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

[botemp]

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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MH knows you, she haunts your dreams Flo!

I love that tweed coat Flo. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Boots are great bani. Definitely keep an eye out with Black Friday coming up soon. You may well get a deal.

Feck. I may have gone wrong on the Uniqlo order and got the wrong size. That Ines collection was huge, but it sounds like J plus isn’t.

Just trying to catch up with everyone. Gorgeous coat, flo and lovely boots, bani. I seemed to have missed all the Uniqlo Jil Sander stuff, being caught up in wisdom tooth drama (it's out now, so hopefully over). Those clips from Japan are mad.

My J+ parcel has supposedly been delivered but Hermes have left no note and the tracker has only an extremely blurred photo of the parcel saying it’s with a neighbour, except all I can see is the parcel itself and the edge of a door frame, so can’t tell which door to go knock on! I tried my immediate neighbour but she seems to be out and there are 9 flats in the building and even then they might have left it in a different building.

Flo that coat is the reason I want to learn to sew! So to speak, anyway. If I learn to make clothes I could make my own beautiful tweed coats and although the fabric would be quite expensive it wouldn’t nearly as expensive as buying the readymade coat. I have made (counts on fingers) 7 items of clothing since starting to learn at least three years ago, and I don’t wear any of them regularly. Some fitted reasonably but the fabric was cheap and nasty, some fit less well, and one I got oil on. I need to persevere and perhaps to start bothering with toiles.

I adore the coat.

Those boots are quite cool Bani, now I am off to google about more boots ... the more I google boots the more I want a pair ...

Yes, Bo the returns is something I hadn’t thought with those clothes. Anyhow, it was just me pondering about them.

She does Xing but in my dreams she also gives me loads of free stuff!

I find it inspiring too MaryLennox. In reality I very much doubt I'll ever be any more than competent. I'm too impatient for one thing - hence not bothering to make a toile. But with everything I make, I improve a little. I've started another shirt - and this time I'm using a higher quality fabric - and even though so far I've only joined the shoulders and attached the collar, it already looks and feels better than the last attempt.

Have you got your parcel yet? We are all here for you.

Here for the hand hold and help to bury a Hermes shaped body if necessary, you poor thing Mary I hope you've retrieved it by now.

Better fabric makes a difference but so does ironing. Honestly, it shouldn't be called sewing when it's 90% ironing. Interlining makes a a massive difference too but it does make everything add up, I used to just focus on the price of the main fabric and think it wasn't that unreasonable but everything tallied together it's altogether a lot more.

It's really crap weather today (storm with high winds) so not likely leaving the house, I've started working on my orchid trousers again as I put it on hold as I was constantly bloating and only very slowly deflating before bloating again and it seems to have settled now. As a result I've had to take out another 4cm out of the waist but at least I seem to have gotten over the crotch fitting issues now. Next think I make is going to be something less fitted.

I got the parcel! My neighbour kindly brought it round. So it’s the cashmere jumper in green, XS. It fits well, my concerns about it being too small are thankfully unfounded - slouchy rather than tight and a nice hip bone length rather than being bum length, which doesn’t work on me. Its a good colour if a wee bit school uniform-ish, and the collar has two layers, one grey and one green, which overlap - a nice touch. My one quibble is that it’s extremely fine-knit and thin, which strikes me as slightly odd in a cashmere jumper. I’m a bit worried it will get holes in easily. I’m keeping it though!

I also got some socks - not from J+! - which are bewilderingly giant and remind me why I find Uniqlo annoying. They are too big for DH and definitely not sized for UK 4-7! This is my usual Uniqlo experience. The last thing I ordered from them before this collection tempted me back was a pair of jeans that looked lovely on the model but when they arrived had no difference between the hip and waist measurements - I found the shape so odd I put them on the bed and measured them to see. They weren’t supposed to be dropped-crotch either - they were meant to be high-rise! If I put them at the correct height they made a sort of floating tube of extra material round my waist and you could see my pants down the back if you looked into the tube. Curious to find out how the rest of the items fit, especially the shirts, and whether this collection manages to be more accurate in sizing!

@botemp what would you use interlining on? I think you said you’ve used it for pleats? It is like interfacing?

@Floisme I have the Archer shirt pattern but got fed up cutting out all the pieces - and in typical lazy fashion have just cut it out instead of tracing, which I gather is not sensible. I am going to do a practice one with an old sheet if I ever get round to finishing cutting out all the bits! That will be my first sleeves that aren’t grown on and first collar - I have done buttonholes and a placket before though.

