Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet: Be More Aunt Larry

[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 Neuf

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We’re ten threads old! To celebrate we’ve got thread merch.

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

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It’s interesting to see the sash volley back and forth between the men’s and women’s collections. The fabric and flow is nothing unfamiliar to women’s wear but despite lacking the novelty factor it has for men and yet there is this yearning to include it.

Perhaps it is just down to the ceremonial flavour that is infused with the mere flourish when the formal, but especially the ceremonial, has been worn away with the years. An invite if you will, one that can be stepped on, accidentally or maliciously, but please don’t go round saying, I never invited you to.

Wow Bo, some very good images here.
I like this year the incorporation of men fashion in your post, makes you think more, even if not applied directly (at first sight) is certainly a source of inspiration.
The 4th one is one that could be translated irl I think.
The last two, with those colours are great too.

So , do we know Flo s final decision on MH coat? Keep or return?

Bani what happened to those trousers, did you go for them?
I forgot to say I like the side. The waist I am not sure how well fitting it will be .

When the sash is a big scarf, just draped artfully, it can't be too hard to incorporate? Even for men. But the narrower ones do look ceremonial, they risk looking like wannabe honorific orders to me. Pic 7 with the glitter scarf oddly manages, pic 4 is odder. This was cool to think about!

Haven't gone for the trousers yet. Maybe I should message her and ask for more measurements.

Is funny how you bani sees as odd pic 4 , where I see it kinda works
Taste is subjective I suppose

Pic 4 is definitely one you have to figure out, easily done with an engineer brain and an eye for construction but it doesn't fall 'naturally' so doesn't make as much sense from first glance. I like it best too, but it's definitely a niche flavour.

It's quite funny reading back the public opinion on the Eiffel tower when it was being built, people were horrified by it, it took a while before people could appreciate the beauty of the engineering in it rather than looking for a natural order to it.

Image curation is well up to your usual exacting standard Bo, and thank you again for all the time you spend finding and interpreting the ideas. It is THE treat of Advent, and you keep giving. Even when the ideas are challenging, they filter in.

I was very lucky last week and found an Issey Miyake Pleats Please sash/scarf/stole in the market (the same colour as my down coat too) for £15.

Very beautiful pictures, bo, as always. I agree some are quite ceremonial. I like the way the sash/fabric cuts across the traditional suits. I like pic 4, too. Pic 8 is gorgeous, very Indian inspired (I used to help at an Indian dance club and they all wore very beautiful sashes) but not so wearable.

Xing, that sounds like a great find! Photo?

The last few days have been freezing here, no frost but a bitter wind, so I've been working a previous advent idea of the tartan blanket scarf as mine is lovely and cosy.

Well please note I like pic 4, I just think it might lean more ceremonial. You can't even pretend the sash has any other function than decorative. But neither to ties, and we wear those!

Xing I want a pic too of your pleats please please

Well when I saw the word 'sash' my first thought was of the frilly frocks my auntie used to make for me when I was 6. I admit I was apprehensive. But I bloody love those pics. All of them! I wonder if we're seeing the beginnings of a new era of flamboyance in menswear. It's certainly overdue. I trust you're going to lead the way with your Issey Pleats Xing - I'm well jell.

Red sorry I'd forgotten I hadn't reported back. Yes the MH Barbour is now a wardrobe staple and whatever doubts I had are in the past. It had its first proper bad weather workout yesterday and acquitted itself pretty well. But it was still £200 over budget so I'm going to have to be frugal well into spring.

Love the sash. I have various lengths of satin I could adapt

Picture tomorrow if the light allows. It's a dark marron colour, so it needs sun, but the forecast is horrendous. Pulled out, it's about 3 metres in length. It's an instant dragon costume!

Can’t wait!

DAY 12 - DAY 12 - DAY 12

Defence Mechanisms

If runways are cultural barometers for where we are in the here and now, things are looking a little bleak. As interesting as the exposed fragility is in contrast, there’s little avoiding that things have gotten defensive. As much as clothes can provide a sense of comfort, they can act as protection. Unlike in previous iterations of this theme, we’re not seeing warrior women in leather reminiscent of armour and intimidating shoulders bolstered by pads.

Giant scarfs are carried around like security blankets. Layers of clothing, revealing yet more clothing act like a nouveau chastity belt in a post-Weinstein era expressing the confusion of what consent means today. Accessories closely resembling holsters feel almost apocalyptic, a world where not all lives matter or visions of Gilead suddenly feeling very real.

The heart is a precious thing, it’s what continues to give us life after all. Many acres of fabric seem suddenly necessary to guard it, unquestioningly so. Despite the tough exteriors, there is fragility here. Merely by the overreaction expressing this sudden necessity, there is an acknowledgement that there’s something there in need of protection almost as if we don’t quite understand it.

Somehow it feels more defensive on a female form than a man’s, the vulnerability freely given and taken for granted previously is suddenly off-limits. Undoubtedly there’s a hard gendered line here that painfully prods at what is and isn’t a socially acceptable display of emotions, and a lack thereof, in both sexes.

Hearts no longer reside in sleeves, which is arguably not necessarily a bad thing. Our reaction to it is what will count. Our future is not shaped by the designs of a handful of individuals, much as they like to thinks so, it’s how we interact with them and play a part in the scenery our every day. Fragility is nothing to be feared but undoubtedly it will -and protection will be needed- if only to preserve the small seed of it that is yet to flourish.

Can I pop into this thread and say wow!

I was the original OP from thread one - I can’t believe you lot are ten threads in and have merch!

I feel curiously proud

Ahem, so yes, my planning didn't take in consideration much that it's election day in the UK today, so apologies for the dystopian sentiments above , and I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't take in consideration ED really as I've now missed the opportunity to run with a great big girl's blouse theme and ehm... allotment wear?

hello pink

Hi pink look what you spawned! Nice to see you.

Thanks for the calendar botemp - interesting to see the crossover between the lacing and the defence forces as well as synergies between the sashes and defence forces. I have a top near identical to the one in image 7 in khaki and I love it. I wear it to work sometimes when I want to feel tough.

I've been a bit absent lately because we're moving back home. I'm starting to unpack my clothes which is interesting because while there are some I'm dying to get back in to, there are others that leave me a bit meh and are therefore charity shop destined I think.

Hi Pink, I think we all owe you a big merci .

Thank you, bo. I agree with Elle, it's interesting to see the crossover with the laced up and sash themes. I love a bit of asymmetry and really like pics 7 and 8. The last one really highlights how we see male/female, I think.

Glad your coat is now a staple, flo. I bet it's worked hard in the current weather. I've had heattech leggings under my jeans and trousers the last few days, the wind here is bitter.

Good luck with the move, Elle.

Hello Pink... welcome back.

Elle, after living out of boxes during the kitchen upheaval, I can imagine the delight of being reunited with my belongings and home
but discovering that your opinions have changed in the interval seems to be inevitable. I haven't bought new clothes this year, but furnishings...