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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Sept

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Merch created in honour of our tenth thread anniversary:

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

There really is no hope for world peace if we can't even agree on what a tank top is.
Sadly too true! I wonder where I got my seemingly imaginary facts from?

The jacket spencer sounds Jane Austen era.

I will check out that YouTuber bo. I’d love to try something on, there have been lots of elastic waisted style dresses this year which I need to try on to see if work, as I have a shortish torso. Shops open soon hopefully.

I forgot to mention the Cos sale! There were several racks of it in the store and I expected it to be mostly Extreme Cos but a lot of it was quite normal. They had quite a few of those boxy shirts I like but the colours were useless for me - considered dyeing but they weren't quite bargainous enough to take a punt. Also some nice chunky cotton knitwear that would work well in the autumn and the usual funny trousers of which I am so fond. But without being about to try on it was pointless because I wasn't in town long enough to return. I guess I could have bought and gone hunting for a store with toilets and mirror but I couldn't be arsed.

And speaking of returns, the Uniqlo U cardigan is going straight back. It's nice but very fitted and if the preview had shown it on the model I wouldn't even have been tempted. I hadn't realised either that they no longer send you a returns label so you have to print your own. No doubt they'll say it's environmentally friendly but what you're meant to do if you don't have printer access I'm not sure.

I am still here!
I will not attempt to pretend I have read all your posts lovelies, but I have been lurking from time to time.
So, did I see here some old posters? Catherine? And Times?
I am not even sure why I fell off the thread ... I blame the pandemic.
I have been quite frugal lately, all I acquired in these last months was 1 dress (from Compañía Fantástica), will show photos later, can be used as open kimono too, over jeans.
Other than that my work wadrobe is still in perfect condition not seeing the light, my office was just getting round the idea of letting people in and now it seems that we might as well not bother until next year.

There is a slim chance I will be popping into kings cross next week... might stop in the Cos, if that is the case.

I did buy a silk wrap dress in the COS sale after bo pointed me in that direction on Sunday, but it hasn't arrived yet.

When did IKEA change the length of their mattresses from EU standard to UK. I just bought a new one for DS and it's 3" short.

All these COS buys sound good, there's not a branch near us sadly.

I've been doing an autumn/summer switch over today as it looks as if the last day of summer is here (fittingly on the autumn equinox). Putting away the high summer stuff and getting out a few more transitional things.

What does a cos silk wrap dress look like? I can’t imagine the soft silk knit of eg lk Bennett (I know there must be more original style sources but I have one of theirs ) or Dvf. Structured silk brocade with an origamiesque tie and a volume sleeve?

The tracksuit pants I have been wearing a lot recently are about 20 years old, black nylon, and I think they were one of my brothers’ school pairs. I did mix it up earlier this week with a tartan wool skirt that is only about 15 years old and was a cheap buy from urban outfitters in the us. Just call me style goddess. I sometimes wish my clothes would wear out just to make me get rid of some.

Truth be told quirky, it looks loose and light and the colour is probably dodgy but if it fits and can be dyed, then it may be useful... or, it can be returned. And I rather like wrap dresses, especially if they look a bit Amish.

If I were sewing a silk wrap dress it would be this I think (minus the neck feature). www.houseofnonie.com/store/p121/Silk_Wrap_Dress.html
I also like these colours half half down a slip dress but adding a neat thin centre seam on the bias is a long way outside of my capability in silk. Fine linen possibly doable.

Excuse me but I love that Nonie site? This is the me as I am in my head. Not IRL sadly.

I am very sad about RBG too. I understand the perspective that she should perhaps have resigned "in time" --but then that places a lot of responsability on just her. Tonnes of other oldies sat until they popped their clogs, but the woman should be more prescient? I can see why she just kept working. It's the job she worked for all her life. I do like the idea that you should always plan for the end though. I work in local government and that is one thing we should bloody do. I like to say I work to make myself redundant or easily replaceable ;)

Glad you had a good outing at Cos, Flo! Too bad about the changing rooms.

