I need to be to look good in them again, so happy to wait and unpack them in about a year, it's a nice goal. Lots of lovely things that I'll look forward to wearing again, but currently make me feel bad trying to squeeze into! #acceptance

Just ordered a By Malene Birger v neck long line knitted wool sweater, tight sleeves but loose in the body. Don't normally wear v neck but I know it looks better when I'm less slim ie the boobs are in torpedo mode Blush
also got an oversize CK cashmere jumper from the OUTNET which I'm hoping I can wear as a long top/dress with maternity leggings.

TheOtherGirl · 20/01/2018 15:28

Where do we stand on white jeans?

I've just ordered the best girlfriend fit ones from Gap with the turned up cuff (they're only £16 reduced from £54, I think).

Thing is I've ordered them in the 12, but vaguely recall that they do loosen with wearing (have them in blue in a 10) and I end up hitching them up.

Ordered some white jeans from Uniqlo this week, in a 31" waist and they're enormous. So they're going back.

OCSockOrphanage · 20/01/2018 16:16

Thanks for the COS link Bo. For the money, they look promising so I am pondering which size to order. If I am a 34 in most Euro trousers, wouldn't the 28 be too big? Trouser sizing is so all over the place in the UK, it's frustrating. Really dark indigo slouchy jeans are a bit of a Grail fetish for me because they dress up and down so well when they are pristine, and then age gracefully.

I am planning to visit my DM next week and there is a new Uniqlo store in Oxford, so I may try to persuade her into a short trip over there to see if the U jeans are in stock and try them on. I seem to spend my life returning things otherwise.

Note: Meghan Markle wore Hiut black skinny jeans to visit Wales last week! I fear mine won't look quite as sharp on me when they arrive, but she is almost 30 years younger.

And I like white jeans, but they are hopelessly impractical in the mud and rain which plagues the west country most of the time. SockDog covered clean jeans with muddy marks by weaving around my legs carrying a large stick this morning, and yesterday someone's out of control puppy knocked me down. This limits all hope I might entertain of looking Parisienne clean.

botemp · 20/01/2018 16:24

I'd get the 25 and 26 in that case, Sock. I think that correlates to their smallest size which is a EU 34, they're just not really a legitimate jean sizing IME.

I think the Uniqlo U had a specific drop date, sometime next week. I'm hoping to see some in the flesh in Paris.

I like white boyfriend jeans and prefer the white skinnies in winter (goes very way or preppy on me otherwise) but they are definitely a city item/gets driven everywhere item.

TheOtherGirl · 20/01/2018 16:28

Sock years ago I bought some dark indigo, slouchy jeans from Toast (think they were called 'carpenter jeans') and I wore them to death. They still look good even now.

I love the white jeans with slouchy grey/navy sweater look, but agree in this grim, mizzly weather you can't keep them clean.

Sadly, I won't be wearing the midnight blue, matt sequin skirt to the family dinner tonight, as the other half the family have come down with this bastardy flu strain.

So instead I shall be slobbing in the new White Company PJs I got for Xmas, and I'm stealing DH's mahoosive blue velvet dressing gown. Not exactly glam but soooo cosy Smile

Had OPI pedicure earlier, so at least my feet look pretty!

Floisme · 20/01/2018 17:01

Oh I absolutely bloody love Patti Smith. I remember buying 'Horses' just because of the cover, without even hearing it. (As it turned out, it sounded pretty great too.) And I've spent the rest of my life coming to come to terms with the fact that I don't have the colouring for a white shirt.

It's not the blazer in that photo bo but thanks. It definitely had collar and lapels. It might not even have been 'Veronica Guerin' but the era fits and we did watch it again over Christmas.

In fairness to Marie Kondo, I've never read her book. But, rightly or wrongly (and if I'm wrong, it won't be the first time) I associate her with the 'Throw away all your clothes and then go out and buy new ones' school of dressing which I really dislike for all kinds of reasons. Of course I don't advocate keeping clothes that don't look or feel good but I also think it can be hard to separate 'not looking good' with looking dated. It's only recently that I've realised how short fashion cycles are. The industry likes us to believe nothing comes back in quite the same way but I disagree - most of the time, the difference is nothing a seamstress or a few sewing classes can't fix. I could weep when I think of some the clothes I've got rid of. But you do need storage space. And admittedly some of them probably wouldn't fit me any more!

