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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DAY 15 - DAY 15 - DAY 15

Floating Masculinity

There is nothing new to women wearing men’s clothes. Seriously, men have been lagging behind forever. Probably because derision of femininity is rooted in homophobia. It’s therefore actually interesting to see men take an interest in what is considered ‘feminine’ about clothing.

I’m not referring to skirts and dresses here , nothing new about that either. The interest seems to be in materials, notably, light and floaty materials. As women are discovering and enjoying the weight and structure of traditional menswear materials there is little access to the slinky and sinuous for the opposite sex.

There is a certain joy of wind catching material, morphing you and it in billowy forms which is nothing but delightful to the wearer and the observers. Have at it, joy is an equal opportunity sport as far as I’m concerned.

Equally, it allows us, traditional wearers of all things floating and not the Pope, to see these materials from a new perspective, alongside the stronger masculine cuts.

It provides a different sort of balance by knocking the stiffness out of it, hinging not on an exaggeration or emphasis of feminine features of the body but rather that of our clothes. Somehow there’s a promise of liberation in treating clothes as their materiality.

Love the floating fabrics. I think iirc, that the distinction between masculine/feminine style that we have originated in the French Revolution, with a more austere, sombre style for men after the previous flamboyance. I could be wrong, though.

Popping in to say yesterday’s advent put a smile in my face. I cannot see my DH ever accompanying me in such ventures but one can only dream.
Today’s advent is lovely very wearable obviously but great to admire those silhouettes in the opposite sex.
I haven’t read in great detail so I am lost in the container conversation.

DAY 16 - DAY 16 - DAY 16

Boys Will Be Girls

Not men’s but boyswear are the inspiration this time round. Although I might have to argue it’s the idea of boyswear rather than the reality of it, as I’ve yet to see a boy dressed as such outside of a period TV drama. It leaves one to wonder what the appeal is here, there’s an oversized aesthetic that doesn’t necessarily require a gamine figure but small and delicate features do seem to be key in carrying this off.

There has to be more to it than comfort or the mere dislike of feeling material close to the skin. It differentiates from the ‘Get Shorty’ silhouettes as well, it is a silhouette of its own, albeit a very soft one, that seems unconcerned or has relations with traditional proportions while mimicking an idea of it at the same time.

'Soft' seems to be very much key here, from materials to the quiet impact the rubber-soled feet make as they shuffle along. It is insular both literally and figuratively which allows a sort of whimsy that is not always legible in one take.

It is unapologetically nostalgic, reactionary almost against modern imagery and the commodification of it. Yearning for a simplicity that arguably never was, while simultaneously resisting a mapped out vision of adulthood. A Peter Pan syndrome, of sorts.

It is not a coincidence that many of the images I came across showed disinterest in being subject and a palpable distance to the camera.

That detachment makes it feel like the clothes almost function like an outer barrier rather than a second skin, but it feels too simple to write them off as inhabiting the clothes of others.

The clothes are basic but not ordinary, the sizing is a choice rather than circumstance. It’s not parody or imitation, it rather seems like an exercise of finding oneself through borrowing the clothes of others despite being the first owner. It's voicing a deliberate voice, albeit very quietly.

This is a style that a lot of Asian people favour. Some of my friends mums (japanesse) tend to have trousers/tops like this and I always admire how they carry it off.

I like that silhouette! I'm interested to see how I can pull it off without feeling dumpy. I'm short and rather booby.

On a side note I have lots of waiting around for medical appointments coming up. Does anyone have any recommendations for audiobooks?

Not an audio book (I don't really get on with them) but I like podcasts as sort of background noise when working but 'Dressed: the history of fashion' is far too engrossing so definitely time wasting waiting in the hospital and take you elsewhere mentally material. I'm still ploughing my way though, they're a lot of episodes at a good length.

It does seem to be predominantly a S. Korean/Japanese thing for now but those trends and ideas do seem to migrate over a lot. Especially from SK. Billie Eilish sort of does a version of it over here (and is denounced as a visionary for it will live in perpetual fear of stroppy teenage girls now) but her style is more of a direct skater boy worn by a girl take so it's not quite the same.

Thanks Bo. That looks ideal. I tend to get overwhelmed when I seek out podcasts.
The look especially as Eilish does it, reminds me a little of what I wore in the 90s as a shy rave kid (the days when baggy was the only thing!).

Gah my brain is mush at the moment, obviously not *denounced, pronounced is probably what I was going for.

Yes, I was much the same in the 90s but I think there was still a definite boy/girl divide, bottom half was pretty much the same but girls wore tight camis or a belly shirt. Hoodie in the winter but always sort of half shrugged off. Boys just wore humongous t-shirts and sweatshirts and some sort of hat/cap.

If you're in need of cheering up and are able to stifle your laughter (or just accept that people might think you're a bit off) I can also highly recommend 'My Dad Wrote a Porno'. It's a menace to any form of productivity too but genuine crying with laughter.

Ha I think I've heard of that via an interview one of the creators did. I can only imagine ...
I'm off to bed so will peruse now.

DAY 17 - DAY 17 - DAY 17

Sharpei Suiting

Here, we follow on from ‘Floating Masculinity’ onto the women’s’ runways and see how these floating fabrics are reinterpreted in more traditional menswear fabrics. This static flow brings a certain novelty against the drapes of silk, satins and jerseys, incorporating a fair bit of asymmetry in an attempt to control the movement alongside shape. There is rigidity, and it’s intentional.

Womenswear has traditionally shied away from wrinkles and creases, smooth or ironed out -much like foreheads- being the preferred look. When it has appeared it has only really been tolerated as an avant-garde expression where it serves as a volumetric exercise.

Leather has certainly facilitated as the gateway drug, a stiff fluidity being characteristic to the material. Wool suiting fabric, in contrast, is more like unchartered territory waiting to be explored. Usually utilised for its weight, and therefore, ability to lay flat comes alive with permission to wrinkle and create a volume that follows the lead of the material, rather than facilitating it.

Taking it a step further into the actual avant-garde, fabric manipulation that is both geometric and random, yet not random, playing with this duality of rigidity that evokes a sense of softness. Control and autonomy appear to be key, it is a chosen form of softness that distinguishes from the classic drape, defying imposed expectations one seam at a time.

Oh yes, I completely love this. Pics 2,3,7 I've got on Pinterest . I love the textures and mix of flowing or more sculptural fabric.

Yes another lover of this. Photo 2 is great and the ones with wool fabric too. I would love to have something in that material and that look