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:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

Oh forgot about belts, I was trying to get on with depop without too much luck (doesn't feel all that intuitive) but I did see a nice belt on there incidentally, Elle. Quite unusual with the buckle detail but perhaps you're looking for something plainer? Can't figure out how to share a link of it, so have screenshot it.

Haha here as well - pissing rain yet uncomfortably warm. I left the party coat at home in lieu of something more water resistant (letting an umbrella take the brunt of it though). Considering galoshes.

Donegal tweed is the dream Bo, but I’d accept a decent fake! This is the genuine article by the metre, just lovely www.magee1866.com/Mobile/en/Navy-and-Blue-Herringbone-Flecked-Donegal-Tweed/m-m-11409.aspx

I’ll be working into my 80s too btw. 🙄

Still going to catch up on the outlander references, but I definitely buy things because I love the idea of them. I have soo many clothes because when I go to purge there’s something about everything that I love, plus I legitimately need to maintain work, casual, baby friendly, summer and winter in two sizes....

I like tweed. It’s the texture, lots of texture just makes me happy. This Zara dress came up on Instagram and so much texture! Unfortunately already sold out except in large and up. m.zara.com/uk/en/combined-voluminous-dress-p04530301.html?v1=24222779&v2=1281603

I have Stylebook, a paid for app. The idea was wardrobe planning for a month of travel but I haven’t got far yet. Once clothes are in I think it would be good.

At last! People who want to retire to a city instead of the middle of nowhere. I would nominate New York as that’s where my favourite second hand shop is, but I’m always mindful of Kirsty Mcall warning, ‘It’s no place for the old’. So I might go for Rome where I’ve seen incredibly stylish old women (and men) although I would have to move out in the summer. Sympathies to bo and bani - I dread to think how long my son will have to work. But, as I say to him, you will have the last laugh as you will still be alive and we will be dead.

Red sorry - saw your question ages back but been too busy to post. I feel a tad guilty dispensing tips on no-spending as my main tip is not to ban it completely. It may just be me but, as soon as something is forbidden, I want it twice as badly and then, when I inevitably fall off the wagon, I get disheartened and give up. So no ban for me, rather a spell of highly selective austerity where I will only buy if it’s perfect - and of course it rarely is. If that Cos jumpsuit had been in stock that day and if it had fitted then it would still have been within my rules. And I did buy some shoes later as I had none really suitable for a wedding but I got them in Sainsbury’s as I knew I wouldn’t wear them much.

And second hand is allowed. Always.

bani I’m a terrible saving for bester and it has blighted my style life. Wear the coat. Don’t be me.

Do consider a day trip to Belfast Bani it’s only 90 minutes up the N1 and the Tin antic Experience is really worth doing, as well as the black cab tours. Also check out Envoy (nicely curated shop – I think you’d like the style) I take your point about the potential for it to be more dangerous though, plenty of potential for groups that are dormant to resurrect their activities whether it’s because of the continuing disdain shown to NI by Westminster or because of talk of sea borders. If you want any Dublin recommendations shout! Penneys (Primark) did a collaboration with Molloys weavers once before, sadly only menswear, but it was great for the price.

Are we all watching NYFW? I will give it some attention in due course. In the meantime I saw snippets of Devaux which I did not realise was the line of Tommy Ton. Also liked the look of Sies Marjan.

botemp That belt is nice thanks, but I think I’d like something a little lighter in colour and plainer, but the width is exactly what I’m looking for. I’m trying to be picky!

Speaking of Cuyana, I did like the shape of this dress albeit I’d prefer it without the high-low hem. I’m not buying though.

"At last! People who want to retire to a city instead of the middle of nowhere."

This is our plan. Although I'm not sure Eastbourne really counts as a city; but I like it a lot.

bo, I watched the coat purge recently, I probably won't rewatch, but I do like the combination of Karen and her friend Rhianna. They are very funny together and I loved the "37 other milkmaid dresses" comment. I also enjoyed her NYC street style ones, there were some very stylish people.

CatherineMaitland, I have a soft spot for Eastbourne, as I had an elderly, wealthy great aunt who lived there. She had a beautiful, art deco flat overlooking the seafront, which still had servants quarters and bells (no servants, tho). It was like something from Agatha Christie. We used to visit regularly and I sometimes stayed in the summer. I used to love the pier, too, it had a glass studio which I was fascinated by.

I already live in a small city, it probably has more going on than I think, though not by London standards. We have some heritage events and a literary festival coming up.

bani, gorgeous tweed. I really feel the love for textures this time of year. It's so cold this morning our new boiler came on automatically.

OK, I now have lots of Magee tweed advertising at the bottom of my screen.

