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:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

Neuf

Dix

Merch in celebration of our tenth (previous) thread:

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

I wore the dress out yesterday and did take a few quick pics while browsing the Arket sale (they had some nice things in but had closed their changing rooms for reasons unknown, not a Covid19 thing anyhow) so I was able to forget 99% of their clothes are an ill fit on me 🤣

Anyhow back to the dress, not the best pics also had to adjust the colours as there was a weird white haze on all my pictures, I suspect a dirtied lens Colour of the blue is less vivid in real life, still so odd how it shows up on camera, it's more of a deep bright blue, quite a French colour actually. You can see where it goes out at the sides the fabric seems to fold back in, I'm not sure what that is about, it shouldn't be an issue and it wasn't in the toile, think it's down to the fabric and using a French seam (I pressed the hell out of it throughout and it only started misbehaving in its final form), I may just insert some pockets in there if I ever feel the urge. It has little tie ups to connect both sides at the top front but I probably should lower the knot on those, they fit fine when on but with wear they seem to tighten and pull up (I assume body heat and moisture plays a role as I know this makes Tencel shrink temporarily) so it's all sitting slightly too high.

So it has been a bit of a learning experience, despite being quite fluid the material acts much more creepy and stiff when sewn, I mean it was described as crepe like so I probably should pay more attention to that next time

I love the dress!! I really like the shape of the straps.
Maybe my delphiniums are brighter but the colour reminded me of them.
From Monday shops will open here, in my town I saw loads of them getting ready, loads of cleaning basically. But where I live I don’t have the big shops mainly small independents, on one hand I had decided not to buy anything for the rest of the year (unless a real need like those sandals) but I feel sorry for them and the impact all of this is having on them , anyhow right now I will not browse much .... yet anyway.

Very impressed with your sewing skills bo - you look lovely.

And I like the look of those chunky fit flops Red and I'm in desperate need of sandals so I might give them a go, thank you!

So I seem to be getting my shopping mojo back just at the right time
Although having just read all the John Lewis reopening rules, I'm wondering why they're bothering. It's going to be like shopping with my mum when I was a child, when you'd point at a shelf and a lady in pearls would climb up some step ladders, bring it down and hold it up for you.

Yes, it's not dissimilar to your lovely delphiniums the hue just isn't as bright in RL, maybe it is from a distance but as the wearer I feel I should be rewarded with the nicest view from up close

This is an irk I have with a lot of clothes actually, high street is definitely guilty of this the most but not exclusively but I want things that probably only I as the wearer will appreciate. So I hemmed this by hand, no one will notice it but me, but no one notices it because it was hemmed by hand and therefore completely invisible instead of a topstitch. I would have understitched it along the top but the construction didn't allow for it so I did topstitch by machine there so that it pays flat but I did it really precisely with a very small stitch after some careful pressing. Only other detail oriented weirdos will appreciate that but that's the stuff that gets me exited about clothes construction. Just in case you weren't aware I was a weirdo yet

X-posted with Flo, is there a linkey for John Lewis shopping because it sounds intriguing (I'm picturing staff in JL monogrammed hazmat suits).

I will say it's weirdly nice to interact with people you don't know again and little independent shop owners you don't come to often but they do recognise you are ridiculously nice and accommodating and treat you like long lost friends.

The official link is https://www.johnlewis.com/customer-services/shops-reopening?intcmp=ic20200605shopreopeninghpele_ here]] but I was reading about it somewhere else too - been browsing the news sites so not sure where though - probably Twitter so bound to be true
Not being able to try on and being discouraged from even touching the fabrics are the killers for me - they're the main reasons I prefer real shops to online. But it doesn't make much difference to me personally as I won't be able to go shopping for a while anyway.

Hmm yes, the fitting rooms I really don't understand and the risk of contraction of covid through secondhand touch is pretty minimal AFAIK. Over here they've closed every other changing room if they're next to each other and open at the top or bottom. Every item is steamed if not purchased and the changing room is wiped down and some have UV light contraptions they roll in. A lot of extra work for staff, but not being able to touch and try on defeats the appeal of a physical shop 🤷

There's a lot less stock in the shops (to make more space to keep distance) and I really hope they stick with that, it's so much nicer to shop with so much less stuff.

My two favourite shops are a dress agency with one changing cubicle (where you really have to try on because there are so many brands plus some stuff has shrunk in the wash) and a market stall where you try on in a nearby public toilet, so lord knows how they will manage. It wouldn't surprise me if they both decided to retire, which would leave me little choice but to stop pissing around and start sewing.

I like the dress, bo. I have a scarf in a similar dusty blue that also can look very bright in photos.

