Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: Too much good taste can be very boring. Independent style, on the other hand, can be very inspiring.

[botemp]

Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset and lots of chatter in between.

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Favoured Parisian addresses:

Second Hand Shops

Outlets

Favoured London addresses:

Charity Shops, Dress Agencies, and Outlets

Favoured NYC addresses:

Consignment shops, Vintage, and Restaurants

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Previous threads:

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Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

I too bought a pair of flat pointy slingbacks to wear to a party last week! Great minds. They felt very current to me, because of my previous vocal antipathy to pointy toes. ;) I ended up getting flat ones in black, but I did see a pair with a small heel in navy that were nice. But I was wearing mostly all black so I went with black. Boring but true. Anyway, they feel versatile, can be both casual and a little dressed up. Toes are covered, heel is out.

Toe coverage is important for me. My heels aren't so great either but at least I don't see them every time I look down.

What about a minimalist sandal or mule red in cream or black?

I was wrong about the 15% ba&sh discount. It’s on the old collection, not the new. On now anyway in case it’s of use to someone.

I do not know if I am loosing it or what, but your very good suggestions sent me to try this on my way to the station ...
I saw the white sovdecidec to try both , is not a bi-colour shoe!

They are surprisingly comfortable, second they are covered toes so might be useful for A/W?
Anyhow, I will have a look at barely there sandals, slingbacks.

Apologies for typos, writing in mobile with autocorrect is not the easiest.

Btw- the shop assistant said that they will work with the dress and add some fashion interest.
I am not sure if she was being polite or honest.
Such mules are Whistles new collection, so not the cheapest item, so there is no risk of them running out soon ... I have time to think.

I just realised that one model is wearing that dress with these pointy white shoes ... !!! I do not remember seeing it, then I might have seen it and unconsciously associated it (as Bo pointed out before)

Well i think the pointy shoes look v nice!

Are they an intentionally mismatched pair or were you just trying them on in two colours? Just my personal gripe that I can never get over, but I really actively dislike white leather shoes. As soon as they're broken in, they all end up looking like shriveled up albino penises to me I'm that boy from sixth sense that sees penis everywhere

I do think it can all end up looking a bit hard edged with the black pointed ones as the dress already has such a strong graphic feel. They're the type of shoes that look good under a cropped flowy/wide pair of trousers but a bit odd under a skirt, unless there's enough poor/volume to it. Not sure what the answer is, Ted Baker isn't really a modern/current brand so it can feel a bit at odds in that sense. I think I like Elle's suggestion best of red or otherwise a coloured shoe, a rusty orange suede would go nicely too if looking for a sandal but in a couple of weeks I'd be looking for coloured knee high boots rather than open anything, personally. Zara often do cream knee high boots, I can live with those and not see albinos, but a maroon, cognac suede, would work well to. Would go a bit 60s/70s which feels more in keeping with the dress.

*Poof not poor, stupid autocorrect

I am trying them in two colours. I think a mistmatched pair would have been a step too far!

I am trying to figure out how they would look under a skirt ... tempted to bring dress to the shop ... well to other shops as well and try other types of shoes ... might try that .

Albino penis!!! You've ruined my white sneakers for me, Bo!

Very useful to read suggestions of other shoes. Since at heart I am a Victorian woman I have trouble not being matchy matchy. I'd spend my time frantically searching for shoes in that particular green and end up in panic buying something black and being dissatisfied...

Nah white sneakers are exempt from albino penis resemblence, they look like beluga whales to me. See exhibit A and B, respectively, chunky dad sneakers and the French dainty take on the OG white trainers that are so uncomfortable you can hardly call them sneakers but hey they look good AKA Vejas someone get that beluga whale a Sainsbury's baguette already

I'm not sure matchy matchy is necessarily a Victorian mindset. It's one I think a certain generation was brainwashed with, I remember it growing up and one we as teenagers could actually rebel against. I associate it heavily with getting your colours done and/or knowing your season, never mixing metals (jewellery), and buying bags and shoes together as a set, also wearing anything that weren't matching undies was a great crime. Remember the twin set, that was everywhere and a true classic worn with that other matching classic, pearls, that would never go out of style I'm sure in a decade or so we'll all be scratching our heads why we were so obsessed with dressing to our body shapes named after fruits of all things...

Stupid MN switched the order of the pictures

😂😂 beluga whale
You have a prolific imagination Bo

May I add. My initial description of trendy London bar is probably more swanky than trendy (I am making up as I go along). As is not easy London shoredich trendy kids but more likely to be cocktail bar type scene. Anyhow, I am not overly worried in fitting in as there will be all sorts of people.
But I like the idea of rusty orange, cream etc

Those bloody whales hahahaha

Aye there's a fair bit of pearl-clutching 1950:s worry in my matchy-matchy too. Blue and green must never be seen etc. I think a part of it (this is something I've recently started to realise) is that i have trouble seeing when colours are warm or cool. So it's hard to "clash" because I'm clashing with the wrong tones iyswim.

