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!

Just looked up the Craft Council of Ireland - they adhere to a standard of excellence. Website designireland.ie. they list designers and showcase some. I thought Aine knitwear would suit you. Aine is from Clare which is a traditional area and home of the Aran islands, her work looks lovely. She comes from a tradition of Aran knitting. Irish crafts people have a very small community and she should be open to you commissioning a piece or she should be able to get her mother/aunt to knit a traditional aran.

Will catch up on posts properly later.

Botemp hope the flooding isn't too bad and that wellies are not required in Paris. It's no fun traipsing around a city in wellies. The last time I was in Venice was a period of high tide and we had to walk on raised platforms pretty much everywhere. Luckily I had read about it two days before we left and packed my Hunters rather than having to schlep around in those rather vile plastic galoshes sold at tourist booths!

Try www.arancrafts.com for knits. They offer cashmere and Donegal too. I've bought from them before via TK Maxx and they are beautiful.

The whole "change your shape" thing is totally out of hand thanks to so-called fitspo bloggers and Instagram. It really isn't possible. I have very heavy legs and a slim torso. Whilst I have slimmed my legs down before it wasn't just them that reduced - my torso also slimmed down ergo I still looked out of proportion.

Spent yesterday looking at an IG account called La Style A La Francaise. Totally channeling their vibe today with a vintage blush silk blouse, pale grey cashmere long cardigan & mid-wash straight leg jeans with raw hems, teamed with an indigo Paul Smith pea coat when I went out earlier & a huge blanket scarf (only took the dog for a stroll but my new policy is "any excuse"!) Went for flat black Chelsea boots instead of my usual high suede ankle boots and actually felt more feminine. Weird!

Edina I sound a very similar shape to you! I am slim, but my lower body is disproportionately large compared with my upper body.

theothergirl my guess is that you are cool, going on what you've told us and what I've read. However, take very little notice of me. I was convinced I was cool toned, for many reasons, then I had my colours done recently and it became more and more obvious that I was not. Even the stylist was surprised.

Thanks Proper. I know on paper I should definitely be cool toned, but then how can I tan easily and go really bronzed? Ah, I give up.

OverinaFlash Do you find it easy to dress your shape? I’m ok most of the time. Just can’t do fitted tops & trousers. An a-line or flared skirt works well with fitted tops though & wide leg trousers (both floor skimming & cropped at ankle). With skinny or straight legs I have to balance out the top with a more relaxed fit. Thankfully, they are not my style but a shift dress would be a total nightmare for me!!

I think you're cool toned too Other. Any colour skin can be cool toned so think it'd work if you tan easily too? Maybe your neutral leaning towards cool?

*you're

theothergirl I couldn't work out why orange-red lipstick suited me much better than blue reds or even true reds when i was supposed to be cool toned. Well that's because I am warmed toned. What sort of red suits you best?

Edina, yes, i know what works and what doesn't, so can dress in a way thats flattering. The problem is I struggle to find what suits me in the shops. As I'm tall but heavier on the bottom, I prefer knee length or calf length skirts (just a preference, not saying people of my shape shouldn't wear shorter). Problem is I find it hard to find a line skirts of that length that aren't horribly frumpy! The other thing is, I look great in heels with wide trousers and a line skirts/dresses, but have a two mile walk from work, so have to wear boots etc. Which can make me look a bit stumpy! Hence my need to find better style/solutions!

I am keep deliberately pale skinned. I always wear factor 50 even on wet overcast days in the middle of winter, so basically I won't let my face tan . However, in photos it is quite obvious that despite my pale skin it is still quite sallow rather than pink.

I've got a funeral to go to on Monday and very vainly have been planning what to wear (I'll actually be representing my dad although would probably have gone anyway as he will still be out the country and this is the funeral of one of his modest friends in this country). It won't be too sad an occasion as he was in his 80s and had had a good life.

I have a black skirt and matching edge-to-edge black coat jacket that I can now get back into after losing 3 stone so tried it on with a purple shirt (as I will be wearing my lovely purple suede LK Bennett shoes). I tried pulling out the long cuff of the shirt to fold back over the jacket sleeve and it works really well. Would never have thought of that without these threads.

One of the reasons for my vanity is that I'll be seeing old childhood friends that I've not seen in over 40 years (Most of my dad's generation of friends I saw 6 years ago at my mum's funeral).

Haha, bo, yoga certainly isn't for everyone (and I say this as someone who spent a good two hours this morning trying to put my feet behind my head). A lot of what's termed 'yoga' in hybrid exercise classes is really just shorthand for 'a good stretch', so reckon you'd be pretty safe with Yoga Barre.

I love yoga, but can totally see why some people don't! Yoga gets me exercising every morning as I enjoy it, which encourages me to do other exercise. I always think the right exercise is one you want to do. In the past I have been both a gym bunny and done kick boxing (as an exercise class).

I keep having the body shape conversation with my 12yr old, she wants to know what shape she is, but it's a bit early to tell.