I know our charity shops are due to open, but not sure how that's going to work if you don't try on. I wondered if they might be have been better just putting items online, especially the local charities. I know they've lost so much money over the lockdown .

I'm still waiting for my leather flip-flops from Etsy. I like yours red. I think fitflop have done thinner soled shoes for a while, now.

Thanks quirky have the flip flops arrived yet, I'm rather curious. I can't find the thinner soles on the Fitflop website at all

I've received some more samples, this time from Merchant and Mills. The one I had hoped would be great for wool camel trousers (bottom right) is a bit of a mustard gone off colour instead 😣

I really like the 'almond' top left, but it's much too thick for the trousers, it's really proper coating fabric. I'm still a bit scared to tackle a coat but it's deadstock fabric so I'm going to have to make my mind up and just purchase it on a confidence in my future skills or let sensibility reign. I'm unsure of the colour, it's somewhere between brown and green and I'm worried it'll just be too drab of a colour to really make a coat stand out, I'm worried it'll middle any sharpness, basically. I'm struggling to envision a coat with it anyhow, until I figure it out I'm holding off making a decision and hope it doesn't sell out. I've looked at the Céline 2011 collection (one of my faves) and maybe some of that can work for inspiration, I'll attach pics in next post.

The colour of the almond wool coating material also really pairs well with the dry oilskin (bottom almost left) and I'm wondering if an attachable hood, or something like an overcoat could work together but I think that's getting a bit overly ambitious.

Again, I'm coming up disappointed by the cotton, it's just so thin and transparent. Where's the stuff Cos gets for their men's shirts? All the home sewing cotton available seems to just be thin and transparent without much shape. Some of the Japanese fabrics are nice (the colour of the emerald is lush) but I don't understand why it's so expensive 🤷

The other deadstock fabrics were also a bit of a letdown, I had a whole coat imagined with the white mohair but it's far too thin.

I do really like the brown linen/cotton mix (top right). Not crazy expensive either. Feels of a much higher quality than comparable fabrics at this price point. Colours are limited though, I can only envision a dress with it so far and I'm still contemplating the Gimaguas dress in brown. The other limited choice of colours they have may be of interest, the cinnamon toast is a sort of warm yellowy orange. But not sure what to make out of that as it's a bit of an autumn palette.

Quality of the canvas twill is great too, they'd be fab for some fitted trousers for in between weather, also not crazy expensive. Think there were lots of colours for that but the one I was interested in out of stock.

Céline AW2011 pics, the first probably what I'm veering to but I'm kind of intrigued by the third the most but I'm definitely feeling out of depth on how to construct something like that. The second pic more or less demonstrates my concern that it can just be a bit blah with these unpronounced colours.

No, my flip-flops haven't arrived yet, bo. The seller on Etsy has messaged me a tracking link and they are apparently in the UK, but supply lines are still not great. That's more reassuring than they've just gone awol.

My gast is flabbered - are we accepting fitflops now? And velcro straps? I can tell you that shoe shopping will become much easier if so! I'll admit I've seen several chunky soles that I've quite liked because they look so comfortable, but I'm still shying away from velcro straps.

Bo, shem about the fabric not being up to your hopes. The dress still looks very nice, but if it doesn't pop the way you wanted it to ... Have to say my experience with viscose/tencel/rayon is not that your body heat will make it shrink, rather that it relaxes the fabric and makes it looser. I think the odd fit on the sides you're complaining about is more due to pressing or fitting - can't say I see issues in the photos but I'm basing this on a few years of reading sewing blogs.

I'd say you're partly paying for the brand with M&M, but it's hard to say. They look promising.

I've been a bit busy* so haven't been on. I have however bought another shirt dress from Uniqlo that I'm waiting on, because I just love wearing the blue one I bought last year. (And Uniqlo are on the "good" list...)

I had a few links saved with facebook tips I wanted to show, but I accidentally closed them all. Oh but there's a hipster Frenchman in Stockholm who opened a shop for authentic french workers wear, including pretentious writing. lusinebleue.com/pages/lamour-est-bleue "In a tiny store on Skånegatan in SOFO, Stockholm’s trendiest neighborhood, a Frenchman carefully rearranges blue overshirts and woolen sweaters. In his right pocket he secretely keeps a pack of Gauloises and an old Opinel. To him, the items on the hangers around him are not clothes – they’re stories. Answer his cheery ”Bonjour!” and he’ll tell them to you. For hours and hours."

Aye so ye are.

Trivia: American article on "Normie minimalism" I liked. hyperallergic.com/566183/how-normie-minimalism-and-farmhouse-chic-took-over-contemporary-design/ (She writes McMansion Hell, a blog I enjoy)

*It's been hot and I've just been lazing on the balcony.

haha SHEM is the new shame apparently

shem on me!