I agree that the US seems intent on working itself into one of it' own movie scripts, the dystopian kind. Wag The Dog was before its time!

I spoke to a man at work the other day (older fella) and noticed that he had a "wife beater" top on under his shirt (because it poked out at the back, so sad). I did NOT think anyone wore them anymore! Purely because undershirts are so out of fashion among men.

I tried a new silhouette for me the other day, a bit 90s. Or lesbian, depending on how humorous you want to be. A long loose shirt over wide-legged trousers, no defining the waist, no tucking. Brogues (sort of). I kind of liked it. Easy dressing.

bani, that looks like a very glamorous you. The silk dress is very lovely, though a more kimono type would do for swanning about at home.

I'm starting to make a wishlist for autumn, now I've swapped some clothes around. I fancy some Blundstone boots, as I walk loads. I need to replace my pleather biker jacket which is starting to peel on the collar , maybe with the same or something different. My brown, crossover bag is getting tatty and also needs replacing. That's it so far.

Here we go- this is the slip dress I’d make! But I think I like the wrap dress more. www.instagram.com/p/B7CKFZCANb9/?igshid=1peu8w3ou717y

I like the sound of the silhouette bani. It sounds very comfortable. And the straight part sounds a bit like these- they turned up in my Insta and were quite compelling. The super straight lines, neutral non colour and lovely detail. Very much things you wear that don’t actively suit you but don’t have to either.
www.instagram.com/p/CFegbEzlxGO/?igshid=l7z0kdk3r1
www.instagram.com/p/CFbzrgaF5Qp/?igshid=xud5ike6pui2

Good to see you again Red I was wondering if your were doing well.

Well I stopped in at Cos yesterday, found nothing of interest in the sales except a men's shirt made of hemp. I might go back and break my Secondhand September pledge for it, I didn't get anything from Uniqlo after all and stupid Mondial Relay has managed to lose all three of my Vinted orders

I did have a look at the knitted dresses but they weren't quite right. There was this black one that looked very The Row on the hanger but it was too shapeless and weirdly proportioned on me, I have long arms proportionally but it's rarely an issue since I'm not that tall but these would be odd loads of people. It had glimpses of being good and it was perfect lockdown wear but seems I'm still too demanding that I want even that to meet impossible high standards for that too.

And this was the other dress which I sort of liked but it was quite see through so I'd have to find a nude long sleeved slip dress with the exact right length which just seems far too much effort. Was interesting that they've adjusted prices, I expected the dresses to be €135 as that's usually been the price point for Cos knit dresses of this length but they're €99, but it still wasn't enough to convince me totally. The white dress was also big in the shoulders (not new to that at Cos) but with my new tailoring knowledge I also discovered their armholes are massive which explains why things often sit sloppily on top for me around the bust area, could never figure that out but it all makes sense now.

And a pic of the men's shirt which looks a bit odd with boots but I'd probably wear as PJs or wear with boyfriend jeans which was pretty much my previous lockdown wardrobe.

I am not seeing anything of interest in Cos, and is funny that is probably the only shop I might stop as I will not venture more into London further than kings cross ... although... there is a Another Stories and a Jigsaw too.

Thanks Bo nice to see you too

I like the sound of that silhouette Bani, to be honest love that sort of silhouette, if I am not careful I can look on the verge of androgynous, so what I do is wear some girly earrings or something like that.

Hi all,
I'm new on this thread. Living in southern France. Is anyone here a lover of IKKS? I'm loving this new Autumn collection, in particular these;

www.ikks.com/fr/robe-longue-volantee-en-voile-imprime-floral-ikebana/BR30825-49.html

www.ikks.com/fr/robe-droite-en-crepe-noir-fantaisie-bijou-eclair-femme/BR30265-02.html

www.ikks.com/fr/pull-noir-coton-cachemire-eclair-decollete-dos-femme/BR18185-02.html

Of course most of it is over-priced, but I always just wait for the Wild Days -40% deals - which are on just now if anyone is interested!

