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

No it's Kassl Editions, they only make rain coats that are supposed to last well beyond your years, available at all the usual suspects select fancy schmancy boutiques and luxury e-tailers. "Those" types from Germany, although it may actually be Dutch with an excellent marketing spiel for the art insiders? They are made in Germany but I'm a bit suspicious about the price point vs. origin story nonsense. I've seen them in the flesh and they're really well cut and made but I'm adamantly not paying over 1K for a raincoat

I'm also contemplating this second hand (but new) one from Vinted by Carolina Ritzer (of the kick ass jumpsuits). It'll probably not be shower resistant at most but I can see me slipping a grey hoodie underneath (not that I own one) for warmth and it can go from formal to casual easily enough. It does have a large hood at the back. It has a small pied de poule pattern, you can sort of see it in the second pic. But I worry it will massively swamp me and it's not cheap enough to just take a chance on. Seller indicates it's good for size 34-38 which doesn't inspire me with a lot of confidence.

Yeah, I remember interrogating you about your Ilse coat previously, quirky. I basically spend most of September-November researching raincoats that don't leave my teeth clattering and then I give up and forget about it when the rain makes way for cold...

bo, I agree that someone needs to design the perfect raincoat! I think I need a really lightweight raincoat (with hood) for summer that is breathable. The Ilse Jacobsen is great, long, it looks as good as new after 7yrs and is very waterproof but is heavy to carry if you take it off between showers in on off rain and sweaty on humid days, but not warm for the rain and wind. We definitely get that wind in East Anglia too. I have my parka, which is very waterproof and warm, but not really snow warm, but it's not very long. I can see how something in between would be good. I had this conversation in rl with two other mums about suitable raincoats for the school run. Seasalt came out as a popular choice too. A lot of do called raincoats are not even waterproof, not sure how that's any good in a northern European (for the time being) climate which had cold, wind and rain!

Oh lord that was a bit of a rant! I can see why stylish warm and waterproof coats are a regular thread on s & b!

Aha bo has found my coat Maybe I should start a crowdfunder to raise the money. Thanks for all the other suggestions. I will check them all.

I dug out the quilted lining before going to work. In fact I tried it a couple of times last autumn under the Burberry. It was a bit bulky, especially in the sleeves and it also had this high neck that I had to fold away, but I'll try it again as it would buy me a bit of time. The modern light down jackets look slimmer, although I read some stuff about down and cruelty a couple of years ago that put me off. I wear leather though so that's a bit hypocritical of me.

I've just seen some of the H&M Pringle collar in my local store and I too am What in hell were they thinking?

Look here for coats that are sensibly waterproof with thin but warm zip-in real woollen linings as an optional extra. Not cheap, but I still wear mine 22 years after buying it. And it goes in the washing machine, with soap flakes only. It weighs ounces. No retail presence, which is a pain I agree, and terribly conventionally classic, but I will bang on about them until you all relent.

Elle, which Honey & co cookbook were you cooking from? The original and the baking one are on offer on Kindle for €4 but I quite like the look of the at home one more so wondering if it's better to just get the printed version of that?

I walked past a window with the H&M Pringle collection too. I'm wondering if it's not just a crisps collab and they sneakily scribbled in 'of Scotland' when no one was looking. It's even worse in person and someone bought a giant bag full of it (I assume, they usually only give the special retail bags to those buying from the collection). This reeks of influencers, or really desperate crisps addicts.

I also had a look at the premium Ilse Jacobsen ones in store but they just seem to have an added fleece lining.

I have also contemplated attached from Agu which is a Dutch company specialising in cyclist rainwear. Hadn't noticed before they sell a soft shell jacket for underneath a really heavy duty rainproof coat that I had previously admired so it does tick a lot of boxes. I really like the hood as it keeps the face dry and doesn't obscure side vision. Also like the extra detail for an extra light as visibility is really crap of cyclists when it's raining. I'm not that keen on the mid thigh length though and altogether it comes in at 1/4 of the Kassl Editions coat (that's without the current 15% off at NAP, I think I need a fundraiser too).

And with the shell jacket. Clicky link if anyone else is interested, they ship internationally.

I like that raincoat, bo, it doesn't look too dissimilar to my green Ilse Jacobsen, but I have a separate souwester hat to put underneath the hood. It looks great for cyclists, though I'm no expert.

