Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet: Orangutans in Paris make for poor gondoliers

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The sunshine might be fading from our passion fruit punch but we're looking forward to what autumn will bring.

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Thank you Flo!

The glasses are mine (worn all the time) and were bought in spring this year, from Paul & Joe via my mum's super optician near Oxford. I love them, and they've been much admired -- except by DH who hates them for some reason.

Thanks for all the reading links, enjoyed them as ever!

Is the huff available in more browny colour? For some reason that one is reading like Dalmatian to me. Love your glasses.

Nice boots botemp. Lobe the colour of the pair with the seam.

I always get drawn to sparkle at this time of year, but have resisted. I do often go to our London Christmas party which is very much a traditional Christmas party. The women disappear into the ladies at 4pm to emerge at 5 in a haze of hairspray and sequins. There was a Boots ad about it a few years back that captures the spirit. The party itself is like a wedding without a bride and groom, canapés, drinks, meal, band, dancing. It’s great fun thought. That said, I don’t really get the way a lot of people dress fairly drably 360 day of the year and then go mad for sequins in late December.

I just dropping in briefly from our holiday. We’re in Florida. I haven’t seen much style inspiration to put it mildly! Wore jeans, a linen tee and tan sandals and felt like I was super stylish!

I bought nothing on Black Friday. I just often feel totally overwhelmed by those sales and can’t differentiate between what I should be buying and what I’m buying for the sake of it.

The ad!

The huff is made in lots of colours and several faux furs Elle... look at Helen Moore. (Sorry, MasterChef starts soon...).

It's Arctic Fox, to tone with my grey curly hair! Not Dalmatian, pls.

Catherine, I don't know what budget you were looking at but I quite like a few models at Axel Arigato, specifically the clean 90 and the clean 360 laceless models. There are a couple on Yoox for a more democratic price but they're all pastel colours.

Xing, love the impact of the huff but what colour coat(s) will you wear it with? It does look a bit more Dalmatian in the pic but then I have to say I always quite liked Cruella de Ville Actually I think I was a fan of most of the female villains in Disney...

Elle, I agree with not getting on board with the 360 days of drab alternated with a couple of special occasion pieces. I'm quite staggered this year at all the special evening capsules that are now trickling in with the luxury retailers. Blingy shoes that couldn't ever see much wear even if you wanted them to for €1600. Odd times.

Nyden has come and gone. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but if this is H&M's attempt at understated luxury for millennials that will last you many seasons they're absolutely failing. Sizes and fit were a bit of an issue, very reminiscent of the designed in LA pieces at &Other Stories and quality was not dissimilar, too thin, material and cut not working with the design, etc. I couldn't even get into the leather wide leg trousers but I don't see how anyone can unless their hips are the same width as their waist Their CS is also the most bizarre I've ever had to deal with. They didn't supply a return label and in response I got a one sentence reply that DHL will email me one. Emailed them later in the day as it still hadn't arrived, no response but within minutes I received the label through DHL (but I know from past experiences it's the company sending it that fills it in and generates these things), turned out to be something else, a copy of sorts, after trying to sort it out with DHL they referred me back to Nyden after trying a few things without success, again no direct response from Nyden but within minutes proper label was emailed through DHL. So at least they're efficient but not exactly talkative.

Oh and some reading I enjoyed for those on holiday (or not):

The paradox of “no makeup” makeup

I also took a 3 month trial subscription for Readly today for €0.99, you get unlimited access to loads of magazine including lots of fashion magazines (Vogue, Elle, etc. from various regions). Quite happy to get access to all the food magazines for December (though you can access older copies too) and you can clip and save articles. Also lots of Scandi living magazines which are always ace and a good selection of opinion magazines too, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, etc. Think it's available in the UK too as lots of UK titles are on there, I didn't know you all had so many sleb gossip magazines who seem to be unilaterally obsessed with Meghan Markle and Victoria Beckham the French selection is a bit limited but I'm still trawling through.

The Axel Arigato ones look good. I don't mind spending a bit if they'll last. I don't run but just need them for walking about. I also quite liked a black leopard print pair from Zara but they're out of stock, ugh.

There have been a few pieces around about how to wear sequins and stuff during the day and for work, but somehow I just can't seem to see myself doing it. €1600 for a pair of shoes...blimey.

bo Disney female villains definitely have lots of style, much more attractive than the pastel princesses .

Two articles in the Times Magazine, one on looking "mannish", prefer androgynous myself, but checks and wide trousers sound good to me. The other on Mylene Desclaux's book (sorry, no accent), Les Jeunes Femmes de Cinquante Ans (translated as Why French Women Feel Young at 50). You need a dermatologist from 20, apparently, .

Oooh more reading. I like the look of that Times mag feature on dressing mannish. I've just read the article Catherine (I think) linked to on Batsheva Hay and all the Laura Ashley talk has made me very nostalgic. I've still got a LA milkmaid dress that I bought for my 18th with money from a Saturday job and I wore it around uni with clogs and a shawl. (We hadn't heard of appropriation then). It's hard to convey just how cool the label was and my one criticism of that article (soz for being pedantic) is the lazy research as I would say its heyday was early - mid 70s, not 80s. Punk pretty much blew it away overnight although I suppose Lady Diana and the Sloane Rangers gave it a bit of a fillip.

Hope to read the others later. Has your Black Friday stuff arrived yet Catherine,

I think the Black Friday stuff has arrived but I'm in St Malo till Monday night now so I won't see it till then or even Tuesday.