TheOtherGirl · 20/01/2018 17:07

Bo I've ordered the girlfriend-fit, as the boyfriend-fit is too slouchy on me. I'm too middle aged to get away with that boyish, ingenue look now, sadly.

We do live way out in the sticks, but trust me I will only be walking to and from the car in them Wink

ProperLavs · 20/01/2018 17:08

Marie Kondo is absolutely NOT about throwing all your clothes away. Actually clothes are a small part of her decluttering method.
With clothes it is about loving what you do have, storing it with 'love' and getting rid of stuff that you don't like, doesn't make you feel good. It is not about being minimalist, but being honest.
Being able to let go of the rash sale purchase which you feel guilty about and therefore keep or the ones you haven't worn for at least a year but won't throw away just in case.
She asks you to handle your clothes well and that you should feel joy/pleasure when handling and wearing your clothes. If they don't do that for you then get rid.
It has really helped me be more discerning about what I already have and what I buy.

OCSockOrphanage · 20/01/2018 17:11

That Robert Mapplethorpe pic is definitive. His pictures from the Lower East Side take me straight back to some very edgy moments.

Floisme · 20/01/2018 17:27

Fair enough, Proper I shouldn't write her off without reading what she has to say. But I still think 'what doesn't make you feel good' is an ever changing thing and I totally disagree that, just because you've not worn something for a year, you'll never want to wear it again. I'm not talking about the bobbled jumper or the dress that's never going to fit again, but I am thinking of all the things I'm bored with at the moment but might well see in a new light in a few years time. But I admit, I am the queen of 'just in case' and I'm lucky enough to have a couple of big cupboards.

Did you see that Robert Maplethorpe exhibition in London a few years ago Sock? Let's say it gave new meaning to the word edgy. But some of it really beautiful too.

Brillenbar · 20/01/2018 18:13

On leather blazers. - I have one - bought from baukjen last year I am rubbish at links if you google baukjen Monmouth leather blazer you will get pictures. Is that what you're looking for? I love it soooo much

TQBD · 20/01/2018 18:17

I’ve been following these threads closely and there are some amazing outfits! I’d love to be so put together.

It’s really prompted me to think about a huge cleanse of my wardrobe... but I’m really not sure how to dress for my shape, or really what my shape is... would anyone be willing to help me work it out?

cactusbutt · 20/01/2018 19:45

Jumping in on Marie Kondo, I used her method to declutter my entire house, including wardrobe, a few years back.

The premise certainly isn't rigid and doesn't encourage you to throw away everything you have in favour of shiny new stuff. It forces you to sit down and have a think about all the objects you've brought into your home, what they mean to you, why you're keeping them. It can be a very emotional process, which is perhaps why many people have gone a bit cult-like over it.

I ended up getting rid of about a third of the contents of my home, and it was the most liberating feeling.

The interesting thing is that you only need to do it once. Once you've been through a process like that, you think long and hard about any new purchases. For me, it reshaped the relationship I have with consumerism, with comfort buying and with my home environment.

A few years down the track, I'm definitely not folding socks or living in pristine minimalism. How I apply the Kondo method is mainly when I'm shopping, asking myself why I'm buying something, the feeling it brings out and what place it will have in my home.

As far as wardrobe goes, it helped me get rid of all the shitty, badly fitting, gifted and holding-onto-for-sentimental-reasons clothes that were filling my wardrobe. Once it was pared down to things I actually liked, I could begin to understand my own style.

ProperLavs · 20/01/2018 19:47

flo if you have methods that work well for you then there is no need to seek advice elsewhere!
I found myself in a position of having lots of clothes that I didn't really feel great about, some of it brand new with tags on. I didn't know where to start. MK gave very useful advice and she also knew all the tricks people have to ensure they can't chuck stuff out. I was a bit of a sentimental hoarder. Not any more!

ProperLavs · 20/01/2018 19:49

well said cactus that's it exactly.

cactusbutt · 20/01/2018 19:59

Oh, and on Patti Smith - I saw her last year performing Horses and she's still looking bloody amazing.

Bonne année, Parisiennes de Mamansnet! C'est Le nouveau thread full of nouveau ideés!
OCSockOrphanage · 20/01/2018 20:15

I missed that exhibition, with extreme regret, Flo. Sadly there are so many I would like to see and Cornwall is not the ideal place to start from and return to, until I move a bit closer, which is in my retirement planning.

