Le ridicule ne tue pas....les Parisiennes de Mumsnet

[AuldAlliance]

New thread for those hoping to add a bit of Parisian je ne sais quoi and je m'en fous to their style.

That's stunning. It's reminded me of a silk dressing gown I used to wear like a coat when I was at uni - only this one is loads better. I love the colour and the shape at the back. Does your son like it?

'Imperial' and 'powerful' sound good to me!

Gorgeous coat! Definite keeper.

Thanks for the storage tips.

I like the first bikini, but wish they’d put a dash of red on the bottoms to tie it more to the top, but maybe that’s me being a bit matchy matchy.
Went it to shop with the swimsuit and they only had an eight. Looked promising though. They also had max Mara swimwear which I’ve never seen before, but there was a lovely one- piece - very Eres adjacent at a good price ( relative to eres!). sadly also not in my size.

I still need to catch up properly (I'm about under the weather) but just had to comment on that coat, Sock. It's stunning and I'm totally jealous of your DS' hair. If I had to nitpick I'd say the hem could sit a touch higher which is not doable with the pattern but you mentioned your son looking to bulk up, I think, so that will probably get it sitting that touch higher.

As for you, imperial and powerful sounds great, come join the intimidating tribe of collage 2

Wow, beautiful coat!

ToElle this is the first time I've used these anti-moth sachets, so I will see, they were recommended on here (but are a bit smelly, though not once they are inside a vacuum storage bag!).

Amazing coat, Sock...!

Peony my only caveat would be to check the fabric of the Boden bikini carefully. I had one from Boden years ago and it was more thick cotton than true swimsuit fabric, which meant it stained easily with suncream and also gave less, ahem, hold than sth with more stretch to it.

Delurking after several months to say that coat is wonderful!

Thanks all! There seems to be a consensus that it's stunning. Even DH sort of approved, after suggesting DS was my Barbie-boy. It's very light and has no pockets to weigh down the shape. My arms are shorter than his (well, they would be: he's much taller) so the cuffs have to be turned in above the border but it fits us both, differently, and it is a garment that we will both wear lightly formally and informally, and with complete confidence that we are never going to meet anyone wearing the same outfit, which cannot be said of a high street purchase.

DS was particularly flattered by the reference to his hair; he's growing it for leaving school and DH is often disparaging.

Opinions on these mules please? I love them but I fear the material will get dirty in 5 seconds 😭

Secondly I'm after some proper cowboy style ankle boots.. this shape (second pic) but obviously not white 🤦🏻‍♀️

Do t know about the coat OC, but your DS is a Fox.

Great call Sock and SockSon, he's more than welcome to lord it over his dad that his hair has been bo approved™, which in my deluded mind is high praise indeed

Ok, some back admin and way too many pics... For those of you wanting to see my IM dress bargain from TKMaxx, pics attached, please excuse the poltergeist kitty and jaundice filter and generally poor lighting, oh and the way past quarter-life crisis-ness of it all.

Elle, I was thinking if they won't take back the shirt you could always dye it? You'd have to change the buttons though. WRT to the ethical thing, I agree I'm not expecting everyone to do the same as me and it's far from perfect. I think what does chiefly bother me about the cheaper end of the high street is that they're not really democratising access to clothing, they're mostly democratising buying in excess, it's eroded the middle 'sensible' ground somewhat and I think it contributes to a warped mentality to money and what we're entitled to with it. In the process, most of the higher end of the high street isn't that far of the designer diffusion brands in terms of price. The quality of fabrics and finishing also fluctuates loads at that price point which enforces the idea you're just paying for the label and stops us focusing on the social and environmental impact.

Bloomed, there's the tricky thing about discussing trousers, the ones CP is wearing look to me like straight trousers, French ones perhaps, a cigarette would be much tighter in a stiffer fabric, so sharp you need a little slit or zipper at the sides otherwise you simply can't get the arches of your feet through them. However, when most people refer to cigarette trousers it's often a tapered fit, quite frankly the OG version are quite tough to get right on different body shapes.

For reference, pic 3 (from Ekyog a brand I keep meaning to flag up as they’re an ethical/green French brand) looks like a cigarette trouser but a true cigarette would probably still be tighter, they refer to it as a ‘slack’ probably for that reason but it is a more wearable version of a cigarette in my eyes.

