This thread is about as French as a Sainsbury's baguette

[AuldAlliance]

But we'll still enjoy it...

I love it that it's July and Iwanka is posting cashmere and boots. You are hardcore, Missus,

Right just had a look and neither are to my taste- my fault I should have given more info.

I like a throw it over your shoulder with your life in it slouchy sort of bag that can take a battering and look all the better for it. Nothing formal but something made with a beautiful leather. Something more reminiscent of the stuff Toast used to do.

I like to mix up fem/masculine with my clothing etc.

Looking forward to my blazer arriving. In my head it will style like this..... however I am prepared for the reality being somewhat different! 😁

Floisne 😁

The thing is the bargains are out there ripe for the picking I tells ya....

Plus Summer dressing bores the bejeezus out of me.

This thread has become beguilingly hardcore! Not new here, just a name change: I have dog, called Sock!

And a fashionisto son!

Nice cashmere haul Iwanka. Feel inspired to check out eBay for some long line jumpers that I can stretch out of shape this winter.
Feel a bit befuddled by all of Bo’s shopping but think the standout items for me are the ba@sh shorts, the claudie Pierlot shorts and the Cos silk trousers.
Here is today’s outfit featuring a new sale top purchase from Reiss. I know, I know, but I justified it on the grounds that I’d been eyeing it up for awhile and whilst it won’t get a lot of wear this year, it will still be waiting on the other side.
I also celebrated my payrise with the purchase of this which arrived today. Very happy with it.

Iwanka I need all the help I can get with summer dressing... at least I'm getting plenty of practice! I completely love autumn, but I'm pretty sure I've lots of autumn clothes, but I love those pics, I like to mix masculine and feminine tailoring too .

bo I hope I'm not buying lots of bin bags of charity shop clothes! I had a massive wardrobe overhaul about 6+yrs ago. I mostly have a seasonal capsule wardrobe, but keep some old favourites that come out if they feel current too.

Beautiful cuff Peony

Someone has resurrected the Autumn thread I started so I will whiffle on there 😁 quirky

Hello again there Xing of the ole orphanage what is it with the sudden surge in popularity of Chinese usernames on MN?

Iwanka, it's not an exclusive bag brand but Gerad Darel does have a bit of slouchy appeal in their lineup. Silhouettes don't change much so perhaps they've still got the feel you're looking for (sorry unfamiliar with Toast bags). Jerome Dreyfuss also good for the relaxed feel but I'm guessing not what you're looking for stylistically but maybe worth a look? I haven't really looked at them properly in quite some time but Tod's used to the fancy slouch really well too.

I was befuddled too, peony, I usually avoid this type of dressing for sanity reasons Love the new top from Reiss. Is there room in the bump for it, because I think it would actually make a nice contrast to have that to counterbalance the bump below? Could be useful around Christmas time?

quirky, I meant more that it's nice we have both ends of the spectrum on here and everyone is happy with their choices. Plus the charity shops make a bit of money, so win-win.

Has your dog name changed too?

@botemp the irony didn't escape me as I was bagging up yet another mountain of clothes that someone else would soon be sorting through them looking for a bargain! I did the Kondo thing of holding up a few pieces and remembering feeling excited and happy buying and wearing it, and now letting it go to someone else. And when that failed I told myself the money it would raise would be my donation to the charity.

And now it's time to fill some of the gaps in my wardrobe, in fact the biggest gap is now knitwear as the only things that survived were the thin plain merino jumpers from Uniqlo. The problem is that no French women I know seem to wear layers like we do here in the UK so I'm not sure how to do knitwear French-style. The women in my office in Paris in autumn/winter wear a top, a jacket and then if cold a scarf and a coat on top - have never seen any of them in a cardigan, slouchy jumpers on the weekends only!

And on the Chinese usernames - I've had this name since 2011, maybe I should NC to something French now

I don't know whether I should be culturally sensitive about it these days being a fraction Chinese in these painfully woke times, Xiao. I know in 2011 I wouldn't have given a toss. I was a bit mystified about the recent upheaval and accusations of cultural appropriation when an American girl wore a traditional Chinese dress to her prom and the internet decided to shame her for it

I've never read Kondo, but I get that it works for people. I've just always been this annoyingly analytical about clothes and my skin is quite sensitive so I've never been able to tolerate synthetic fibres well. I used to curse the cost of that and felt I was missing out with access to most of fast fashion but at the same time buying cheap is a bit of a false economy. I think keeping your wardrobe seasonal also gives you better oversight of what you have and what you need as well.

WRT to knitwear, I suppose I'm a bit like the French and it feels more weekend appropriate somehow. Unless it's fitted knitwear in fine fabrics (silk/cashmere/cotton/merino often in a mix) with an interesting detail but the layering look doesn't work well for me. They tend to set heating high here so it's just really uncomfortable indoors and you rely on your coat, scarf, and gloves outdoors. I also cycle everywhere so that keeps me pretty toasty as well. If I am cold for whatever reason indoors I grab my scarf (which like the French are usually thin billowy ones in wool or cashmere rather than thick chunky knits). I also think it depends on necklines, boatnecks seem great for more formal office wear but the usual scoop and v-necks can feel a bit lost looking. The Alaia one I posted upthread and didn't buy would be a good formal office knit IMO.

I'm quite happy to not be French when it comes to cardigans haha. I'll call it Scandinavian style and claim it as A Thing.