The idea of planning a week’s worth of outfits is good, at least for the moment is providing enough variety and keeping me interested as supposed to be drawn to new pieces. Although I have only done this for less than a week ... so we shall see
But I started to think on a previous comment about colours and seasons, more specifically autumn.
To be honest I do not tend to choose ‘autumn’ colours to wear in autumn, I am not saying I do not have any clothing in that colour palette but I think in autumn I still wear generally a mix of colours, some of which are vibrant, quite light.
But I remember past comments from Bo about light for the winter months, that lovely clear light.

So today my pre planned outfit is not that exciting, other than is stuff I have not worn much at all simply because I had forgotten about it , a 3/4 sleeve v neck top cut like a blouse (ie not skin tight) in light yellow, cream and very fine black , they are flowers but not in an obvious flower pattern as they are oversized (looks better than I am describing) and I realised I tend not to wear much yellow and in actual fact suits me quite well, I think specially with my dark hair.
Also some black sprit trousers perfect but I had only worn twice before.

I've never understood the escape to the country crowd, but even less the retirees. As soon as you require regular medical checkup/supervision you're so much better off in a city. My mother had big plans of moving right into the city centre, despite being only 10mins out by bike, with the idea that if all you're doing in old age is a very slow walk to the green grocer at least make it an interesting trip.

Belfast sounds so enticing and the beautiful scenery from GOT has also put NI on my to visit list but definitely becoming more of a gamble now. Are you really expecting the possibility for tensions to rise to a boil pre Brexit, Elle?

Her friend Rhianna is very fun, quirky, she's in a couple of other videos too, think the ones on throttling/vintage shops. I like the on the street videos too and am amazed at the amount of people so dressed up (in a fashion sense and with $$$ budgets without it looking all that expensive, not a criticism but I think it suggests these are all people who work in fashion). The last one was quite amusing as she started talking about everyone just carrying a tote instead of a proper bag

Experimented with the dropped waist, not the disaster I anticipated if you ignore that the colour palette made me feel like a morose toad (takes note for new username). The belt did make it work, had to balance it out with a blazer as the necklace thing is definitely not for me and it had the same effect to getting a strong vertical line into it. Suppose it is a bit of a handicap, without it the belt looked a bit added on at the last minute. Didn't look bad but just not as pulled together, I may have more luck with black on black.

Looks a bit like the belt is bulking out in the pics but it did actually sit flush and surprisingly stayed in place.

Not a magic mirror this time though I do think my camera phone may have something to do with it, it got updated and I'm no longer struggling with angles the way I did when I just got it but that still doesn't explain the chopstick legs. Maybe it's the new online exercise program I've been doing for the last few months (P.Volve). I wasn't really convinced it had made a drastic difference to my shape but I may very well be blind to it day to day. I've got a referral code for the first month off if anyone is interested.

Throttling that was meant to be thrifting I'm a bit frightened by my autocorrect now...

Haha @ throttling! Actually bo, I watched the designer consignment one with Rhianna this afternoon. What gorgeous shops if you have $$$. I liked the monochrome looks in some of the street styles, very chic for summer. I like the dropped waist look on you. Always nice to have more options.

red, I have done that wearing something different from my wardrobe each day before. It does really help you discover "new" things and also sometimes isolate what's off about something. Though, I'm a terrible fiddler with clothes, I must admit. I have several items which I'm going to adjust the hemline on.

Bo by chance is your new phone one of those Asian brands accused of spying? H?
Just asking as my friend has one and I swear I look Hollywood worthy in one of the photos my friend took of me.

red, I have one of those phones, the photos are amazing.

The photos have to be amazing, how else would they pick up the fine details for intelligence? #notsureimjoking

No, not Huawei (are we not allowed to spell it out or something ). I actually actively didn't want one of those as the camera made me look like a ghostly 12yo, as well as Trump's plot of interference which meant it lost access to Android services at the time.

I've long accepted they all spy on us, the US is probably the worst for it. I know I'm at least on one list of watched people in the US, merely by association and potentially my middle name .

It's definitely going all black mirror in China though, they do face track everyone, so I suppose it helps that personal cameras completely alter reality

The trouble with tweed is style. The companies that sell tweed clothes made from proper fabric are all about hunting and not about my city lifestyle at all. I'm not paying £££ (or euros) to look like a wannabe extra from Downton Abbey. (But bani, I hear you say, you don't pay £££ for anything, do you.)

For Outlander references - the costume designer has a blog with pictures and stories of how she came up with the costumes. www.terrydresbach.com/

There's a fair few articles as well around the internet and I'm sure I've read one somewhere about using traditional fabrics and colours and why they did not etc.

Time I love texture as well, and that might be why I love linen so much too. I can see why you like that Zara dress!

There was a separate thread a while ago praising (I think it was) Stylebook. I almost downloaded it, but you have to pay and I've done something with that I don't quite understand and anyway, I couldn't. Just as well, I would not have used it haha. Too much work, and the combination of decent stock photos and my shitty photos would have driven me mad.

Flo But sooner or later we will all be dead, but you might at least have had the chance for a decent retirement .