Good to hear about the parcel Mary! If you are not too shy would you mind sending a photo? What size are you normally? 8? The cashmere tops and silk tops is the only thing I would have been tempted by. I wonder if I will get a chance in November... my top is between an 8/10.
I have an old really fine knit cashmere from mango and it has been amazingly resilient! Not a single hole in many years.

Gosh Bo I really admire (And envy) that dedication , those orchid trousers sound fab, I remember the colour being striking.

Flo that is a lovely coat.

Well I did say it was postmodern so of course it's complex and incompressible, Bani. But basically, unlike Napoleon complex, which is just insecurity with some disturbing compensatory behaviour, a person with the Calimero Complex blames others for their perceived short comings as a structural discrimination and spends far too much time and effort telling others how to behave accordingly to accommodate them while wallowing about their own sorry state at the same time without ever questioning their own self or part in any of it.

And to make it thoroughly postmodern, saying someone has a bit of a Calimero Complex is flexing your privilege, and if you then go on saying it was just a joke and nothing was meant by it you are essentially the devil and the root of all this evil. It's not necessarily about short people (although that's what it usually gets interpreted as, because the postmodern bit flies over most heads, and the quote is just taken literally) but about being structurally made to feel small. Whether that is objectively true, doesn't matter, so long as an individual experiences it to be true or perceives it could be true the Calimero Complex will validate their truth.

So, yeah, be careful about just casually dropping it into conversation

Thanks goodness you have your package Mary 🎉 Yes, interlining is basically what interfacing mimics but instead of being attached it 'floats' as it isn't attached to the seams, it is however attached to the self fabric with things like twill tape and lots of hand sewing. Things like horsehair canvas, silk organza, dommet, wool, Holland linnen, canvas, all sorts can be added to give shape or a different feel to the fabric or give it extra qualities, like warmth. You can also flat line with some fabrics like silk organza, then it doesn't float you just baste it to the face fabric and treat is as one fabric from then on and it gets sewn into the seams.

*Incompressible my AC seems to be infected by a bit of postmodernism, incomprehensible, obviously.

So, yeah, be careful about just casually dropping it into conversation

😒😬🤭

Nah, I think the Toast sale emails are far more dangerous bani cos then I'm like: 'Ooh 50% off, I can do that....'

Well I got my comeuppance for sewing bragging yesterday. I'm doing the Makers Atelier Lounge Shirt; first few stages were pretty much the same as the shirt I'd already done but then I reached the sleeves and the construction is far more complex: upper and under pieces, cuff and placket. Instructions were boggling. In the end I ignored them, worked it out myself and tacked the whole of one side together. So now I've got my own 3-D guide, but it's still a pain in the arse as I'll have to unpick most of it before I can stitch it back together properly. Almost as annoying as making a toile.

I am doing a bani now and getting hooked in fb adverts ... although this is a dress in wolf and badger which I know and I normally like the stuff they stock.
I am thinking potentially a good working from home garment, I could wear it through the year ... the tencel fabric also potentially good? Like a soft denim/cotton maybe?
I cannot workout how vibrant the blue is ...

@Floisme was it tin house based in Holt, Norfolk?

Get yourself some cotton basting thread (Gutterman does a good one, not the mercerised stuff, you need the basting thread), and a good quilting needle and needle threader, Flo. Putting in some running stitches takes about as much time as setting up a machine and the seams don't require tedious picking to take apart, it's taken apart in seconds as it just slides out. If you're clever, you just sew neatly beside it and you don't need to pin anything saving you more time (but if you're not a tidy sewer you'll spend a lot of time cursing trying to get the basting stitch out from under the machine stitch).

GAH, save me from myself. I've seen a wool cape (70% wool and 30% angora) with an attached roll neck (because I can't resist those) on the Mango outlet that seems like perfect indoor pandemic wear (it's jumper material as opposed to outdoor coat stuff) and H&M has me convinced I need a yoga jumpsuit (anyone ever got one of those, do they not give you endless wedgies if you go commando as I usually do with athletic wear?). I already have a tsunami of packages arriving this week but I really like that cape and I could wear it over the Cos dress and it's been really mild here so I could even wear it out...

Get the cape Bo, it's very you! (and you can send it back if it isn't) I saw it before and scrolled by (it's the me I dream of being, not the me I actually am) but I'd love someone to get it!

Flo, aye, no danger of 50 % OFF BUY NOW emails from MH I suppose.

Red - I think the fabric seems lovely and comfortable, but I'm not a fan of tiers/ruffles myself and I suspect it''' be very wrinkled after a wash and hard to iron because of gathered seams, so I'd take that into account to be honest.

Use my words against me why don't you Bani, I'm tempted for sure but my last order from Mango is taking its sweet time and maybe I should hold out for Black Friday as I've seen some nice cashmere things too?