I forgot to say bo that I liked the shirtdresses, but then I do love them as a concept so am biased - sadly have never found a good fit due to back/boobs. Even if you don't feel cool and collected in a shirt dress you look it!

It's the Mandarin for "first name, surname" apparently, and I've been fancying a change for a while, as the sock orphanage is finding fewer orphan socks around the house. I had better complete the translation by finding the Mandarin for dog...

However, I wasn't thinking about cultural misappropriation; if it offends anyone, I could rethink?

bo it just made me laugh, you should see how many bin bags of stuff we take to our local charity shop! It comes from having 2dcs who grow fast, also ours gets money from "rags" and recycling clothes that aren't great, so I tend to give them those rather than recycle at the dump. I have been known to pick up stuff and then realise it was mine . It's all part of the great recycling.

Thanks to MN I will never be able to look at a cardigan again and not think of anal bleaching, bani.

Xing, personally, I don't understand the current outrages around cultural misappropriation. If it's a clearly privileged culture/person passing off something clearly from another culture as their own (invention) and denying the existence elsewhere then there are issues but otherwise, I don't see the harm? Just my take on it though. Dries van Noten gets accused of cultural misappropriation all the time but from my view he's taking inspiration, paying it homage, not passing it off as his own unique invention whilst recognising its origins. It's kind of hard to determine where to draw the line, especially in creative things, music has similar issues. The American prom girl in the Chinese dress was a bit ridiculous tbh as it was other white people in outrage and the few Chinese queried just shrugged and thought it was nice and had no issue with it.

The only reason I'd encourage a name change would be because I'm losing track who's who between Xiao and Xing but I'll remember soon enough.

Well, quirky, I do consider going through my old wardrobe and the bits and pieces I saved from my GM and Mother with no clear direction as a bit of personal charity shopping sometimes, so no harm surely if it happens in an actual charity shop

I see, so slouchy or chunky knitwear is definite a more weekend thing in France, with jeans. I wish I could wear boat necks, they make my 34Gs look like the prow of an ocean liner ok so maybe I won't worry too much about replenishing my knitwear except for weekends. I could use some today though - I'm sitting here in London freezing my arse off as the aircon is set to somewhere between the North Pole and the ice moons of Saturn.

@botemp I'm not ethnically Chinese but grew up there and speak/read/write Mandarin fluently  @XingMing Chinese for dog is "gou3", ie. third tone.

At risk of derailing a thread about French fashion...but I know there were comments about stereotyping of French culture on earlier threads.... I personally don't think Chinese people or culture is damaged or insulted by the wearing of Chinese clothing by non-Chinese, or any imagery or language, it's too strong and coherent in itself and the power imbalance/oppression vs the Anglosphere isn't really there - if anything it's the other way around these days and Chinese culture is rediscovering its own history in many ways. (The US has a slightly unusual situation with the treatment of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century, internment of Japanese Americans in the 40s and existing issues with Asian-American stereotyping and access to education.) The one thing I try always call out online is the creepy stereotyping of the "submissive/passive oriental", particularly women.

Ooh crosspost. Glad we agree! My name means Little Bear btw.

Thanks to MN I will never be able to look at a cardigan again and not think of anal bleaching, bani. You have to explain this.

I agree re cultural appropriation that one should be careful about diluting the concept. I believe it's a real thing but is about power balance and dominance and treating cultures as costumes. When the fashion industry is heavily Euro- and US-centric, i.e. white or AT BEST racially ambigious, and quite openly discriminates against black people/Africans/First Nations it is def cultural appropriation to just copy paste the traditional patterns worn by a specific African or First Nation group, print them all over things with no credit given, label them "ethnic" and rake in the cash. Then when it doesn't suit anymore dismiss it as "unfashionable" and sneer at it again. THAT'S appropriation. Not me calling myself DaNiao on a forum because I loved the From Sesame Street to China film when I was little.
(I knew xiao was "little" thanks to that film ;) shall I sing the song for you?)

Could you get away with cowlnecks Xiao? They'd make a nice alternative to a boat neck in knits. Otherwise tops in woven wool are probably a good bet.

Ah yes, the submissive/passive thing is an annoying stereotype but I can sort of see how it formed. Asian culture and especially family life is held together by a lot of subtlety and unspoken rules and the way society is formed is also different but difficult to detect through your average Western lens. It may seem passive or withdrawn to some but I recognise it as understanding the power of quiet and anticipating the right moment to make a move. IME the Asian half of my family (it's more than Chinese which is just the smidge) the women were/are the exact opposite.

bani, there was an odd thread on here where the OP asked advice about DIY anal bleaching but they got a bit stroppy when everyone warned how dangerous that was alongside the usual 'but WHY?'. The OP then started accusing everyone of being prudes and that they'd only ever had sex whilst wearing their cardigans.

Aha hahaha get it now, thanks!

Am at work but not getting much done because my colleague keeps interrupting with short problems phrased wordily. Also I keep going back to look at the box pleat dress on Arket that I didn't get to try on, and I'm wondering if I should brave ordering it online. Something about it appeals to me.

I should be frugal though because my sweaty body opened the Tradera (sw Ebay) app while my phone was in my pocket and bid on a horrible, overpriced cardigan in the wrong size, all by itself. No-one else is bidding so I'm going to have to fork out 150 for that shit.

Make it your sex cardigan. Problem solved

And I like the Arket dress, they do free returns don't they?