Is nothing sacred? Turns out my mother is now a SoFo hipster. The number of times she forgot to put that Opinel knife in her check in luggage, I can't even remember to count. I'm not surprised at all that I'm still on some flying blacklists

Interesting article, I do like the NYC loft style. Do I now admit that our renovated downstairs loo has metro tiles and an upcycled pipe loo roll holder? .

I have been wearing some old, proper fitflops, but mostly for comfort with a recovering broken toe. The ones I'm waiting for a leather greek ones.

I still need to read that article but I just want to state that my pioneering mother had carefully sourced Parisian metro tiles way back in the 80s or 90s before anyone ever had heard of them. Bunch of copycats.

Parisian subway tiles are good but NY honeycomb porcelain is the best ever bathroom tile for walls and/or floors. My apartment was built with them in the 1940s roughly. They still looked terrific in the 1980s, and I bet no one has bothered to update them yet.

Being a trendsetter is hard Bo I do feel sorry for everyone who has an original idea and then has that popularised into ultimate blandness. Like the first person to make a cushion cover out of an old French flour sack, or the first person to write Live Laugh Love on their wall ... at one point that was original! However, at least that is less permanent than tiles. I'm beginning to actively dislike metro tiles, they're so ubiquitous - and that is highly unreasonable. Metro tiles do look good, really.

I do love honeycomb tiles though, probably because they are very rare here. Wait 'til they get picked up by Those People. Sweden is very homogenous in that respect.

My facebook is mad for recommending me Rieker sandals. Shoot me now.

I'll need to caffeine up before I read that article - I couldn't get past the emblematic co-working space.

My exciting news is that the Solovair-for-Toast boots have arrived and they might be just the ticket for wearing with cropped trousers in (most of) winter. It's only taken me 3 years to track some down. Not a very seasonal buy but it'll probably take until then to break them in.

Haha, I'm thoroughly imagining someone rocking back and forth whispering live laugh love repeatedly. Poor soul.

Yes, pretty homogeneous in tastes here too, even though it can be outspoken and not as timid as the Scandis there's still very little variation. The person who originally brought back cement tiles from Morocco must be living in shem If we ever get a cat (I hate cats) I'll name it Shem, but I'll be sure to credit you Bani

I like a honeycomb tile too, although they've slowly been gaining ground. A lot of suppliers have been pushing extra large scale versions of it in natural stone, which I admit does look really nice in a bathroom but I do feel we're going to look back at those far sooner than expected and going, eh a bit old fashioned.

I still really like the Victorian floor tiles that you have all over the world inside and outdoors. Can't remember if Winchester (or maybe something else with a W, I should really know this but I haven't done a historical reno in quite some time) is the original manufacturer or just the last one standing, still lovely and they scrub up really well too.

Flo were they the derby or the hiker ones? Very pleased for you!

I love Victorian tiles too, and Moroccan ones. And Portuguese. No shem (also good name for a dog or pet alpacka)! I'm also fond of the unassuming square tile that they put up in the rental apartments I've lived in all my life - unpretentious and never wrong (because never completely right, not since 1937).

Oh well we have metro tiles on the wall and Victorian floor tiles in black, white and grey downstairs and the ensuite will be metro tiles on the wall and Victorian floor tiles in blues on the floor. It is an early Victorian house, so I'm hoping it looks not too dated . Sadly not original Victorian floor tiles, but a modern version.

bo, Winchester has lots of patterned floor tiles in the cathedral (I grew up near there) that were saved from flooding by a diver.

That diver is a

The infestation of Chinese blue stone and 'slate' can do one though. It looks great in China and just weird here.

I do sometimes wonder what happened to all the terracotta(ish) tiles that were all the rage in the 90s alongside blue and yellow colour schemes. I remember thinking it was naff then already, mind you I had no taste either, I was absolutely mesmerised by a very kitsch lamp at someone's house that would light up when you touched the base 🤩. There was also a shop that had very shiny light beige natural stone furniture, tables mostly, where the legs were like half ruin Roman columns and there were lots of glass display cupboards and white leather sofas and ridiculously shiny modern chandeliers. It was the very embodiment of bad taste in my mother's eyes but I was fascinated by it all as I never saw anything like it anywhere and left wondering who bought that (those in organised crime, essentially).

There's a statue to the diver, but in fact they used a photo and made a statue to his assistant.

Those touch lamps I remember very well. We had a grey kitchen in the 90s with blue and green tiles and orange walls ! It was the era of Changing Rooms: Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen was in fact a neighbour (not that I knew him).