TheOtherGirl · 20/01/2018 20:25

cactus I totally agree with what you say. I have never Kondoed anything, and don't live in a minimalist museum.

But our house has always been very uncluttered because I am tidy by nature, and very thoughtful about what I buy and bring home. If I don't love it, then it rarely comes home with me. It was a long, hard lesson to learn though. But a very valuable one Smile

botemp · 20/01/2018 20:28

I don't assume Kondo encourages it either, but do agree with Flo that something feeling 'good' in the moment is a bit too arbitrary for me to consider a proper guide. I'm sure there's more to it though.

It did take off massively and I did notice in a lot of people around me that it bred an inferiority complex about the things they already owned, feeling tremendous guilt for allowing the situation to occur as it had when they weren't anything resembling an actual hoarder (they were just not systematic and/or conscious about throwing things out or bringing things in), plaguing them with nothing resembling joy. It probably was already there simmering (otherwise the MK method wouldn't have appealed) but it suddenly became very pronounced. To purge themselves of those feelings they pretty much did a clean sweep, everything was deemed no longer good as all had contributed to the situation arising as it had. It then became an excuse to buy a lot of new things to do better and subsequently ramped up feelings of guilt when buying, especially things they hadn't accounted for but sparked joy nonetheless. Again conflicting feelings of insecurity with elation and temporary highs from purchasing. Guilt overriding a lot, and that may very well be very culture-specific here, especially those raised in the Calvinist tradition.

It's a bit like dieting, nothing wrong with it as a temporary measure to lose weight, healthy in fact when not done in extremes, but the constant promotion of fad diets are massively distorting our relationship with food, it'll affect some in more serious ways than others. I see the capsule wardrobe as a natural follow up to the MK hype, and 'minimalism' (as defined by YouTube) seems to be taking a foothold that then takes it further. It's the hype that concerns me mostly and that the definition continues to narrow to a more forced essentialism with every new wave. I do worry that a bit like 'clean eating' there's a saturation point where it becomes toxic. Where it becomes difficult for people to spend money without being riddled with guilt or allow them the ability to enjoy a bit of frivolity.

is the YT promo for the Patti Smith photography book I saw. I think I may end up ordering it, I'm having a bit of a photography book obsession of late, internet visuals are becoming too narrated by Instagram to my tastes and there's something so comforting about tactile books again.

TQBD, come on in. If you've got a tape measure a few of those body type calculators will give an indication of your shape. It's probably the best way to start.

ProperLavs · 20/01/2018 21:28

bo it’s sadly the case that people use tools such as the Kondo method in a way that’s not healthy or as intended. As you say it’s the same with dieting. As if it’s a magic cure all bullet.
I have been investigating wide leg trousers on the back of this thread. It makes a change from skinnies. Though I find at my height 5’4.5” I have to be careful that I don’t look like a clown and disappear in them. Must be easier to carry off if you’re taller.

Floisme · 20/01/2018 22:31

Mmm I guess it's partly because I've been careless in the past and let things go (not only clothes) that I now really regret. It's not a mistake I want to make again.

Anyway wide legs - I'm 5'3 and I think my legs look shortest of all in skinnies because there's nowhere for them to hide, whereas I think with a wider leg there's room for some smoke & mirrors. But as I've said, I do like them high waisted and with a masculine cut so they hang off the end of my arse, so to speak and you can't really see properly where my legs begin.

Brill thanks for the Baukjen tip. They don't seem to sell the Monmouth jacket any more but I've google imaged it and it does look like the kind of shape I'd be after.

TheGrumpySquirrel · 20/01/2018 23:13

Sure, what's the point of getting rid of stuff only to spend more money replacing? I definitely have frivolous purchases that don't get worn often but I do love. Gianvito Rossi velvet satin trimmed heels I'm looking at you! But what MK did do for me was make me feel much calmer and more organised and I don't feel like I forget what I own (which is half the battle to wearing it!). I then realised there are certain things I wear all the time that I could justify buying multiples of. So for me it's more of a useful mental tool than anything. I can't think of anything I really regret getting rid of.

TheGrumpySquirrel · 20/01/2018 23:15

Totally agree re capsule wardrobes btw. Often the best I've felt / most compliments I've gotten on an outfit have been on something risky / out there than doesn't really go with most of my usual style! A bit like what you were saying earlier about "fun" pieces bo

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