Might check out Readly. I have been trying to improve my French by reading French Vogue. Slow going though!

bo, I can live with Disney villain. The huff is fairly neutral and will be worn with anything that goes with navy, grey, olive, and white, which is to say most of my wardrobe. I wore it to walk the dog yesterday (between deluges) getting a little closer to a Parisienne promenade. It's the upscale version of the fleece huffs (Berghaus) that have served 15 years and deserve to retire.

Sequins... no, thank you. That box is ticked by a silver/blue lurex mariniere in my jersey drawer!

Re the article on androgynous dressing last Saturday: Anna Murphy usually challenges herself to wear the trends and push beyond her comfort zone for the column, but that seemed quite natural.

flo on the mannish front I'm going for wide-legged herringbone trousers, but mixing it up with red trainers, purple jumper, red scarf and leather jacket, as it's sunny and dry today. A nice change from parka, parka, parka... this week.

Xing definitely a chic dog walk. I thought Anna Murphy looked natural too, it's that "effortless" (but not) thing. Lovely, well chosen clothes that take little effort to put together.

xing Arctic Fox sounds much better. Though I’m partial to cruella too (she knows how to work red lips). Sounds like you’re the most glamorous dogwaler for miles.

Interesting no make up article, touch of the emporerd new clothes about the idea, and indeed some of the products themselves by the sound of it.

I like the mannish looks too.

My Jacquemus blazer arrived but it's the wrong size (all tags except the actual garment tags are wrongly labeled) and they don't have my size in stock They promised to try and get a hold of it somewhere but I'm not getting my hopes up as they didn't sound that confident. Off to my pity party of one...

Just quick update on the advent calendar, I have managed to work on it. It's again focused on working with things you probably already own but I've focused more on developments and new takes on it to make things current rather than the tried and true style hacks we covered last year. I am having a resurgence of insomnia so posting schedule slightly different to last year when I posted around midnight the night before as I'm avoiding all screens in the evening, mornings aren't going to be consistent so I'll probably post early evening on the day itself.

Also, this article was interesting today, although I was slightly bemused by the conclusion that the Brexit opposition was unified in a conservative afraid of change black Chanel dress...

Christopher Wylie: 'The fashion industry was crucial to the election of Donald Trump'

I also saw the entire lecture/presentation show up on my YouTube feed, haven't watched it yet but will post it if it's worth watching.

I might have clicked on to that article Bo, if it was linked in a sequence to the no make up item from this morning...? It made sense sociologically.

I've not read that article yet but I'm a little at the idea that fashion is to blame for Donald Trump! Is this another way of blaming women for him? Admittedly I should probably read it before I start pontificating.

bo I'm sure anything you do by way of an advent calendar will be great.

As an aside, where did the advent industry come from? When I was a kid all you'd find in an advent calendar was a prayer. It was a kind of Lent-lite: a time for waiting and hoping if you were religious and if you were a child, a very tedious four weeks that went on forever. When did it turn into a time when you got a present every day?

I was just reading a thing in the Guardian about advent calendars, and unboxing, quite interesting - it suggested one of the impetuses being "self-care" which I can understand the desire for, particularly if one is on a bit of treadmill most of the year.

Have risked a pair of khaki leather trainers from John Lewis in the end. Might jazz them up by buying some ribbon laces to go in them.

Ha! No not the premise of the article at all, Flo, more that our data reveals certain fashion preferences which dictates a certain life outset and political conviction, thought it was a bit simplistic as it looks at things in isolation which then reduces the entire Brexit outcome to simpletons who buy cheap Crocs because they can't see beyond today and those who can appreciate the value of an enduring classic like a Chanel LBD. The anti establishment movement has deeper roots than a preference for Crocs (imho)

Yes, there's an advent article in the Guardian, saw it yesterday, that suggested it was popularised because Eisenhower's children were photographed with some.

We used to get a chocolate advent calendar from our grandparents when I was young (in the 80s/90s), They were becoming more common then but I think I was the only one or one of the few in my class to have one. I doubt my parents would have gotten them if they weren't gifted. GP were formerly deeply religious so for them it was setting forth a long standing tradition (pre-Eisenhower I'm certain) but it was a calendar that they bought once, wooden with little drawers or double doors/windows, which had biblical depictions behind every door, so it was mostly educational for children back then. I think in Northern Europe (especially the Scandinavian countries) the advent period is as big if not a bigger deal than Christmas alone. Advent Sundays were a big deal in our house despite being atheists. I'm always surprised that Christmas ends so absolutely for many on the 25th, whereas the lead up to January 6th is still a big deal in other countries.

Guardian article:

From waiting lists to unboxing: the bizarre world of beauty Advent calendars

Ha! that'll teach me to read before sounding off

What fascinates me is how advent seems to have been completely turned on its head - from a time of reflection to an extended binge. But this time I'll read before I say any more!

Catherine, your jazzing up with laces comment has me remembering the Raoulle shop on Tictail. They sell all sorts of things to jazz up trainers, including laces.

Considering the binge, I'm surprised the time between Christmas and December 6th hasn't been appropriated for more indulgence either, Flo. Then again it is the kick off for the winter sales for many countries.

There are also a lot of retailers (though they're mostly based in Germany and Scandinavia) in my inbox today with 24hr offers, which will continue to carry on throughout the advent with a new offer daily. Pfft, as if Black Friday that became BF/Cyber Monday which is essentially an entire week now, wasn't enough we now continue on with the madness on a daily basis. Yes, I can see why getting a teeny overpriced present on the daily may help you cope with all that...