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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Cinq

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Sept

Huit

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Dix

Merch in celebration of our tenth (previous) thread:

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

This sort of material (obviously not the granny goes to church version)? Open basket weave is the best description I found, probably not the accurate term.

Ah I’ve googled myself silly now! It’s something like that alright. Thanks for the help! She was here complaining about not finding what she had in her head and I thought I could just find the perfect thing and show off 🙄

IIRC a friend has some, but I don't know the brand. I do know they were not inexpensive, in fact they were very expensive (£150+).She does say they are very comfortable though. I could ask, if you wanted bani?

Oh please ask, thank you, even though her budget is not 150 quid 😬 but it’s killing me not knowing 😉

She is reckless, financially, but I will ask if there's a brand to investigate.

I love that type of sandals, Italian goes to church
Today I am wearing a tip by Karl Marc John, I got it in paris years ago. It makes me think of Italian holidays somehow, must be the lemons.

That blue silk dress is lovely, not a surprise I am drawn to that , with that colour!

That blue silk is the perfect colour for my eldest daughter's eyes

I'm deeply of your DD's eye colour Bani. I was blonde and blue/turquoise eyed as a baby, don't know how I managed to have such dark eyes and hairs now 🤷 I always wanted emerald green eyes though.

Very summer-y Red, I can never remember if that brand is French or American (I always think American but I only ever see it in France).

My fabric arrived (FINALLY) yesterday and I got to sewing my tulip trousers. Stupidly proud for getting the crotchless lines all neatly sewn up together. Probably was supposed to continue the line but it gets quite bulky with the French seams. I followed the standard measurements but I'll definitely make them smaller in the final silk version. It's mostly done now, just need to roll hem at the bottom which I want to practice a bit more, I got a pretty decent result on a scrap piece but the tension was clearly not set up right as visible on the other side. Just sewing up the sides and attaching the elastic after that (need to go out an buy that today). It's been surprisingly stress free and without mistakes (I had expected to mess up the French seams as you keep having to remember right sides/wrong sides). Traced pattern also seems to be pretty well traced which I hadn't expected as the stretchy back made it difficult as the fabric kept moving all over the place.

Fabric is terrible quality though, not sure what you'd use it for beyond sheerish curtains. Definitely won't be pyjamas for me as it's very scratchy and I'd have to iron them after washing each time.

*crotch stupid AC it has a crotch, I promise...

You are a natural Bo! That looks like an excellent result, I cannot wait to see the result with the final fabric.

I always thought that brand was French, but only because I see it there too , but I don’t really go to America often so I cannot say. I have a couple of tops of that similar style from them.

It probably is French the name just comes across American to me and it did vaguely have that Michael Kors/Marc Jacobs feel about it in the 00s. I think they always hung those brands together in department stores at the time. Probably the Marc bit also made the association to American designer sportswear brands. Maybe it's a marketing thing by design?

Your sewing is very neat Bo, well done! I like the fabric too, pity it’s scratchy. What were the trousers you’ve traced now again?

We’ve had a beautiful couple of days. Thursday was a holiday and I took an 8 km walk all by myself and finished at a cafe for cheesecake and coffee and a book all by myself and it was great. Yesterday was wfh but I went to the hairdresser in the morning and spent the afternoon after work lounging on the balcony in the sun finishing my book and it was great. And today is pissing rain but nature needs it so that’s great, and I’ve helped one of my daughters put up curtains and that’s great.

I’ve another time-stood-still house to show you btw. This one isn’t as weird, just run down. www.lansfast.se/hitta/villa/uppsala/uppsala/vange/finnsta-226/cmvilla4up2tf0p1hf3jo1a/ The blue hall and stairwell is actually quite special, like a film set. And an amazing tiled stove.

Flo, I spotted you on the linen thread. ;) how are the sewing plans coming along?

Oh the original features in that are gorgeous 😍 is there a reason no one wants to pay much for these properties. Is it just location. I'm not too charmed by the exterior though, they don't seem to match. Has it been modernised due to the Swedish hardcore weather?

I always wanted a house like Pippi Longstocking, it kind of haar those features with the bright rooms where the paint goes up the ceiling. Don't know what the English name (or Swedish for that matter) is, we call it Villa Kakelbont. My best translation is all over the place, without direction, although these days it means doing that but very artfully curated. Popular with 'I'm mad me' women.

So aside from the exterior facelift, it needs some hipster styling, obviously.

I think I'll finish my trousers (tulip ones, I bought them last year from Pull & Bear, I really like them but they're shoddily made and already falling apart, I want a black silk version, ultimately) tonight or tomorrow, not much left to do. I feel a bit cheated for putting all the work in and will have no use for it

Gorgeous house, bani. Our kitchen is a similar blue.

The limit of my sewing, my Nicole Farhi linen dress and I was quite impressed by my hemming from last year. It's the first time I've worn it since last summer (uniqlo airism top underneath, as there is a chilly wind today).

