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!

theothergirl, sorry to hear your news.

elle, great skirt (and legs!)

On the lipstick question, any thoughts on NYX? I had a little browse in Boots the other day and they have a great range and are not very pricey.

Just dropping in to say the Uniqlo extra fine merino (their dark grey is very close to charcoal) is £10 off. So the v neck jumper is 14.90.

Sorry for your loss theothergirl :)

TheOtherGirl, as if you all didn't have enough on your plate already.

quirky, I think it helps that I continually buy a variation of the same shade

schmalex, NYX is generally well-liked. I've never ended up buying from them, I have that with some brands. All the colours are just slightly not what I want and their micro brow pencils which are supposed to be identical to the Anastasia BH brow whiz oxidised on me (found a really good one at H&M though).

Thank you.

Am self medicating with comfort reading of a favourite book and lots of tea, whilst DH is staying with his Mum.

As luck would have it, my new Zara sweater arrived today. Oversized, roll neck and in off-white wool. Wearing it right now, it's like a huge hug.

TheOtherGirl sorry for your loss. Glad you’re comfortable tonight, wishing you strength for the coming days.

theOtherGirl So sorry for your loss. I hope your feelings of calm can remain with you.

I tried the dabbing technique with my lipstick today & loved it. I didn’t even bother any other make-up (as per the Jeanne Damas link Botemp shared a few days ago) I used Nars Audacious in Charlottle - a gorgeous berry shade with just enough red to prevent it from being draining/too goth. Let my hair dry naturally too in soft waves so was totally feeling the Parisian vibe today . Outfit was Hush boyfriend jeans & Jigsaw navy silk blouse (with a Heat-tec long sleeve top beneath!), 2 layered gold pendants (v small) & beige fringed suede ankle boots.

I feel so inspired by this thread. I’ve spent a little time each day clearing & sorting my wardrobe.

Has lingerie & nightwear been discussed? I have a vague memory from the Caroline de Maigret book that she claims French women prefer silk? My NY promise to myself was to get rid of all my “comfy” nightwear & fill my drawer with gorgeous silk pj’s, chemises & camis/french knickers. I’ve made a great start with sales purchases via Figleaves, Temperley & Liberty. Finally starting to feel like a grown-up!!

@EdinaMonsoon maybe heattech is the answer! I cannot wear anything other than 3 layers and a wool jumper in winter which limits outfits a lot.

oh dear I might be filling may basket at uniqlo. Infact last night in my dreams I was falling my basket at unliqlo-how sad.

@GrumpySquirrel I’m usually the same but Heat Tec (also from Uniqlo ) is great. I have a mixture of long sleeve & camisoles. The cami’s are great to wear beneath silk or lace blouses for evening during cooler months. I often layer the long sleeve ones with knits & blouses/tees etc & either show them at the wrist or hide, depending on the look.

On the subject of Uniqlo, I’m a fan of their cashmere too. I buy the mens’ range for a more relaxed fit plus I’m long bodied & they are cut longer. A Small is equal to a size 10. I also have a couple in a large which I wear with skinnes for a slouchy look.

theOtherGirl , glad we are helping a little by being a distraction.

Talking of charcoal jumpers I spent yesterday morning trying to "save" a charcoal merino turtleneck that I managed to shrink in a fast spin, somehow - I'm usually so careful. I'm not sure how successful I've been. It's definitely unshrinking enough to wear, but I fear it's a still a bit too fitted. It might have to go dd's way. She'll be delighted, she's been after it for ages .

Oh no quirkychick I hate when that happens.

Speaking of washing, does anyone handwash their silk or should I stick to drycleaning?

EdinaMonsoon - I'd be interested to hear about the nightwear, but I won't be giving up my cotton PJs until I know I'm not going to be in and out of bed during the night. Too cold!

IM boots finally arrived from Vestaire (4 weeks after ordering) and they were worth the wait. They're high, but surprisingly wearable and a good fit despite being 0.5 - 1 size bigger than my normal size.

Othergirl, I hope you can get smoothly through today.

QuirkyChick fingers crossed for saving your jumper!

ToElleWithIt Silk is surprisingly warm - even mooching around the house. DH bought me a beautiful silk dressing gown from Liberty for Christmas. I would definitely recommend taking a look at the Somerset range by Temperley for John Lewis. The nightwear & lingerie are well made & wash easily. I bought silk pjs from the range for £75 in the sale & they are beautifully constructed: all french seams & bias bound edges. No nasty overlocking (personal pet peeve on mass manufactured pieces).

I throw all my silk into a delicates cycle in the machine, gentle spin & dry naturally. I’m pretty confident with silk though as I work with it a lot.

And I’ll link to the Figleaves chemises’ later. Make sure you are buying silk though & not generic “satin” which will be polyester. Maybe it’s my age (47) but the thought of sleeping in synthetics makes me come out in hives & a hot flush

Today I'm wearing navy/dark green/red tartan slouchy trousers with a navy slim fitting merino jumper, my flat studded &OtherStories boots and berry lipstick. Feeling rather chic! The trousers really need to be taken up a couple of inches but I'm lazy.

