Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet: L'enfer c'est les Autres

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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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Merch created in honour of our tenth thread anniversary:

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

Have I ever asked what you want from a shoe Bani are you still looking at summer shoes?

Yeah they're expensive patterns - I'll need to make at least 2 more before I feel I've got my money's worth. I think it would work well as a pyjama shirt though.

I picked up this top on a charity shop run for £2.99. It's Windsmoor, in a very heavy silky viscose, just my type of drapey top in my favourite grey. It was a very "old school" charity shop where most things were very cheap and looked a bit tatty. I washed it, as it looked really creased and not that clean, it's come up well. There was also a Diane von Furstenberg lace, wrap dress in a bright turquoise, sadly too small and the wrong colour for me.

That shirt looks quite ambitious, flo, but very stylish.

Sorry to be unclear, my daughter is 23 and it was college-level school ;) my mother bear instincts are not going overboard with this. It's a good thing!

Flo - did you really make all those buttonholes? :O

Quirky, love the top, my kind of thing too - nice find! So versatile.

Bo, god love you, what do I want from shoes? Someone to tell me what to get until I hone my eye perhaps? I've given up looking at summer shoes, it's not that warm so I don't "need" them. Am living in my white Kavat sneakers because it feels a little too warm for shoes that look more autumn. Bla bla bla I know I bore myself. It's something I'd really like to get better at though.

That's a great looking top Quirky. I really need to go secondhand shopping as I'm not making the most of Secondhand September. My Vinted stuff I ordered in August still hasn't arrived (don't ever use Mondial Relay for shipping they're god awful) so I've been dissuaded from purchasing on there lately (I can choose other couriers but I'm still pissy about it, sellers have been great though, chasing them even though they're all items that cost less than €10).

Ah Bani I think it's just extra hard since you're handicapped by the weather 3/4 of the year. I really enjoy the look of (most, some are a bit WTF ) rhe Last Conspiracy Theory shoes/boots (I think they're Swedish, Scandi for sure) that look like they've already been through a few winters but to you lot that must feel like trolling 🤣

haha trolling!

See I'd not be averse to something like this thelastconspiracy.com/collections/women/products/bia-waxed-suede-high-top-oxblood-buffed-sole but you're right, I'm not paying that money for pre-worn stuff (in this case scuffed toe). most of it feels a little try-hard, if you know what I mean. Aspiring to a life-style they're not living (as in, genuinely wearing boots out).

I'm always struggling to feel balanced in footwear really. So shoes aren't too clumsy or too falsely dainty (which doesn't suit my personality or cankles).

Also:

"Realism is subject to structure, provided by our surroundings and individualistic interaction Pensive yet defiant we tread onto urbane settings, calmly immersed in inner reflection. Evermore, humans remain solitary wanderers, comfortably equipped with sartorial anticipation."

PENSIVE YET DEFIANT

Ha I did think, aren't bani's kids grown up now?

Couple of pics here. The buttonholes themselves were pretty straightforward as I just used an attachment. Getting them in a straight line and reasonably spaced out was another matter.
I also nearly ruined it by starting to adjust the shoulders before I noticed the fit was like that on the models too and that this was where the width was coming from
Next time I may make the shoulder fit more exaggerated so that it's clear it's meant to be like that and not just too big. It would be nice to get that kind of volume through pleating or clever cutting but that's beyond my skills.
I cropped the length as I thought oversized and long would be too much.
I was planning to make it in linen next but it'll be close to winter before it's finished so I may try and find a heavier but soft cotton instead.

Just spotted a loose thread thanks to that pic!

That's not bad at all Flo! Well done!

Haha, maybe I should make those questionable brand blurbs the advent calendar once a day, at least it'll have us cackling 'equipped with sartorial anticipation' totally sounds like a euphemism for orgasm delay involving chalk outlines...

Yeah, it is very try hard because I think I have to try for 10 winters before boots would start looking like that here. I have to actually buy into tastefully disheveled over here...

Soz I missed your posts.
I thought for a sec those boots were made from 'vegetal horse shit'. I know these are apocalyptic times but that feels a step too far.

Shirt looks good Flo, I'm very impressed.

@Floisme

Soz I missed your posts. I thought for a sec those boots were made from 'vegetal horse shit'. I know these are apocalyptic times but that feels a step too far.

🤣🤣🤣

I'm dead...

Thanks bani - the biggest blunder - and I don't even know how I managed it - is that one side has ended up longer than the other but I couldn't face unpicking it so tried to disguise it with not-very-cunning buttonhole positioning.

Sorry quirky I missed your top - great find!

And thank you for the Uniqlo U reminder, I'd forgotten!

Half-tucks are our friends, Flo.

Bo, I'll do an online course for you on how to wreck shoes. I'm good at it.

Bloody houses, falling through at the last minute. Sigh.

Love the top quirky and am super-impressed by the shirt, Flo!

Oh no Catherine maybe is more appropriate. I hope you're able find something else soon.

Only if it involves a lesson involving repeatedly stepping in vegetal horse shit Bani

Excuse the word salad, I blame the heat.

Commiserating with you, Catherine... to drown your sorrow. I wish you a fresh surge of energy and enthusiasm to renew your search.

Congratulations to Flo and Quirky on their new tops: both look marvellous, and remind me that nice shirts in the right colours and fabrics are something I am short of. Unusually, I'm in the mood for softly flowing and patterned.... but unruffled, which rules out most of what I've seen. It's all wrong for people my age to waft around looking like dairymaids.

Bani, I do sympathise with your quest for shoes. For the last couple of years I've lurked at Yoox for bargain edgy Italian trainers and low boots which play nicely between comfortable and practical. I target a company called Andia Fora because their size 38 is a perfect fit.

Oh CatherineMaitland, you definitely need . That's awful.

flo's "vegetal horseshit" sounds like it could be sustainable . Lots of companies certainly spout it as part of their brand (toast, I'm looking at you). I like those distressed looking boots, actually, they remind me a bit of Hudson boots, though I've never bought any.

Those trainers you've linked before, Xing, I like them. I certainly seem to live in trainers this time of year, apart from these last few days which have been sandal weather again.

Bani, I think they might work in damp Scandinavia, but not in snow. They are pretty robust (beautifully made, leather and leather lined etc) but not mainstream, so they make my mainstream (frankly ordinary) staples look (I hope) chic and current. The first pair I ever bought still get compliments, despite the spots of oil that have fallen on them while cooking supper. And the first pair of sneakers went out as workboots today, to improve the look of an ancient denim jumpsuit. I wasn't doing anything physical though. But they walk XingDog regularly if I'm taking mapped walks.

Shoes tweak outfits in the direction you want to go. Keep the staples well-fitting, and nail the look with accessories. (Disclaimer here: I don't really get handbag adoration).

And I would dearly love a steer to a brand that makes really wearable shirts, without breast pockets, to dress up jeans or simple outfits.

I really struggle to find shirts too - it's partly what's driving me to try and make my own. I like a square, slightly oversize shape, not too long - just enough for a half tuck, and a decent fabric that drapes nicely. I can take or leave a breast pocket. I have 2 I really like, both charity shop, one is linen, no brand but has a made in England label and, I would guess, M&S in its glory days. The other looks home made and was probably the original inspiration to have a go myself.

Catherine that's shit, I'm really sorry.