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

[botemp]

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

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As a base blue is able to lift other colours in intensity or ground it with severity without diminishing its own presence.

Don’t underestimate the joy that is an Oxford blue shirt either, so much more exciting than the ‘crisp white shirt’ can ever pretend to be. Saint Phoebe has been wearing them for forever so, obviously, it’s blasphemy to not follow in her comfortable shoes footsteps

Finally, some extra pics to convince you to pull anything remotely blue from your closet already. If you’re up for an extra challenge, attempt it without the use of denim.

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Sorry, I don't have time to catch up properly with the denim and tuxedo talk today but didn't want to leave response off any longer with welcoming back Jon and I hope your reappearance means the issues that had you occupied on the parenting boards are resolved/on the mend

Also, happy belated birthday, quirky *

Oh, and in typical fashion, I always stumble across great pics after I've posted the relevant advent posts, but I'm retroactively adding this one to yesterday's jumper tie as it proves me terribly wrong, you can totally make it look intentional when worn across the waist.

*we really should campaign MNHQ for a baguette emoji to go with that wine already...

Omg blue- I wear blue blue and more blue! Thank you for the inspiration bo

Happy belated birthday quirky hope you had a good one x

*red8 thank you for your blazer pics. I can imagine it would look stunning with a tan. I am very impressed with your ability to view the cut and lines of the jacket. How I wish I could do that. How I wish I had you to go shopping with!

I have a pair of blue, Gap high rise blue, skinny trousers which are nearly three years old and I have worn them to death, they go with everything and have held their shape incredibly. I need to find some replacements, but Gap is so random with everything, especially sizing.

Thank you bo. Turns out the parenting issue was typical four year old behaviour even if it is trying for the parent. I think we are changing the dunamics.

I love the advent calendars. Can someone please help me deconstruct the third blue shirt image? Why does it work? There’s half tuck but is it buttoned up out of line too? Or is it the volumevthat makes it fit this way? I imagine a slim midi skirt would work best with this for balance, like in the image. I wear a half tuck a lot (have been for years, the proper tuck looks somehow prissy and leaves my trousers or skirts bulky and untucked doesn’t flatter my shape - I have waist and hips).

Anyone else like Marie-Ann Lecoeur’s YouTube Chanel?

I personally rate her and her style tips. She is classic not edgy like some of the stuff here.

Thank you for the birthday wishes, dp and I went to an exhibition and then a cafe (do I qualify for the Salon?), then had lots of chinese/Asian food followed by dark chocolate birthday cake (not so french).

I wear lots of blue, too. Though I tend to wear lighter blue in summer, I have a peasant blouse in that pale chambray, but it is so thin, I really don't wear it in the colder months. I have a lot of various navy items, though. Jon I'm not sure why that vertical tuck works, I imagine it's to do with the proportions of the shirt and the skirt, also the drape of the fabric. I did try it with a shirt and straight jeans and it didn't really work, but I wondered if it might work with different trousers or skirt.

PaulHollywood I've seen some of her YouTube videos, if you like a classic style you might also like Audrey Coyne (Audrey a la Mode), she's American, not french but has lots of good tips on choosing good quality, classic clothes.

I’ve no idea why that pic works but I would be in style heaven if buttoning up your shirt wrong became a trend. All I would need then would be for leaving the care label hanging out to catch on and I’d be a supermodel.

Some great pics there. I have quite a bit of blue so plenty to play with but I’m really fussy about the shade . Deep blues and denim blues are normally good but some shades of navy are worse than black. But when it works it’s great.

I’d noticed you hadn’t been around Jon so good to see you back. And happy birthday Quirky

Hooray for blue! Black was my dark neutral in my teens, grey in my twenties, and blue has been my staple base colour in my thirties. I find it much less harsh and draining against my pale skin than black/grey.

Also LOVE the tucked-in voluminous cream mohair jumper worn with the full, tweedy trousers a couple of days ago - such a luxe, Old Money look! Love it.

Water, I couldn't get away with that COS cardigan, but I really like the skirt the model's wearing! I have one very similar - in navy - from Uniqlo; long midi-length on me (I'm almost 5'2), and I usually wear it with a cropped cardigan and mid-calf maroon suede boots. Had a bit of a browse through COS's A/W offerings, and there's a lot that I like, so thanks for the link.

paulhollywood I found Lecoeur’s videos too.

I can't believe these threads are still going - well done botemp et al!

I've looked long and hard at that shirt and sadly for all us slobby dressers, I think it's buttoned up correctly. I still have no idea why it looks so good. That sculptural, almost 3D effect cannot come cheap but it's got to be more than money. Where are you bo we need you!

Ok, I've had a cursory glance, I think for one, it's oversized (possibly a men's shirt) and probably expensivebon account of how stuff the fabric is, but you can find that quality with men's shirts for reasonable prices or just go at it with starch. It has splits on the side which is probably important as it allows you to give it more direction. Then my next guess, purely because I do this too, I think she tucked it in approximately at first, then pulled up the skirt and yanked it slightly off centre by directing the tucked in side to the side slightly. The waist holds it in place, so more of a slight pivot. I also think she's buttoned one button too many down and pulled that out slightly by resting the shirt out over the shoulders (a top button on top left unbuttoned) which creates that volume at the back when pulled forward again, then skirt on with very fitted waist, then the skirt up procedure to anchor it down again. My best guess anyhow.

