Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet: Blue Stockings are Back in Fashion

[botemp]

Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset to our wardrobes. Occasionally we pretend this is a proper Salon of the non-beauty kind.

---

Recommended Second Hand Shops in Paris

Outlets in Central Paris

---

Previous threads:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Peregrane, you're down below in Belgium, right? So that means you have shitty high mineral deposit water as well, have you tried using a vinegar rinse? That always gives me a good root lift. I have a lot less hair so I think my product recs would be kind of crap but you're probably looking for a texturising spray or powder. Karl Lagerfeld famously used the Klorane powder one, as do many Parisians, I prefer the spray version that's coloured. I've never tried it but the technology is a bit more advanced, the Schwarzkopf osis+ powder is meant to be good as well.

Red, probably for the best. A mystery stain on synthetic materials is always a huge gamble but I think in a dress agency I'd have no faith in the outcome. Both sellers would see a lot more for the item with a little bit of effort to get it out, so the original owner either tried and failed or are just generally careless and tough on their clothing so not really that desirable. I always tend to get suspicious when it's a little too good to be true WRT low priced desirable designers, but it's easy to be blinded by it.

Go for it Bani, the H&M designer colabs are always surprisingly good quality. Well some more than others, brands that are never that well known for their quality items like Moschino, Versace, etc. were rather tatty.

Time, in store or online? Haven't been in store for a while but online they still have a lot of nice 'Studio' pieces in the sale, lovely poplin shirts that are a bit oversized so should cover a post partum tum and work well over leggings and similar.

I forgot to mention, the brand of shampoo and conditioner bars I am using is Lush. I am trying the Rosemary one which is for normal to oily hair. But as I said it took weeks to work due to build up of stuff on my hair.
The vinegar rinse might be a good idea too. I have installed a filter at home so the water in shower comes with low minerals.

botemp online, I’d love to stroll through a store seeing what catches my eye but doesn’t happen often! I need to go through the outlets listed in the first post as am in Paris solo in a few weeks and oh my god I can’t wait. I’ll have a look at the shirts!
I use an Apple cider shampoo every few weeks to help with the London hard water - mine is fekkai. I try not to use dry hair shampoo anymore so use L’Oréal flexible - brushes out so you don’t need to wash it that night. Not as much body as dry hair shampoo but more shine. And equally easy which is critical! I don’t do any of this very often but once back at work In April will up my game.

Did you find anything time?

Brief interlude, will get properly collaging sometime this weekend I think but I'm completely bemused by the new Celine show. For all his giant interview of breaking with the heritage of the brand with a new designer in charge previously and crying foul with all the criticism the first show garnered he's now gone conservative and rather bourgeois I mean it's commercial and it'll sell to a slowly dying generation but it's heavily borrowed, I see bits of Margaret Howell, Claire Waight Keller in her Chloe days, Burberry, amongst many (and the originals do it better, of course, not just on design but cut and fabric choices too, as well as editing it into one look) but mostly a lot of what Celine looked like under Michael Kors in the late 90s and early 00s. I mean, it sort of feels like he's pitching for a job at M&S...

No- I liked this m2.hm.com/m/en_gb/productpage.0687114002.html, would usually go for the white (my colours are winter) but I don’t have anything in this colour at all and i like the idea - not serious brown but not quite neutral. They are sold out in both colours though.
Some pretty looking blouses and some longer shirts but I’m 5’4’’ and can’t tell if they would not so much hide the tummy as make me look like a ridiculous dressed mushroom- nothing nice enough to justify given we did the months budget before I had a look and my husbands visa renewal was expensive and unplanned for! The nhs levy has at least doubled since last time - fair enough I suppose but ouch.

time I might try at some point the apple cider shampoo you mentioned I googled it an sounds pretty good.

I am a bit open mouthed at that Celine show ... and not in a good way.

time is tricky to judge what shapes will suit when your body shape has changed and will probably change a bit more. Could you order a couple of different tops in different shapes to try but return if you are not convinced?

Time I find a lot of stuff I think looks nice in hm at the moment but the sizing is unpredictable so... I’ve liked the silk blouses with really wide cuffs but not enough to try them on to be honest. You can see my trouser woes earlier in the thread.