Argh I posted and it got lost when I clicked post

Short version, my trousers are completely done and I managed to snap a quick pic outside whilst it's still light out and catch a bit of the crazy wind to show off the movement you get with these trousers.

I made them a bit looser in the elastic than the original, less bunching at the back and I wear them on the high hip rather than at the waist so this worked better. Also not sure if the silk will stand up to being tugged so much horizontally (looking at twill, still confused about the weaving consequences of that). They turned out a lot more delicate in finish than I expected, especially in comparison to the original.

They're not as itchy after steaming (I had prewashed the fabric). I think I'll wear them as beach/resort wear. They're super transparent but at the beach no one cares about that. I'll try to take an on picture but I need to find the flesh coloured horrors to wear underneath first.

Huh, not so short version after all.

Wow, bo, they look great. I can see those as great beach trousers.

Thanks quirky I didn't think I had it in me either. Not sure what happened with the second picture, those are the original trousers that are black they almost look white now

That is stunning Bo, you have it in you!

I remember the original trousers now, I really liked them, very excited that you copied them so successfully! I agree that they'll make good beach wear. You lucky sods being able to plan beach visits... You did really well and so fast too - if I'd mis-sewn a French seam I'd have packed it in I think.

Re: the house - location location location... that house needs everything done to it and is quite rural so the price could be argued to be high, but it's still quite near a big town. Ordinary houses in the area go for 1,5-2 million. The hipster toilet one I showed you before sold for 900 000 SEK, which means it more than doubled in price. In town houses go for at least 5 million.

I'm enjoying a bit of warmth and sun here. Today I wore rust trousers and t-shirt - going for monochrome again.

Quirky, your hemming looks very neat.

Red, Iove that last day dress.

The hipster toilet that house needs to be named that from now on. Sign on the house and everything.

Last time I packed it in after a very frustrating coat just kept looking worse. I'm determined to make a nice coat at some point... Merchant & Mills have some lovely deadstock coat fabrics in at the moment. I think it's a bit running before I can walk ordering that but I've also got birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. I may order some samples 🙈

It's been lovely weather here too and things are opening up again on June 1st (museums, restaurants, etc. hairdressers and beauty salons had already reopened) so we're almost Sweden, but it remains weird and people are acting less cautious.

I saw this series on the kimono exhibition in the V&A at the weekend. It looks like a lovely exhibition, it's five short parts.

Right, sewing again today. I'm leveling up in difficulty and attempting to create my own (somewhat) fitted camisole pattern using my dress form 😬

I'm using this Haider Ackermann dress as inspiration and an assortment of my own camisoles as reference.

Promise to laugh with me and not at me when it all ends in tears... The lengths I'll go through to not purchase a ready made pattern is rather impressive

I also overenthusiastically ordered some practice fabric that's actual proper fabric (ie. wasn't cheap) because it's such a lovely colour and it's very similar to sand washed silk but it's Tencel so it should be good practice for working with slippy fabrics without being thrown in the deep end. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow as it's a bank holiday weekend here so I may actually get a start on a finished item.

Assuming it doesn't all end in tears.

Which it will.

I'd love a report of the quality if you order samples anwyay (living vicariously, that's me).

We're entering the phase of the pandemic where people are starting to want accountability for the high number of deaths. There's a certain anger and irritation in reporting for instance that wasn't there to begin with, more critical. I hope it leads to something, better working conditions in nursing homes and so on, that's where the disease got in and spread.

Haven't looked at the kimono thing yet but thank you for the tip! Looks like my kind of thing.

Some Etsy bits, I ordered the earrings a while ago and have worn them loads. Really simple, good for everyday and very lightweight, I like the hammered bit at the bottom which makes them a bit more interesting. The flipflops I was looking at last year, I have ordered in black as slip on sandals are really most practical atm. I had already ordered them but now I have a possible broken toe (stubbed on the bed) and need sandals with no straps around my toes.

bani, that's really what's happened here, I hope it tightens up working practices here too.

Lovely colours,bo. I look forward to seeing your results, I had a colleague that was an extremely talented knitter. She used to redesign really quite complex patterns and make some amazing clothes, very structural knits.

Yeah, I do think one of the more 'positive' aspects of the pandemic has been the exposure to things we otherwise choose not to see. Never have seen so much talk about domestic violence and help being offered. Suddenly it's a priority, similarly care homes and staff in hospitals (especially the ones at the bottom, cleaners, etc.). While I expect some changes to last, I do fear these things will go back to being ignored again

I did say I was overenthusiastic 🤣 I just bought the fabric, it was an end of roll piece though at 30% off, they don't do the colour anymore in that fabric style. It's by meet Milk, Danish and sustainable. I think it's actually just a brand by Metermeter but not sure (did not buy from them though, lovely little independent fabric shop in Antwerp).

I've also bought a walking foot and a patternmaster ruler thingy I need to go out and buy matching thread though as lovely independent shop doesn't sell thread