The mules are lovely Red. Not dissimilar to my bargainous buys from M&S. I like them with midi-length skirts, but nothing shorter. Also good with trousers and culottes. I got them in black and coral, which might look okay with emerald.

Allow me to confess: Since I am a sheep I ordered the Asos culottes in black. But I’m not feeling it. Think they’ll go back. They end a bit over ten cm from my feet, which I suppose is ok technically but feels wrong, and the front pleats don’t lie well. :/ v tragic.

I thought matchy matchy had made a come back - or did I dream that? I do have some weird dreams sometimes. The other night I learned Polish - woke up speaking it fluently and then, as soon as I opened my eyes, it all trickled away. No beluga whales yet though.

That's a shame about the culottes bani but if they're not right then they're not right.

bani the "blue and green..." sounds like my grandmother, she had a whole lot of rules. And then also broke a whole lot of rules, never dressing her age etc. If you don't love the culottes, then you don't. Any kind of cropped trousers or skirt need to hit your leg at the most flattering place, which is not the same for all of us. Trousers and fit can be tricky at the best of times.

Matchy Matchy feels quite 80s to me (I know it was really later), the whole concept of matching your nails and lipstick, shoes and bag etc. I think I found getting my colours done useful, but it was by an independent image consultant and so not in "seasons". I think it's a useful guide, she also talked about how to wear less flattering colours, mix them with something that suits you more. I think I'm more mixy mixy than Matchy Matchy, as I like to mix up colours and styles a bit .

I like all the low pointy shoes, they look lovely. Lovely green dress, too red. Though, I like bo's idea of grey suede boots for a 70s look as well. It might depend on your occasion, though.

God I don't even know if it was flattering or not, I have trouble looking at my own body neutrally (it's all ugly! to hell with it all!). I think I was secretely hoping they'd be longer and be a bit more like japanese hakama or something . Fabric was nice. Elastic at the back rolled a bit rather. Could be my round belly and those bloody pleats. They're on a LOT of trousers now and I am not flat enough.

Flo Szkoda że Pani nie mówi po polsku.

Have been reading the how to dress like a parisian blog on the train. She doesn't seem to be posting anymore but it's still quite fun to read even though sadly a lot of the pictures are gone (obsolete links). Love when she links to instagram OOTD people and basically says "this looked a bit shit" haha.

Sorry bani I was chattering away in my dream but it's all gone now. I'd been wondering why it was polish though so maybe it was reading your holiday posts that did it.

I don't really understand why some pleats work perfectly while others give you a pouch. There ought to be funding for research.

IME if you've got a bit of a stomach that projects forward them straight pleats just sit like some weird peplum from the devil that screams look at my fat pockets, it's about as unflattering as it gets. I find if they're stitched diagonally, or rather the fabric is folded in diagonally, it can be flattering. In the main I tend to avoid them though as peplum from the devil can really be a bit of a confrontation with yourself, even if it is a weird distortion.

I suppose the tonal looks are a bit of an evolved take on matchy matchy. I find it hard to find things in the same undertone and colour family without having to resort to bloating out my closet for the cause and I believe matchy matchy was always a marketing strategy to get you to buy more, so in that it's quite similar. I do think those old rules of never black and blue, green and blue, etc. had relevance at the time, you simply didn't get the choice in a single colour as you do now, it was just an industry standard efficient colour and a small variation thereof, where now many will have been developed to suit several skin tones rather than just a particular undertone and choice is endless.

Genuine question, Flo, if you don't speak a word of Polish, how are you so convinced it's Polish? I've been having odd dreams for months now. I'm very much convinced they're all dreams meant for other people, completely alien environment, languages, imagery, etc. I don't even feel like me as the person experiencing the dream, very odd.

Good question Bo. I have to say, I very often have dreams that are like films, I'm watching them as though I were at the cinema, I'm not participating necessarily. Had one tonight that was terrible, about an abused woman preparing to flee her husband - most definitely inspired by a thread from Mumsnet. :(

Bo, do you mean that navy blue used to be just navy blue, and now theres Midnight, Sailor Ahoy and Deep Navy, so you can't be sure about the matching or clashing the same way ie rules out the window?

I can inform you that I'm sort of wearing a cami today. I have a slip that I decided to try as a camisole since my trousers are rather roomy and won't show the excess fabric underneath. A stretchy poly/elastan blend. The lace edging is much smaller, and I realised it doesn't feel like spider legs so I decided to try it and wear a black unlined linen blazer over it. I'd take a photo but don't think the black will show up + embarrassing, might get caught (am at work obv).

I have lots of weird dreams too. Really surreal, often I'm dreaming I'm in a particular place or about a particular person, but when I wake up it wasn't that place or person at all .

bo, I get what you mean about colours, there used to be a lot of talk about clashing, but I suppose a wider range of coloursran that there's a better chance of tonal dressing.

*colours mean