Welcome weemouse I always think IKKS is Belgian for some reason 🤷 you're right about the prices though, I don't always like the materials and sometimes they have one decorative element too many. But there are definitely some nice pieces to be found there, I remember nearly buying a sheepskin coat of theirs during their sales but it had no closure which was otherwise really good value for money. They have some interesting children's clothing as well. The wild days must be France only as I get full prices

Link time, JW Anderson for Uniqlo is coming October 15th which means we'll have a longer wait on Jil Sander 🤬

I do like the look of the scarf and the handkerchief hem pleated skirt (not the pale blue but one of the other colours). Assuming it'll be largely synthetic (the JW collections have always been disappointing on this front) but pleated skirts like that are hard to do in natural fabrics and there is a men's cashmere jumper that also looks good.

link

I've put in an order for the H&M Studio collection this morning, things were going fast so I got caught up in the frenzy Not sure if it'll be any good, the entire collection didn't really intrigue me as previous ones but some individual pieces caught my eye. I was just really interested in the long pillar skirt as I've never owned or tried anything like it on and depending on fit it might actually work well for me. The vest/cardigan is also not something I usually buy but this is more like an interesting jumper. I also liked the look of the cable knit white jumper but had to size up due to availability so not that confident about it all.

I'm going to pop into some secondhand shops later today to atone.

Also, it appears the Guardian is entering our tank top/vest culture war. #TeamVest

Tank top is the new Zoom shirt and I sincerely hope it's not because it's not many people that can carry it off without looking dowdy. Not that I have much faith in the Guardian's trend forecasting, it's very reminiscent of the previous article where they predicted codpieces for men were the next big thing...

OK, that's a tank top that you wear over another top, often knitted. A vest top you would wear on it's own or under another layer, like a more substantial cotton cami . I agree it's really hard to pull off.

Nope, not a tank top. I'll happily settle on slipover but it's not a tank top, except maybe in the UK.

Back from the secondhand shops, I only made it to one as I needed a toilet and it's quicker to just go home rather than attempt to find one that's still open to the public. And now it's raining, I didn't find anything. I was briefly very excited as there was the teddy Max Mara coat that I fell in love with at the tail end of last winter (then in a bright smurf blue colour but it's ££££ so required a lot of thinking) this one was cognac/camel which would be a lot more trend resistant and it was a lot cheaper. It looked crap on though, I'm not 100% it was actually authentic as there are some fakes around and it was a lot cheaper than I've seen on Vestiaire and this shop takes a higher commission than them so I'm sort of glad it looked crap as I now don't have to torture myself about it with doubts of authenticity.

I'm calling it now, I'm an utter failure at Secondhand September 2020 🙈

Tank top ... I have to admit I love the idea of it. I used to wear one to the office a few years ago ... ok more than a few, quite a few.
In my head it looked really cool... I am not sure if it was really that cool but somehow I used (and still do) quite like the idea of it

I am shocked at the tank top hating, shocked I tell you. Just you all wait till Jil Sander's doing it.

Thanks everyone for the links. I hadn't heard of IKKS.

A knitted sleeveless jumper is called a slipover in Swedish and I think that's good enough for me. It's not a word used anywhere else so very specific. Hereby endeth the tank top war (TTW). I'm sure there's a place for them too. Although I've never understood why people need their arms to be cold - then I'm not chopping wood or anything on a daily basis.

YY to large sleeveholes being SUPER ANNOYING it's such a lazy way of making clothes "one size fits most" It really doesn't look great on me but of course I have to wear it anyway.

Welcome weemouse! IKKS seems to be a lot of money for polyester but it's very French alright (very Fraaaaaanch). It's not my thing, I feel a little old. I am def more Scandinavian than French I realise haha.

I don't hate tank tops, they're just a hard look to pull off. Maybe that's because I associate them with 70s handknits .