What is UP with the Celine stuff it looks like a fashion show from a mall. Even I see it and I don’t really have an eye.

Am visiting Gothenburg and currently in the museum for design and craft so a sort of V&A light haha. Am jealous of the meet up!

Will prob lose the linen trousers they’re going up in price. But might come home with the Stellas...

Here are the second hand YSL trousers I got, just trying them (I would not wear them with the top I have in the pic) but just to show. The pink is very pale but a tiny bit pinkier than in the photo.

Trousers look nice, red.

time, I think bani is right, you might need to try several styles and shapes to see what works. Sometimes slightly tweaking what you already have can really change an outfit too, for instance, adding a belt, wearing a skirt lower than your waist, turning up trousers, rolling over sleeves etc.

Like the trousers Red! My sort of thing. But can’t see the pink in the pictures will take your word for it ;)

Took some photos in the museum today - they had a bit of clothes, mostly to illustrate. Alexander McQueen, Ann-Sofie Back, Kawakubo for example. Also a lot on how Swedish artists and designers have been inspired by Asian/Japanese design in different ways ever since the late 1800s. Quite interesting. They showed a video interview with a Thai-Swedish designer called Choke Andersson who had interesting clothes. Maybe not super new in aesthetic but I like how they combine a Scandi feel with Thai fisherman’s trousers. The black dress is his.

Went to Cos. Bought a green shirt. 🙄 not sure if I should keep it. Feels somehow wasteful? Even though I like the colour and shape. Possibly because fabric a little transparent? www.cosstores.com/en_sek/women/shirts/product.batwing-sleeved-jersey-shirt-forest-green.0740800002.html

bani if you don’t love it, pass ;)

Red your YSL trousers are great, they look good on your figure. Quite a score. Thank you for the shampoo bars trip, I must confess I’ve never tried them but the next time I’m near a Lush store I might get one for fun. I’m actually pretty happy with my shampoo and conditioner combo, my hair looks and feels supple and healthy without any silicones (I use MooGoo, and once in a while I switch it up with a German drugstore brand, Crisan, to wash off any residues. I am also a fan of cider vinegar rinse!)

You really don’t want to know how long I go between hair washes, the average Brit would be scandalised.... I think my issue is more a styling one. I used to hang out on a long hair forum and learnt a million different ways to twist buns and updos, which look great from the back but I look like a little girl playing scholmistress from the front, or like an ageing hippie/Morticia when it’s down :)

bo there is no fooling your keen eye :) the phrase “down under” makes me think of Australia, which is a funny contrast with the reality of Belgium (in many ways thankfully so... www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/05/tasmania-is-burning-the-climate-disaster-future-has-arrived-while-those-in-power-laugh-at-us#comment-125491978)

I will start reading up on texturising powder/spray right away! Karl’s quiff was more than impressive.

The Celine looks are... baffling? The third one is plain ugly, and not in an interesting way. I confess to quite liking the first one... I might actually try something similar for fun and inflict it on you 😁

time I’m sorry I don’t have any useful advice... I am also post baby with a lingering tummy, so I’m just happy I finally fit back into one of my jeans (just!) and I mostly raid my husband’s wardrobe for cotton jumpers while hoping I’ll lose most of the extra weight by the summer. So my best style tip is to run around with your 3yo a lot! Which I am sure you do anyway. And if you have a more recent baby, jog if/when they sleep in the pram.

My uniqlo u jumper has arrived, nice and silky cotton in a lovely green colour. Very long arms, this is a good thing , and is sort of slouchy but comes in with a wide welt (?) rib at the bottom. I've had a play with wearing it with some of my other clothes, and it definitely needs something structured, like a denim a-line skirt, or wide-legged trousers to balance it out and show off the shape as it comes in at the bottom of the jumper.

Yes, sorry peregrane, I was doing that Dutch thing of referring to our neighbours as down below even though we're the ones below sea level

The only downside I find with styling products is that you need to wash your hair sooner and a lot of 'natural' shampoos and conditioners can't always tackle it of you're prone to build up. The powders are usually just corn starch or similar, so long as you don't overuse it they're pretty easy to get rid of. The osis stuff is interesting technology as mentioned previously, they're sort of encapsulated water pockets IIRC. I'll have to look up the article again.

