Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: Ce n'est pas bon de faire du lèche-vitrines avec de l'argent en poche

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Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset and lots of chatter in between. Feel free to join in

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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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Trois

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Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

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Dix

Merch in celebration of our tenth (previous) thread:

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

Marfy patterns, that’s it! That’s for the hardcore people who know it all from a line drawing? 👍🏻

Style magazine has an article on sewing in lockdown . A lot is basic mending, which I can do, I'm old enough to have done "light craft" at school which included "needlework".

The old sizes were something like 32-22-32 for a size 10 and 34-24-34 for a size 12. I don't remember often seeing a size 8 and never a size 6. My mum's family were definitely smaller, I'm 5'7", my mum is 5'2", her mother was 5' and her mother was 4' something. We have some 50s dinner plates that are a closer size to our side plates (which are 90s Denby) than our dinner plates. People ate much less, but then my parents and grandparents had years of rationing and some of them a fair bit of poverty.

bani I have far too many scarves . Generally, I pull the corners so they are diagonal, loop around my neck once or twice, depending on the scarf, and tie (I can't be doing with them slipping off with dd2). I also don't fuss too much about them looking perfect. That might be the key .

bo, I love sour foods too. I remember a friend at university being horrified by my sucking lemons out of drinks. I love most pickles and tart/sour fruit like raspberries, blackcurrants and particularly gooseberries. I think I don't like seville marmalade so much as it is bitter rather than sour. My mum's lemon curd is satisfyingly sour and not too sweet.

Your poor children Bani boater-cook would be a closer pronunciation. Isn't it much more satisfying than a blondie? I always want to add a bit of acid to cut through the richness, lemon zest usually, but I like the idea of freeze dried raspberries.

Name, thanks that's very close, only issue is (which I had anticipated) I'd need more fabric than a standard pattern and I'm eyeing up an end of roll piece that's marked down that's a really high quality that's usually over a hundred euros a metre. Decisions, decisions.

Huh, pattern stroking porn. Mumsnet is right, if you can think of it, someone out there is into it... I actually found a UK seller on eBay that copies out the patterns digitally and sells a modern printed version of it. Seems to be a professional seamstress. She has a load of the vintage Vogue patterns including the Dior coat I adore above and it my size more or less (hips and bust on the smaller side but the coat is huge). It's only £18 + shipping so will buy that when I feel confident enough.

Elastic is still available here in shops, just not online. Which makes sense as the mask fanatics are the highly anxious here who don't leave the house. I'm actually thinking of remaking my Pull & Bear tulip trousers I bought last year as they're already beginning to fall apart and was on the lookout for elastic for thar. They're really quite simple so hopefully easy to replicate. I think I'll order the fabric from China for it, as I want black and you can't really get a good black as a home dyer.

Poor frontline workers, Xing, they do not deserve scrubs made by novice sewers. Thankfully they're not short of any here.

We can be the Sour Pusses quirky I'm generally a bit tepid about pickles, until I discovered Japanese pickles a still warm onigiri with umeboshi inside is heaven. It's the comfort food u did not know I needed in life. I just recently stumbled across a recipe for umeboshi made from rhubarb, it's pretty simple and quick. I'm thinking it would be nice with some grilled mackerel.

I've just dug up a thread from 3 years ago about making your own clothes - and then wished I hadn't as I'm on there telling the same stories and cracking the same jokes

There's a local NHS scrubs sewing group. So far I've hung back from volunteering as I keep thinking they can't be that desperate. Or are they? I can only hope we learn something from this dreadful, not to mention humiliating and (from what I can see) avoidable situation. But I doubt it somehow.

Hiut Jeans are teaching the community to sew by giving novices the tunics to run up, and making the trouser experts in the factory do the bottoms. But bo is right, and no hardworking healthcare person should have to suffer the indignity of my attempts to sew.

Very intrigued about the end of roll fabric choice: I hope we'll see the finished coat in a month or two.

A month or two Spring 2022 at the earliest, in all honesty. I may have half a camisole done in two months. For the coat I want to find some nice fabric for it and for that I will have to travel to a good fabric shop in Paris, Italy or a factory in Scotland. Name are there any online shops that deal in vintage/deadstock fabrics or is that mostly accessible within the industry only?