Your jacket I'd style with a heavy contrast so it jars to take the formal edge off, so worn denim to contrast the shine and intricacy of the fabric or even a really floaty plain maxi dress to juxtapose the stiffness of it.

peony, for whatever reason I love a scarf but not so much in spring, in summer sometimes as a night wrap but mostly I just leave them, I tend to feel overdressed in them, in the too many clothes/layers sense. A silk square scarf would definitely make me feel very overdressed though, but I do like the idea of possibly wearing one in my hair.

I think if you do struggle with more typical S/S colours then they can be helpful by putting flattering colours next to your face. Max Mara is probably over budget but they always have really beautiful woven silk scarves that transition very well into other seasons too. Becksondergaard always worth a look at too.

I have the same matchy-matchy inclinations as Elle about the first bikini, the second one seems a bit dull and you don’t seem all that thrilled about it either.

Elle, I've only ever bought 100% linen or mixed with cotton, never elastane. No hanging the head in shame over the Dries trousers, they're beautiful.

I’m having the opposite problem, all suits are a size 14 minimum here, everything else is bikinis. I did actually find quite a nice bikini, a bit ‘rich bitch’ though, but very flattering. Still not feeling the bikinis though. I really like the look at some suits from YSE (a French lingerie brand) which seem ‘reasonably’. Quite liked the look of the Petit Bateau in various colours too. Saw another on the Printemps site but that’s of little use to most of you as they don’t deliver to the UK (but anywhere else in Europe is fine). Oh, and in the spirit of continuing my delayed quarter-life crisis, I've been looking at white swimsuits with a bit of a textured fabric after spotting one at Zara

I packed away/sent thing to the cleaner yesterday morning and getting out the new stuff was depressing . I’d forgotten how little I had. Last year was a terrible year summer fashion wise IME and when I had the biggest difference size wise from one year to the next, and even now there were a few things I have to put away/donate as they’ve just gotten too big. and in summer clothes it’s a lot harder to get away with things that are technically too large. I’ve got a daunting long list of things I need now. I’m ok for hot weather and sort of tepid spring weather but it’s that 17-22 degree spot that’s difficult, where you don’t need to really wear a coat all day but it’s too cold to be going out in short sleeves/bare legs.

Grumpy, I wouldn’t buy light fabric shoes, way too much anxiety about keeping them nice. I saw some nice Isabel Marant Western Boots on Matches, not quite as pronounced as those you’ve attached though. The Ganni ones are also nice but a bit ubiquitous.

Almost forgot, I ended up ordering these trousers from Mango in their mid-season sale yesterday. I'm hoping they'll fit as these were a size larger in store and only really stayed up because that sweater (which looked awful) had a lot of excess fabric. I've been stalking the Mango site for days getting false back in stock notifications but finally managed to score them on another site. I absolutely love the colour (it's less brick and more of a full red in RL), they're lyocell (aka Tencel) which I quite like of the cellulose-based fabrics and they're also lined with cotton. At 25EUR from their conscious/green collection I'm well pleased with them and considering my pity of a spring/summer wardrobe state I figured the whole fashion lent could make for some allowances

There has been a bit of a contretemps. DH called the coat 'gay' last night, because it is really not the sort of thing he would consider wearing. He's 6'5" and a rugby playing man's man. DS is our child, but much more like me (hates team sport and is into Art). Heading into A level season, this is not helpful.

DS sat DH down and said, I'm not gay, but several of my close friends are. The coat is classic Indian formal, and not grey, unlike most UK men's wear. Have you looked? the colours run in an endless circuit of black, charcoal, grey marl, navy, burgundy and bottle green, with denim and odd highlights. Sorry to vent, it's been a bit touchy! But we are all friends again.

OC- that coat is beautiful on your son. None of my business but is he ok with being on here?

Delurking to say that coat is stunning !
I've lost far too many clothes to moths. Always my most favourite things like maxmara coats, beautiful scarves, etc! I have bought some heavy duty moth proof boxes and lots of cedar blocks. I considered buying a huge freezer to stick my favourite things in but haven't taken it that far yet.

Zippy, he's rather enjoying it! He's 18 and a bit of a show off! Also very into art and clothes, so doesn't mind displaying his choices. He styled himself for the pictures posted and had editorial approval of the shots posted.

Leg, moth repellent and a clothes bag for the coat are priorities.