I will have to check out that IG account.

I agree that the whole targeting areas of your body thing has got a bit out of hand. I've been lifting weights for about 8 years now. Mostly on my own, but I did Crossfit too before getting disillusioned with it. It definitely improves your body composition, but you can only do that within the restrictions of your particular body shape. The myfitness pal article talks about muscle bellies and insertion points and there's definitely truth to that. No matter what I do my calves remain tiny whereas I can add muscle to my bum and thighs a lot more easily. This, or course, is where I put on fat too. As it happens this "look" seems to be having a moment a in the whole fitspo world, which I find really, really peculiar. There are women in my gym who come in and do 10-12 sets of heavy heavy glute bridges and that's there entire workout! It seems that as long as you have a big bum anything else can be overlooked - bizarre. One area that I have put a small bit of muscle on over the years is my shoulders and I do think it helps balance out my hips a bit. That's not so much changing shape though, more like developing in-built shoulder pads.

overniaflash could you wear the boots for the walk and have a pair of heels at work?

prettybird outfit sounds nice. Hope the funeral goes okay.

EdinaMonsoon I love the sound of your outfit. Shirt sounds gorgeous. Must try a pair of raw edged jeans on.

DMAG order arrived thanks for the heads up botemp - Dries skirt is longer than I thought - couple of inches above the ankle, which works well for me as a length. I ordered a 38, but they mailed to say it was out of stock so I chanced a 40. It's a good bit too big, but I love the skirt and it was a total bargain so I'll get it altered to fit. I think it will be great with high heels and a white shirt for work.

The first Uniqlo U range of the year has just launched if anyone's interested: www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/collaborations/women/uniqlo-u

It was a frustrating 20 minutes as the two things I was most interested in - a cotton jacket with a 60s vibe and some wide leg trousers - weren't there. Assume they've just held them over until the next launch but I wasted so much time looking for them that, by the time I got to the checkout, the cotton twill shirt I was also after had sold out in my size(s). I hovered over the wide leg jeans but I really want them high waisted. So I've just ordered the cotton v-neck cropped jumper which looks great for high waisted trousers but may end up going back if the sleeves are too short - I normally prefer elbow coverage these days.

Prettybird Those shoes are lovely. I have always loved the richness of purple but it doesn’t love me back sadly! Your outfit sounds perfect. I don’t think it’s vanity to dress well for a funeral. On the contrary, I see it as respectful.

Another yoga fan here. I love the stillness of a hatha class but vinyasa is my preference. I find it as invigorating as a run (which sadly I’m unable to do anymore, but that’s a whole other thread). I agree with CactusButt that classes vary widely & often what is deemed to be yoga can be an uber-competitive stretch & pose class .

Slightly off-topic but does anyone have any experience of Rome? Planning to take DC’s in April (not Easter itself but the weekend after...youngest DS has complained that we have had an overseas birthday except for him) & looking for recommendations for accommodation, restaurants & of course styling/packing ideas...perhaps a little shopping

bo how did you get on with the Levi's 501s? I think they look great and the tuxedo stripe is gorgeous. When you say they're upsized, how many sizes up from your normal size are they and are they vanity or normal sizes? I bought a pair of 501s in autumn but returned them after trying at home because they were a weird fit, but I do remember loving the button fly - I think it was the thighs that looked odd on me, so maybe a looser fit would work.

The tulip hem trousers don't seem to have been released yet, or did I miss them Flo? I got the wide leg jeans but the black and white had sold out in most sizes. I shall compare them with the COS version when they arrive.

Some of the Uniqlo U items weren't due to arrive till March - I had my eye on a particular shirt, but think it will be early March before it's available.

Edina that outfit sounds amazing! I've yet to find straight leg jeans that look okay on me, where did you get yours?

Inspired by the raw edge jeans, this morning I cut three inches off the hems of my black wide leg jeans that were too long and I was supposed to be getting around to hemming, and they look great! I left them slightly long in case I decide to hem them later, but they look so much better with a raw edge than rolled up!

The jeans are supposed to be cropped and as I'm 5'2 they weren't at all cropped but not quite long enough to be worn as full length - by about a centimetre.

Got my new thick black wool jacquemus wide leg high waist trousers back from the alterations place this morning. Length now perfect for trainers if I pull them high up and heels if I wear them low (waist is not tight at all despite them being a FR34 and me being 10wks pregnant so this means I'll be able to wear them for a while yet!). Then I guess I'll style them with a tight waist belt post pregnancy

Edina vinyasa is also my favourite, i do it hot and it's such a good workout. Hoping to go back ASAP (allowed back to hot Yoga post 12 weeks)

This is a little peek at the vintage blouse/cashmere look I did yesterday. Bought the blouse from Hereafter Vintage in Brick Lane. They have some real gems in there & it’s beautifully laid out so less rummaging required than standard vintage stores!

MaryLennoxScowl The jeans are relaxed skinnies from Next & I chopped the hem off. They are definitely more straight than skinny!