Flo meant to mention earlier, the eBay seller with the digitised vintage patterns also has a pattern from the 1940s, trousers that scream Katherine H. Let me know if you want me to link it, they're a waist size 26 though (vintage patterns seem to be just one size) so you'd have to feel capable enough to adjust it if that isn't your size.

I know it's crazy Bani but I'm so tempted to have a go at a Marfy pattern.

I've been looking for the perfect pattern to recreate this coat worn by Mindy Kaling, but haven't found the one. But then came across this pattern whilst browsing their site last night:

www.marfy.it/sewing-pattern-6665.html

So tempted even if it's no 100%

Bo deadstock is becoming more popular, but it isn't really that high end. Lots of viscose.

The New Craft House do have some nice fabrics in, but stock is hit and miss and I think they sell the best fabrics at open days (or at least they did ore lockdown!).

shop.thenewcrafthouse.com/collections/fabric

Joel and Son stock designer fabrics, but my god the prices.

www.joelandsonfabrics.com/uk/

Blackbird fabrics in Canada have some lovely deadstock silks in stock this week, but they aren't shipping internationally at the moment. Probably a good thing for the yacht fund.

Quirky I am jealous of your ability to wear scarves. No matter how I try I either look like a pony club member or an air stewardess.

Curse you Name (not really, I can't thank you enough for being able to source and answer anything and everything I ask for, saving me from the crafty front of home sewing) I now want several metres of this Loro Piano fabric just to swaddle myself in. I'm almost definite this is the quarantine pick me up I need.

That coat looks great, she's not that big though is she? It looks reinforced or padded out somewhat.

New Craft House looks promising but I don't think they ship outside the UK. I'll keep an eye on them and contact them if anything ever takes my fancy.

Thank you bo that's really kind but I'm going to pass until I'm a bit more adept. At the moment I think I'd have as much chance of not botching as I have of achieving a 26" waist. I'm sure someone else would give it a better home.

I am at those Joel and son prices - I was raised on mill shops and roll ends - but I'd love to see and touch them for real.

Bo Oh we've had pronunciation wars here too - apparently there are different Dutch accents ;) so all sorts of interesting ways to say it

It's all gone now anyway

If I wear scarves I tend to look a bit try-hard - unless they are utilitarian. Possibly it's all down to my attitude.

I'm very keen on that double-gauze fabric at Merchant and Mills, but you absolutely need to know what you're doing before you cut into the expensive stuff! It's lovely though.

Yes, Flo, I know travel isn't a thing now, but I'd quite like to schedule a petting session at Joel and Son

Sure there are different accents but they don't have that much variation Bani feel free to claim a Swedish accent in Dutch, we traded through the Hanseatic League so you've northern folk have left their marks already here already, what's a little more?

I think you're onto something with the scarves, I've never given a thought how I wear them and I think that's the difference.

Yes, expensive stuff needs to be treated with care but beyond cutting I think you need to be a little reckless as well. You can always unpick things, the only thing you've got to lose is time. But don't take tips from me, I always took a pattern as something to defy recklessly.

Re Dutch: Well my son found a voice on google translate that sounded different from the baker on youtube so we had a grand old time shouting at each other for a bit ;)

Popped into the charity shop on my way from train to bike today: They have this Marni for H&M dress IN MY SIZE for 350 SEK. manifestowoman.com/products/marni-at-h-m-tribal-print-silk-maxi-dress The snag? It has several small stains. Now, I don't think the pattern on the top half is very me, but the bottom half I loved when it came out and I still love it, so I am ludicrously drawn to this. Talk me out of it (it's stained for God's sake).

Are the stains on the top or bottom? If they're small they're hardly going to be noticeable on the bottom half with all that pattern. Since you don't like the top anyhow, I'd chop that off but at the asking price that's becoming quite an expensive project. Why is it so expensive in a charity shop, it'll have been double that new, maybe a bit more but not loads more.

Alternatively, on Vestiaire they have a blouse version, also silk but different pattern at the back in size 42. Shipping is free if you opt for direct shipping without the authentication step which is not of use for this anyhow.