I probably should have put a trigger warning on pic 3 not to view with toddlers nearby, unless you want to spend the morning assuring that no Big Birds were killed in the making of that coat...

Pic 1 felt very much like Margaret Howell and Alexa Chung's collection for M&S mashed up into one... It's all so odd, especially considering the last collection. As individual looks they're not that bad really but none of it felt cohesive or belonging to an original developed design signature. Critics seem to be weirdly positive about it though maybe they just feel vindicated over their previous critical take being taken?

The exhibit looks good Bani, I've always wanted to see Gothenburg, I always imagine it to be a bit more ancient than Stockholm, I mean there's the old town but for whatever reason that's always felt a bit faux to me The two cities have major rivalry going on IIRC? I heard the food really is better in Gothenburg

Don’t use my own words against me! 😩😉 I do love it, love the sleeves. Am keeping it!

quirky is there a link to the jumper? There is an unusual amount of bright greens around this season, I’d quite like to come away with a piece or two!
That article about tassy is partlyhorrifying and partly a bit dramatic. I’m aussie, we’ve lived with fire for a long time. He mentions a comparison to the Black Saturday fires that killed 60 odd people - does he think the communities that faced these fires aren’t communities that live with fire for large chunks of the year? There was an unusually hopeful result compared to the global trend in the recent Victorian state elections - a huge swing against the liberal party by people who were once liberal heartland voters but think climate change is real and the environment matters etc- surprise losses in secure liberal seats. Anyway enough about politics!

It's this one, time. It looks pretty much like the picture, tbh. I'm quite straight up and down, so I find I need to create the illusion of a waist.

about the forest fires.

Posted too soon! It's more of a forest green with a space dye pattern. I remember after having dd1, the clothes silhouette had changed to skinnies and longer tops and I felt lost, because all my pre pg clothes felt "wrong".

Bani that exhibition looks good. Specially the first outfit, a younger me would have worn that or something of that fabric on a heartbeat. Even now something like a skirt with that colour and pattern , I would love it

Yesterday I was leisurely in a library and opened a book and saw this jeans picture (the top right one) and I really like the look. Now ... it looks very straight up and down on the model, but to my eyes looks good .., why is that? I normally try to avoid looking very straight up and down for fear to look shapeless ... or is there a trick I am missing here?
Ideas appreciated, ta

I'm sure Prince had a coat like that - I think it was on the video he did with Sheila Easton.

Loving all the green - I want to start wearing more colour again.

I think straight leg jeans are probably the easiest to wear shape for most people - which is why they are hardly ever in fashion.

I'm spending the weekend going through my wardrobe for Outfits. I've got most of the events coming up pretty much covered (things like 21st, silver wedding, posh retirement do). But B-lister guest at a late spring wedding is stumping me. Most of my social life is pretty informal so I'm really struggling to nail something that's smart, celebratory and not too look-at-me-ish. Annoyingly if it were an autumn-winter wedding I could do it standing on my head. I'm trying to avoid throwing money at it cos a) I haven't got much to spare at the moment and b) I don't want to shell out for something I may never wear again.

Sheena. Sheena Easton

Sorry - can't find a full length pic but here.

I don’t think this is particularly aligned with any of the recent shape themes but talking about green made me have a quick google - I had this dress once! I loved loved loved the print but got rid as it was an 8 and very small around hips, didn’t really fit. But.. this is a 10...
rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173807268822

Gothenburg is well worth a visit, but don’t come for the weather. 😉 it’s more a working class sort of town so a bit grittier and dirtier. Has a bit of a foreign/continental feel - I figured out that I was reminded of Belfast and Berlin in the way some buildings are placed against the street. People are not as stylish as in Sthlm, but also they are not as obviously worried and conscious of how they look. In Swedish we say ängslig. Also they’re friendlier and chat with you. We’re so used to our part of Sweden we were completely taken aback, even the hipster coffee place guy chatted to us. Food is possibly better (we haven’t tested the whole town mind) but they’re good on seafood and fish, we’re pleased. Stockholm is, like I said, a bit too try-hard with little to back them up.

Forest green is one of my favourite colours. And khaki and olive and sprucey greens.

Time the dress is lovely! Are you going to have a go? I would be very tempted myself