I'd love some silk underwear/pjs, but I'd probably want to wear the pjs in the daytime if they were lovely.

MaryLennoxsScowl love the sound of your outfit. Sounds very Paul Smith.

I'm wearing a dark green floral midi dress with a dark green slouchy v neck cashmere men's jumper. Love the contrast. I'll be adding high heel knee high boots later when I go out.

Love the sound of those trousers MaryLennoxsScowl. Slouchy cashmere also sounds great Edina.

I am not particularly chic today - cobalt wool Cos sweater, long gold pendant and dark indigo skinny jeans.

I did wear heels and lippy to take some stuff to the tip though!

Edina, we did have the silk conversation a while back and I was vastly outnumbered in my preference for silk nighties (don't bother with silk pjs though, they get wrecked far too quickly) vs. comfy pjs. I almost exclusively buy Marjolaine from France. They're ludicrously expensive (but so so beautiful) but I get mine from eBay where last season's are a bargain. I also like Hanro for their very thin wool/silk knit undershirts and camisoles.

Elle, some silk (like the nighties) I throw in a delicate cycle, others I wash by hand and make sure to do a vinegar rinse to get all the detergent off but the crepe de chine stuff/very thin stuff I usually send to a dry cleaner. Sometimes I'll wash it by hand if I want to wear it and it's not clean and won't be back from a dry cleaner in time but it's a lot more hassle and you never get it looking quite as well cared for as the dry cleaner, despite having a semi-professional steamer.

My 'upsized' Levi's 501 are attached, normally not a fan of all the distressing and rips but I really liked the sort of dark tuxedo stripe on the side that narrows a bit optically, a lighter denim can read quite wide and shorten me otherwise, especially in a baggier fit. Don't know why I only have pics with my coat on, was mostly curious if it could work under a coat. Still haven't made up my mind yet (97 more days to go) despite having a good fitting session with them last night.

And bugger me, I've taken a liking to a padded leather Maje aviator jacket, tried them on over a stripey dress yesterday which probably was a bit of an odd combo, but now I'm determined to go back an try them on some 70s flares for full period effect.

AuldA, if you're still about, what's a reliable weather forecast site for France in your experience? The ones I usually rely on (an app and Google) seem to be very far apart (which is unusual), one would require packing a much warmer wardrobe as around 5C during the day but the other is more around 10C

Uniqlo U is launching this Friday, they look to have some really nice things. Am debating on whether to put an order in or just seek it out in Paris when I'm there, I do usually prefer to try things on at Uniqlo as I have a high miss rate with them but it may all be sold out by the time I get there.

Thank you for your kind words.

I am wondering about trying to dab my Ruby Woo in with a finger instead (that just sounds so smutty? But it's so matte it's tricky to do.

I am so pleased with this new Zara jumper, it's a fisherman's sweater in a beautiful stone shade and is real wool. I can never wear wool usually, but just popped on a thin, long sleeved vest underneath and it was perfectly comfortable.

Of course, this new revelation means I can start buying jumpers in real wool, now. Which means more shopping...

Yes, do it bo I was wearing bootcuts and a padded leather jacket yesterday, I felt quite 70s, in a good way...

TheOtherGirl, I'm a great fan of wool, so warm in the cold, but it can be expensive and fiddly to wash (and upsetting when it shrinks!).

Another fan of heattech here, we don't have a Uniqlo locally, so I have mostly bought heattech and jumpers from them online. I haven't tried the camis but they sound like a genius idea under lighter clothes. I have layered boho/peasant blouses with a long-sleeved heattech underneath, though.

I think I need a proper 70s soundtrack to go with it, quirky, none of the disco shite. Any suggestions? I've also seen Veja does roller skates now, obviously, I'll need those too.

Do we have any Irish natives on the thread? I was looking at the typical Aran ones and wondering if there are any recommended brands like we've seen with the Scots and Cashmere?

Bo
I am around, but drowning in work, no time to post.
I use this one, and it's usually pretty reliable:
www.meteociel.fr/prevville.php

Oh bo, those roller-skates!

Squeeee the rollerskates!

I have a brown quilted leather jacket with a fur collar. It's not quite so 70s in shape, but it gets lots of wear.

The only Aran sweater I own was bought in the factory shop in Inis Meain. It's one of the Aran islands and all the sweaters are made on site there. They export a lot to Japan and also manufacture knitwear for some menswear designers. The only problem is that it is expensive (of course). If you visit in person then then the factory shop is good value, but obviously it's a hell of a trip. I also got a fabulous baby alpaca shrug which is so soft from the bargain basket there. online shop

It's an absolutely gorgeous place to visit and if you ever go to Ireland I couldn't recommend it more. The Inis Meain Suites are the place to stay.

I'm sure there are other cheaper options, but I'm guessing a lot may not be made in Ireland. It's hard to tell. Traditional hand-knit from Donegal I've been to this store. Google threw up and daughter which looks really interesting and seems to be made in Donegal.

The other option that I've used is getting my Mum to knit Aran sweaters for my boys. That's not necessarily cheap option either. Wool is expensive before you factor in the time involved.