Oh nice find Bo - whenever I look at Vestiaire there is nothing nice my size - I’ll have to think about that 👍🏻😍

This charity shop is severely overpriced, always, but it’s the only one in the town centre. The stains are both up and down but apart from that the dress was in good condition and I have to say the quality of the silk was rather nice. Ridiculous to ask 350 for it and the sad thing is it will get sold. I have a dream of swishing around in a silk maxi you see ...

Oh just hearing about popping into charity shops makes me feel a bit sad, bani - not sad for you obviously but it was something I used to do without even thinking and now sometimes I wonder if it'll ever happen again.

Anyway

2012 Flo I discover after googling - seems a long time ago! It was a pretty good collection, but very bold prints. Found a list here (in Swedish) www.baaam.se/marni-at-hm-alla-plagg-och-priser

The dress was 1300 SEK new I see there. Not bad for silk, not at all. It's always popular when it turns up second hand. Style-wise the brown and white more graphic part of the pattern isn't me at all, but they had some lovely model photos at the time that made me long to be That Sort Of Person.

Stains are definitely noticeable. Small brown/yellow things all over the place. I do get pissed off at stuff like that. Can't unsee them once I've seen them (will of course pop in again after work today and see if they've got it still). Haven't even tried it on, haha, not ever. It really isn't the sort of thing I go for/suits me, but I've coveted it for years!

Oh and I hope you soon can go charity shop hopping Flo, in safety and happiness!

Your dress popped up on Vinted today in a size 40 (for €20), Bani. They photographed it back to front and I briefly thought that was the front, it looks much better that way. Maybe you should try it on like that, you won't see the stains then either Though I agree with Flo that knowing it's there is the niggling thing that will haunt you 😱

Name are you familiar with Republique de Chiffon patterns (very French, not so much Parisian). Their Leonard coat looks very similar to the Mindy Kaling coat you're trying to replicate, just need to size up/lengthen it maybe?

My Vinted conundrum of the day is attached. Asking price €12, silk from Mango. It's a long time since I saw silk at Mango and I can't really remember if it's any good, I know it's always been too thin at Zara but Mango has not left an impression on me. I think there was the occasional nice bit of silk in premium collections. I sort of like the button but question how comfortable that would be but really like the colour. Can't find a model shot, that would somewhat help me make up my mind, I think. So, thoughts?

I just had the bright idea from my own post to Google image search with premium in it, and that has yielded results remarkably quick. Good to know it won't choke me.

Though, it's not helping with making up my mind, I need to know how it looks (semi) tucked in as I'd never wear it like that

Thank you for the tip, Bo! Spontaneously I think the button will make the silk droop as per pic no 2? I suspect it's thin silk. But the colour is nice! 12 pounds isn't bad ...

I'm somehow not convinced either, think I should take it as a sign that it's probably best to leave it. Forgot to attach pic of dress wrong way round previously.

Thanks Bo, that pattern is so nearly perfect however, and this is very picky, I think it wither needs raglan or grown on sleeves to get the diagonal plaid on the sleeve. That or I hack the sleeve into two pieces and cut on the bias.

I've the Yona by Named pattern as a contender too, which will be much friendly to sew together than the Marfy.

www.namedclothing.com/shop/yona-wrap-coat/

The Joel and Son fabrics are divine, the hand painted silks especially.

That's a shame about the stains Bani the print is fabulous.

Popped in again (sorry Flo) and tried it on. Def need size 42/US12. Stains might come out in the wash , this time I saw dirty “skin stains” along the top. Skin stains should come out shouldn’t they...? Will have a think until ... tomorrow. It was really nice on. Felt lovely. It’s not a wallpaper dress though, very much art on the wall.

Forgot to post this from when I popped into (sorry) the art museum this weekend. Indian artist who makes suits of armour/dancing costumes out of cane. I really liked them, bought a poster too.

Skin stains do you mean makeup stains or bits of dry skin...

I think ox gall soap would get a lot of stains out, followed by a vinegar rinse. Tends to work better on silk than other stain removers. Sweat stains is pretty much game over though.

Art museum that's got to be ten grannies at least. Killer.

Did you try it on back to front though?

I appreciate a fellow Picky Princess, Name, I think the original coat had a dropped shoulder? Is it really terrible of me that I'm now eyeing up things with the idea to order them just to copy the pattern? I really like attached dress but at just over €600 they've lost the plot but I assume it has a really special pattern as they can't be charging that much for a simple cotton dress.