OC- sorry I hope I didn’t come across as judgey. I would just hate my face on here!!! Though his is far nicer than mine... and as a pp said his hair is wonderful too!

I had to bin 2 beautiful Max Mara coats in the autumn. Actually bin them, even my favourite gorgeous charcoal one. It was tremendously sad! I have not tried bags other than the zip ones but should look into that for what has not been eaten.

That’s frustrating OC and a bit of old -fashioned thinking from your DH. Good for your DS for such a thoughtful reply. Handsome and intelligent- he’ll be a catch for someone!

botemp the pope would definitely not approve of that dress, but I do! If it looks that well on the dubious environs of the Tk Maxx fitting room... Trousers are a super color and a great bargain.

Thanks for the swimwear suggestion. Printemps do deliver to me and that one is promising. I like the idea of removable padding, two chances at getting the fit right. YSE ones are lovely. Quite fancy the idea of the plunge one too. I’ll have a proper look with fresh eyes tomorrow.

The coat... it’s taunting me... that, or Claudia is on Mumsnet

Weather was fair enough to break out my standard look for mucking around with the kids (whiteness of trainers due to bad weather thus far this year). I need to get used to the silhouette of the baggier jean I’m not totally comfortable with it yet, but I think it’s more up-to-date. I was a tween/ teen in the 90s so this is my second turn at this look!

More Dries-esque Mango shoes.

Also. The brocade trousers. I can’t decide. The fabrics and color are gorgeous and I like them front on, but I feel like they’re unflattering from the side? I have a little bit of a lower tum, but I think the heavy fabric over the placket is adding even more bulk?

I’d wear them with a plainer white shirt than this one. I have a nice cotton one with a round collar, totally plain. Unfortunately in the wash.

Should add the Browns put a great big tag attached to the fly to stop people wearing out and returning. I’ve tucked it in, so that’s not helping matters in that area. I wish they’d put it on the hip.

Ah that's a tough place to navigate for you Sock, your son did really well in handling it. Is he an HSP too? I used to babysit a boy like him (obvs not when they were 18, I don't think I even was at the time) and he was such a joy to interact with.

Coincidentally I was out and about today and chanced upon this man in, not quite the same, but a similar coat and had to think of your DS' and quickly snapped a pic.

Leg, make sure to put things away clean too, I send coats to the dry cleaners, etc. before storing.

Elle, the coat is haunting me too, Matches sent me a special offer, certain amounts off when you spend X amount in tiers. So it would come in at about a third off, the green is sold out in my size though

The special offer does have me contemplating the Staud bag again as it would only be 230€ now but I can't make up my mind about which colour.

The Dries trousers are lovely, I get what you mean from the side. Although realistically no one really looks at you that way all that specifically. Would something like Spanx be an idea? I find brocade can sit quite stiff in a way so smooth under foundations can be a bit of a game changer.

Catching up. Firstly, Sock the coat is fantastic and I think your son looks incredible in it. His hair is also very cool.
I love both Bo and Elle’s trousers. I know you need the size smaller Bo but I really like the colour and cut. Elle, I see what you’re saying re side view but wouldn’t have noticed unless pointed out. Makes me wonder whether I could / should try some interesting trousers. Or even just some trousers that aren’t jeans (I mostly wear skirts or dresses). I’ve got a sticky out bottom and have always avoided trousers because I think they emphasise it. But maybe the right cut could work.
Thanks for bikini input - I’m going to order the first one. Incidentally, do not, whatever you do, search for high waisted bikinis on ASOS. My eyes!! 🙈
On the scarf front, I definitely couldn’t rock a silk scarf. I’d look like a Sloane ranger. I am thinking more of a cotton stole with a great pattern, but I think I’ll probably happen upon it, rather than it being some I can hunt down on an online quest.

peony I wear lots of scarves, and last year wore a couple of cotton bandanas quite a bit in summer. Similar small shape to a silk scarf but with a more casual vibe iyswim. I do wear scarves in spring/summer as it's often still chilly! I think I tend to go for wool/silk mix woven ones in spring, which look lighter but are still warm and have a few larger, cotton ones for summer. I agree with 'bo* that they're great for cover ups in high summer. Tkmaxx often have some good bargains in scarves, as do anthropologie or plumo sales.

Gorgeous trousers, bo and Elle.