Well I got my Uniqlo order in and those worried things things might be small, don't be, I really should have ordered a size down I'll photograph it tomorrow with better light, one thing definitely has to go back due to being too roomy and I'm debating the other two (and still unsure on whether to keep the shirt I bought in store as well, I like it but not sure I'll wear it much).

Meanwhile, I was in Arket after, and now I want to be a pandemic ballerina 🩰 I'm pretty convinced I'm now interested in anything with a roll neck...

That's them Sooverthemill Old Town! (Did they call themselves 'Tin House' at one point?) Thank you, it was really starting to bug me.
I don't know anything further about them and I don't think those drawings do the clothes too many favours but I, if I'm ever in the neighbourhood, I'll definitely call in. I note they say they make the clothes in a workshop on the premses too - unlike some I've heard of who send the order off overseas as soon as you've left the building.

My Uniqlo J order arrived last night. I've got quite a lot of work to get through today so it may be tomorrow before I can take photos and do a post but I'm on it. In brief, I think the best pieces are the more understated ones; I'm not sure about the stripy shirt, which I thought would be my favourite and, as bo says, it's generously sized.

A pandemic ballerina - there's a mood board that I need in my life. Funnily enough I've been drawn to watching ballet in lockdown, instagram is good for that kind of content. Get the pandemic cape bo it's very you!

I have also been eyeing yoga onesies. There's an Ernest Leoty two-tone one that I like, but I fear it might be a bit low cut. I ordered one from Sweaty Betty before and the fabric was was just awful (generally their stuff is fine, but this particular item was thin and plasticky) so it went back. Lululemon had a short one that I also tried, but it was very weightlifter's singlet.

I'm not sure about that dress red. I doesn't feel very special, I think you can do better.

How strange about the socks mary. Glad you're keeping the knit. I find a fine knit really useful. It can looks lovely just on it's own in the evening or over a silk shirt.

So the parka. I never did update you, nor clarify that the Mackage ones I was referring to as wannabe oligarch's wife were what seems to be the "signature" collar. The parkas I have no issue with, but they are very pricey so I looked on Vestiare and took a gamble on one that looked perfect and it was. Absolutely spotless, original tags off, but in pocket, doubt it was worn more than twice, a third of the price of the new ones. It's the Rena X and I am thrilled with it, it is so warm. I'm generally a "cold" person and I've been toasty every week wearing it.

Eek I should not have googled E Leoty because I now want one of their bodysuits, (I'm a sucker for anything backless and low cut, but I'm not sure how useful that is for exercise). The royal daughters here and in Belgium seem to all wear these nude silk face masks with a pleated organza layer in a soft rose or beige, it's very Pandemic Ballerina. I'm less sophisticated in my pandemic fueled interests, I've gotten into Bardcore- iconic contemporary songs reworked into medieval songs, including language. I adore it, specifically Hildegard Von Blingin' on YouTube, the others feel like poor imitations. Anyhow, it's quite a turnaround for me as I tend to tune out music within seconds, usually.

Mango cape price went up quite a bit, I hadn't realised that it was in one of their promos, I'll wait for the next price drop. My Mango order should arrive today though 😊

I'm glad the Mackage coat lives up to the toasty claims and clever to get one off Vestiaire for the price of a Dirdrikson (roughly), I'd assumed they'd all be Canadian or American sellers.

I agree with your impressions, Flo, except things that seem the most simple are actually very deceptive, there's a lot of tailoring and tinkering in there to get them looking like that which I doubt will show in photos. I do remember JS commenting in one of her interviews that Social Media is making purposefully 2D and her pieces were designed as 3D pieces which is the kind of thing that delights me as a wearer.

Congratulations on the parka, Elle... and quelle bargain!

Loving the idea of Pandemic Ballerinas, but can't see it working for my life. Sadly, elegant wafting days are stymied by the Atlantic climate and mud... more Didrikson than Dior.

Now there's a collab I'd love to see (purely for alliteration's sake) Dirdrikson X Dior

Ok, lots arrived today. I'll start with Jil Sander. Roll neck top (it's all roll neck tops, I've just realised ). It's slightly too big but I think I can live with it if I always tuck it in which probably isn't the best approach.

I think there was also a cashmere roll neck that was going to drop on the coming Thursday so if I can manage to snatch that up I'll delay the decision till then.

I've tried to capture the very slight knitting detail where it becomes more transparent and it's so subtle (was far stronger in the website pics) and I'm glad it's subtle as I can wear a bra underneath and it doesn't reveal the straps. Not sure what those white spots are, they're not there in RL