Lovely aviator jacket, Elle.

Xing the cocoon coats look great. Talking of conventionally classic, I've been bagging up late mil's clothes for the charity shop. It's very strange to go through someone else's things like that. I have pulled out some knitwear and tweed to wash/clean and decide if I want to keep it. I think I might wear it quite differently!

The only thing I could afford from the Cocoon website is the faux fur headband 🙄😉

The hood on the Abu is 😍 What’s wrong with mid thigh? Do you want longer? It is a bit for a cyclist coat I’ll admit since the thighs are what get wet after all.

Very quickly -it was the original book.

Back tomorrow with jacket thoughts!

Also acrylic Pringle - yeuch!

I've looked at that Kite coat on Cocoon before and I remember thinking how a couple of years ago it would have seemed really dated but that now it looks modern again. But I'd need to live to at least 90 to get my money's worth.

I do like the idea though of a detachable warm lining that you could transfer to any coat you wanted. If it came with button holes instead of zips or poppers then all you'd have to do is sew on buttons in the right places, which even I can manage (surely)? It'll never catch on though cos then we wouldn't buy so many coats.

I'm afraid that hood's a bit too Handmaids Tale for me. I'm with you on short length raincoats though. What's the point of a waterproof coat that leaves you with soggy thighs?

Thanks, Elle, will purchase that one and see how I get on with it and get the hardcopy versions of that and the new one if I like it.

Flo, I had that thought about the handmaid's tale too. But it's practical for cycling where most hoods are not, although the fact that I've got a stump for a neck may screw me over with such a fitted hood.

I think the thigh length with Agu can be explained that they're most well known for their rain trousers. My grandmother's were over 50 years old and still going strong until a fatter relative borrowed them and killed them after a few weeks wear. So the assumption is to wear rain trousers with them, I suppose, they are a staple with anyone who cycles into work everyday here. But mid thigh seems to be an industry wide thing and it makes little sense to me, it's why I've always liked trench coats, at worst your shoes get a bit wet. Bani, on me mid thigh is more above/around the knee and it's a particularly frumpy look on me, and it just looks really weird with wide leg trousers.

If I was designing the ultimate cross season coat I think I would prefer a sort of body warmer underneath, potentially with fitted ribbed wool sleeves so you don't get weird puffy arms, it's the torso that really needs to keep warm. I'd also prefer waxed, oiled, or rubberised cotton as the technical fabrics just don't do it for me and mean you can wear it in warmer weather and not feel absolutely suffocated. We may need to expand our tote line venture 🧐

Bo - please design that 🧥! I beg you.

Ideally for cycling it's only some areas that need to be totally waterproof, like shoulders, thighs ... so a mix of fabrics can work really well. I'd love a knee length coat myself. Cover me up. Definitely scope for cornering a market segment there. I hate rain trousers, such a faff. Alright if you're going far, obviously, but 1-2 k here and there doesn't make them worth struggling in and out of.

Intrigued by how poor Agu's homepage was in English. The Dutch are great at English but don't seem to want to translate that into websites?

Another thing - as soon as you have any sort of more functional coat you can't wear snazzy handbags, should you wish. I was looking at a bag from Residus www.residusofficial.com/shop/the-miniken-bag-olive-tan/?v=f003c44deab6 and thinking how I can't wear stuff like that with an ordinary, quite bulky coat. It's blazer wear.

Hmm Barbour do a separate lining I should have realised they'd be on it. Looks like it only attaches to other Barbours though so I'd have to wear it like a gilet. But at least it doesn't have that stand up collar that all the other gilets seem to have so it would be out of sight. Expensive for what it is but still cheaper than another coat - especially when that coat doesn't even seem to exist.

If the coat is bulky enough you would be able to wear that underneath, Bani, which is quite handy, also, something I'd want in a rain coat, the ability to wear a small bag underneath instead of leaving that to soak or some sort of compartment for it.

I've always had the unique ability not to get out of rain trousers without wetting myself (not an incontinence issue, I stress). They really are only useful if you're going from A to B and you can leave them to dry somewhere and drip all over the floor , otherwise just useless.