I'd forgotten I was on a waitlist for Italic.com it's sort of a Beautypie for fashion, where they utilise factories and fabric suppliers of high end fashion houses (they quoted Celine, Prada, etc) and sell them directly to consumers at low prices. It is a subscription model but the first year is for free. Some things are great prices, others like the leather jacket I'd really have to see in RL to see if they're a genuine bargain. A lot of it come in a variety of colours too, it seems to be predominantly accessories for now. I've got two invites for it (also with the first year free) but unfortunately they only ship within the US at the moment, so happy to share those with anyone US based or with an easy contact to forward stuff to you.

Eek typo paradise... Apologies

Also top button left unbuttoned gets buttoned up again at the end unless you like putting on a show

You have done it again bo!!!
When I thought it could not get any better you came with the BLUE! My fav colyin all its shades.

So today in honour I went to an art gallery exhibition dragging DC and DH in navy blue pleated midi skirt, blue jumper tucked in amd camel coat.

Happy belated bday quirky
sandra you are very kind, thak you.

jon DC and testing behaviour... tell me about it ...

I have many pieces in blue, one of my fav is a light sky linen dress fitted at the top that goes doewn in a midi skirt in an A line.

And the best thing I bought last year is my navy coat, which I love.

Spelling a bit wonky
*colour

DAY 8

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Since it's the full-on season of baking, we cannot skip Pierre Hermé in the run up to Christmas. These biscuits are both savoury and sweet, surprisingly simple to make and yield a lot. The finished sables can be frozen before baking for easy quick bake off if you're expecting any guests, they go great with drinks. They also make for great presents. The quality of the olive oil is one to consider but I'd avoid a very strong tasting one.

They may be a bit challenging to children's tastes, for simpler palates I can't recommend PH's Sablé infiniment chocolat (pic 2) enough.

Sablé aux Olives Noires

Preperation time
25 minutes

Cooking time
18 minutes per baking sheet

Refrigiration time
4 hours

Makes about 60 cookies

Ingredients

1 egg
140 g Taggiasche or other oil-cured black olives with pits
400 g salted butter, softened
150 g olive oil
220 g confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon (3 g) fleur de sel de Guérande (or other fine sea salt)
500 g all-purpose flour
100 g cornstarch

Directions

Hard-cook the egg in boiling water for 10 minutes. Cool it under running water. Shell the egg, slice it in half; remove and reserve the yolk.

Pit the olives. Pat them dry to remove their layer of oil and chop them coarsely.

In a food processor fitted with the plastic blade, add the ingredients in the following order: butter, oil, confectioners’ sugar, sea salt, hard-cooked egg yolk, flour, cornstarch, and finally, chopped olives. Process briefly, then form the dough into a ball, cover in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and preheat a convection oven to 165°C or a traditional oven to 175°C.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Flour a work surface, and roll out each piece into a ⅜-inch-thick (6-mm) round. Wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until needed. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 2¼-inch-diameter(5.5-cm) cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place them as you do so on the lined baking sheets.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 18 minutes (if using a traditional oven, rotate the baking sheets back to front and top to bottom once during baking). Transfer the cookies to wire racks and cool completely before storing them in an airtight container.

From: Pierre Hermé Pastries

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Bo those biscuits look fab and so easy! I can imagine in a dinner party dressed in a chic elegant blue wide trousers... guests thinking how does she do it!!

Today I did not come out of my comfiest of comfiest clothes, recovering from too much fun last night .

DAY 9

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Style Hacks from the Céline Runway (II): Yves Klein Blue

Yes, because I wasn’t finished wanging on about blue already

Phoebe Philo certainly isn’t the first, nor will she be the last, to be inspired by the blue blue depths of Yves Klein’s work. It's also probably safe to say, it's one of her favourite colours to wear for herself. For many seasons the colour popped up, subtly or boldly, with accompanying impact.

On the Céline runway, at times, it featured overtly, referencing Klein’s work almost literally, at other times it was interwoven. The strength of Yves Klein’s blue in the Céline shows really was in showing off its versatility and its ability to act almost like a neutral rather than a bright colour.

The Céline runway also made the once dodgy blue eyeshadow suddenly look effortlessly cool, as if just dabbed on with a few slapdash strokes that made the usual pared back, barely-there makeup look, suddenly feel like a run on sentence with no punctuation. In one or two small gestures the face gained a finality as loud as an exclamation mark but without the accompanying noise. Where black and white can frame, a colour as bright as Yves Klein’s blue can finish off with surprisingly little physical presence and few support players.

Despite being bold and out there Céline’s blue eyes seemed achievable even to the makeup challenged, and in case it doesn’t, lovely violette_fr recently has recently produced a tutorial with a suspiciously looking Yves Klein blue (slightly less slapdash, but still totally achievable).

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