I don't understand why people want to retire to the middle of nowhere either - not as a forever plan anyway. My dream is of course to live by the sea at some point. How does everyone feel about Stockholm as a retirement city? Too slushy? Thought you'd say that. I was thinking the heatwaves here are more bearable than further south ... Maybe I'll get the chance to live in Ireland someday for a bit. Which brings me to

Elle - I've actually been to Belfast once, and really liked the place. Felt like a very livable little city in terms of scale. Would hate for it to descend into violence again. Very pleased that hard Brexit seems to be thwarted for now, hopefully something will be worked out. Not sure if Minimus could face a day trip but he is very interested in the Troubles now (and the NI accent the little cheeky fecker) so a black cab ride could be great.

The Envoy shop looks lovely - but on the whole I suspect I will get very little chance to go into any shops anywhere with Minimus in tow. Googled Molloy's and going by the internet they could have closed down for all the activity I see - I hope not. They seem to have manned a Christmas stall in Dublin in 2017 anyway!

Quirky your auntie's Eastbourne flat sounds amazing. And you could do much worse than Magee advertising

Red I was thinking about the early posts about light colours for autumn/winter too not long ago, and Bo's Christmas calendar on white for winter.

Bo You are looking very thin and tall in the photos alright, and since it's a different mirror ... it's either your phone (can I have it) or your exercise class (let's face it, I won't do it). With black on black, do you mean a black belt on a black top? Will it show up as much?

I ignored the Karen videos, don't have the patience, but youse are making them sound quite funny. And that she mentioned totes - that's very funny too, considering!

I know bani and I really worry for young people. I think with my generation (in England) the really lucky bastards - and I freely admit I’m one of them - were the ones who passed the 11 plus and later went on to university with student grants and then into professions which weren’t always that highly paid but which did have superannuated pensions. We’re actually a small group. The majority (75% and even 90% in some places I believe) went to secondary modern schools which they left at 15. They’ve had very mixed fortunes.

Anyway, not been to Stockholm, which I must address. How much does it rain? This is very important due to my aversion to umbrellas. My main requirements for my twilight years are: within striking distance of an A&E, good second hand shop (although I may carry out my threat and learn to sew) good coffee shop (hipsters make the best round here) and good hairdresser. Sea is optional.

Cuts of tweed can be a bit House of Bruar which is why I often go for the menswear and get it altered. Or I just wear as it is but make sure everything else is modern.

Only got a phone with a dodgy battery at the moment which I don’t want to further strain by watching videos so will save for later.

Total precipitation for Stockholm is about 550 mmm/year I googled - that includes snow.

I think summer in Stockholm and winter somewhere else might be the winning concept ;)

God, would you want to live in Stockholm though, come to think of it. Full of Stockholmers. I dunno.

I haven't been to Belfast, but I have a friend who lives nearby on the coast and her pics are amazing. I haven't travelled for years (thanks dd2) but I have been to Dublin, which I really liked and Stockholm, which I also really liked. I was living in London at the time, so Stockholm didn't seem that expensive in comparison, we went in winter and it was very magical in the snow. bani, my great aunt did have an amazing flat, it was stuffed full of antiques, most of which were auctioned off after she died. It had balconies with a sea view too.

I can live with the tweed adverts, but I agree some styles can be a bit too country. I have a lovely tweed jacket that I bought from topshop because all the more expensive ones were cut a bit too country/old fashioned. Thank you for the Terry Dresbach link, you do know there is an Outlander thread, don't you?

On the escape to the country thing, I agree that it seems idealised. I was brought up in the suburbs and escaped to the big city Leeds University as soon as I could. My parents were Londoners, so that had always seemed a home from home. The countryside here is beautiful, but very bleak and isolated in winter. Also, some of the inhabitants are not always so enlightened, excepting places with lots of second homes in them.

Mmm the magical snow.

Ah Bani, that reminds me I am dithering over ordering some snow boots this year. After last year sledging in wellies I promised never again. But will we get snow this year? Or even in the next 5 years? The papers are awash with news of another impending Beast from the East. Alas, I've lived here long enough to know that they predict The Worst Winter of All Time every year. I don't want to retire anywhere where snow and ice are a regular feature. I grew up in a place with horrible winters and I've had my fill.

Well I'm stuck here. And I'm bloody buying Icebugs. Tired of sliding around.

Well when I'm a 126 and finally allowed to retire I'm sure Stockholm will be positively tropical I shouldn't really complain, like Flo my generation and previous ones have gotten benefits the younger ones don't. I got paid to go to uni all the way through two masters. My cousins have all had to pay and take out loans and a master is unaffordable to most.

On the slush and snow boots, I have a bit of an issue with these. As snow boots would be useless in that slush weather (which is usually what we get too, slush that turns to ice around freezing point) as it just compacts and makes it even slippier. So unsure what a good solution is, is it ice boots, Bani? Never really heard of them before, have seen other boots that have a slanted profile so that it cuts in and throws out the snow instead, are those ice boots?