I hadn't checked the English on Agu. It doesn't surprise me, I would say the Dutch are actually pretty poor at English but it's just more people on average have a good basic grasp of it but anything beyond that is really crap. When I was at uni they started making the transition from Dutch to English as the main language on a lot of courses to appeal to more international students, it was startling to see how little English most students and professors possessed. Understanding is not such an issue, speaking will get them pretty far but written English is just sub par. It doesn't really help that everyone keeps telling the Dutch they're so good at English as they tend to believe it and think anyone can translate it for business purposes without running a critical eye over it.

The company I interned for was updating their website and wanted it available in English too and it was so poor I had to intervene and ended up doing the translation from scratch. They'd actually paid someone (friend of a friend, as these things seem to go) for it, it was little better than a Google translate. There's also a thriving translation business for academics to get their work translated to English, it seems like such a basic skill at that level to me but many don't have it. I think a large issue is that English and Dutch have a lot of similarities/words but the grammar is completely different (Dutch grammar is not that different from Swedish actually) so it just comes across as really clunky when you see it written down.

I think my mistake has been in looking for an all in one thing, it seems many brands just sell them seperately Flo and then decided to make no mention of them anywhere, not even a suggested users who bought X also bought lining Y

Ah bulk UP I hadn’t thought of that obv but then who will see my lovely bag?

Loving the frank explanation of the Dutch grasp on English - it explains a lot actually. Can relate to the complacency of people who get told how great they are - swedes suffer from the same syndrome haha.

Freezing cold today. Think it’s winter coat time!

Sorry about cocoon prices bani. I bought mine over 20 years ago; it's still going strong (but it was on sale at £200-ish, bought when they closed their shop in London). My mum loves hers, and the lining she had made a couple of years later, but now she shares it with my sister. They don't fall apart, and are still waterproof, if only intermittently in fashion. But I like clothes that outlast the generations; I bought elbow length gloves to bring my great-aunt's coat back into use. She died in 1985! Yet it will be very glamorous for a year or two, I predict. (borrows Bo's guru mantle)

Ah xing You have the right idea. ❤️ I do have another good reason to not splurge for cocoon and that is that to me a raincoat needs a hood. Hats are well and good but they can become separated from the coat and then where are you in the rain?

Oh wait I now found the hood page. I can afford a single hood haha.

Bo just in case your tempted to DIY it

dpstudio-fashion.com/fr/patrons-de-couture/339-le-809-manteau-gilet-integre.html

Bums reserve a nice exclusive view of a bag now and then too, Bani #BumLivesMatter

Yes, positive national stereotypes can be a bit counter. I think the Dutch and the Swedish both have this persistent myth we're all exceptionally beautiful. Nah, we're just all a bit nicer than average but don't have the extremes as much, so everyone sort of looks alright, there are a few actual lookers but they're probably less of them than elsewhere. Doesn't stop everyone going on how beautiful we are to the world...

I have to say what I quite like about fashion today is that there isn't one dominant look. You sort of have high fashion as it always existed, trends (that's usually the high street and commercial), and tendencies (sort of micro trends, so this year's animal print is Zebra for example -don't take my word for it- where animal print is the ongoing trend or everything gets embellished with (fake) pearls which was a thing for a very short period I think two winters ago) and they all have different endurance. High fashion tends to be ahead of time so it has longevity, high street retailers make more money by selling something that feels timeless which it never really is due to either quality and/or just changing times but lasts a few years easily, the tendencies have the shortest lifespan and tend to cater to a market that still feeds of off rapid change. Anyhow unless you're wearing the most obvious of tendencies as generated by the retailers anything you wear could be current so long as you're wearing it in a way that feels of today. It means your great-aunt's coat can feel absolutely now. I love leather elbow length gloves, Xing, are these the Dents(?) you mentioned previously?

I have a pair of olive ones that I wear with a 3/4 sleeve blue Burberry coat that was my mother's, random people on the street have gasped rather audibly about that combination and rush to ask about it. It also turned a sales assistant near mute in admiration.

I love how a good accessory can deliver something different and that feels more like the way we approach clothes and style today, it's not this thing dictated from above but a legible choice of combinations (and not just one game changing latest must have) that have meaning or resonance (if I wanted to be wanky I'd suggest it's a form of storytelling) rather than chasing aspiration and status.

Thanks Name, I actually quite like that but my sewing machine wouldn't be able to handle the heavy material of a decent weight oilcloth, I think. For the design I have something vaguely like attached in mind, sort of a proper coat with hooded cape almost. Just with less busy collars and more practical. I'll pretend it was all down to the advent calendar and double coating.