Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: "You gotta have style. It helps you get down the stairs." - Diana Vreeland

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Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset and lots of chatter in between.

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Outlets

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Consignment shops, Vintage, and Restaurants

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Vice do (did?) a fabulously depressing weekly look at London rentals

www.vice.com/en/topic/london-rental-opportunity-of-the-week

It try to avoid vice media but shall have a click later despite my prejudice.

There was also the Chinese restaurant in Canada that went viral last month for being too honest. It's a special brand of endearing honesty that you just can't fake.

Oh Elle those are quite nice boots alright. I don’t like the gaping at the top, I’d prefer mine fitted, but thy could be the skinny model. Nice sole. But. That’s a fair bit of money for Zara, by which I mean I don’t trust their quality enough.

I’ve been trying on my boots and still not sure, mostly because I don’t have stuff of a good midi length to wear with them but also because bizarrely one boot feels much looser than the other.

Have wasted an embarrassing amount of time looking online for midi skirts I don’t hate and have found two

One from Ahlvar gallery ahlvar.com/collections/ss20-skirt/products/yanaskirtdarkmilitary

One from Zara that is a bit far out for me www.zara.com/se/sv/medellång-kjol-med-skinneffekt-p08073271.html?v1=87859814&v2=1718788

I love the zara one bani they had a similar one a few years ago which I didn't buy and have regretted ever since

I have a very similar skirt to the 1st one in a paler grey. Its a size 12 and doesn't fit me now. If it would do you I'll send it to you? I know your in Sweden but thats fine.

I did laugh at those Vice articles.

I presume that the boots would be less welly-like on a non-model, but it's so hard to know when you can't see them

I like the look of the second skirt, but I feel like it might disappoint in real life. That shiny polyester probably won't looks as good in person as it does in the photos but I could be wrong. The colour is lovely. The grey skirt is nice, but would have to be styled carefully I think.

Duvet that's very sweet but I've been undoing my weight loss and am definitely more comfortable in a size 16 these days and am highly unlikely to ever be a size 12 ;) I also am unsure about the style of a pleated skirt on someone like me who isn't "naturally cool". Pleated skirts are well and good on the young who have sort of discovered them, but I remember them from MY youth when it was a more middle-aged item and I don't think I'd look cool, more -- solid. If I'm honest. I remember my Mammy bought me a pleated skirt "for best" in my tweens or early teens and she was a conservative dresser with no style (but a decent eye for quality). I wasn't keen then obv ;)

All that to say I like the pleated skirts in theory and on other people, but not sure I'd actually buy one.

My life would be much easier if I could just have a comfortable wardrobe of my "uniform" in a variety of colours, and then feel free to try stuff out. But they never make or sell my uniform items! Fuckers.

Side note: The Memorial Foundation for Sara Danius is now selling her clothes on Tradera. All proceeds go to her memorial fund to support women trailblazers in the humanities.

www.tradera.com/profile/items/5287610/saradaniusminnesfond

Yes, I tend to avoid pleated skirts because they just add a lot of mass on your bottom half, add in chunky boots and you're an anchored hump that shuffles about with too much noise that makes everyone look down even more. It does work to size them up and wear on your hips and then they have more of that effortless waft but they're no longer midi length then. I also like the handkerchief hem versions. If you're more straight up and down in the hips pleated skirts seem more of a natural fit, I feel, as the pleats don't do warping weird things outward.

Zara boots are on the narrow side when it comes to shafts and they're also a bit lower, so don't think they'd be wellie like you'd maybe have the opposite problem as they don't look to have a zip so may only just about fit or not at all.

I think the pleather skirt would look odd with knee high flat chunky boots.

Sara Danius' clothes look lovely, as colourful as she was, I hope it brings in a lot of money.

bani thanks for the link on Sarah Danius’ clothes. There are some I really like, specially the colours.
Love the pleated Prada skirt, the colour is stunning and this blouse too.

On an aside topic, I am enjoying Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr. Some of the stuff the contestants do is quite an eye-full, very funny easy watching.
One of the contestants seems to be wearing a few tops very much of the style of Reformation, which look great on her (I think is Micaela)

That's a lovely idea re Sara Danius. Interesting to see how you can clearly identify her uniform when her clothes are laid out item by item. I kind of wonder what the perception would be if I did that with my clothes.

I just finished the first series on Netflix Red. It was a fun watch, but the budgets were very low so it veered a bit "Changing Rooms" - please tell me you all remember that. I must set up the recorder for the new series.

I think I look great in a pleated skirt. From the front. It's always such a disappointment when I turn around. I have never resolved this conundrum.

Sarah Danius had some lovely clothes. I hope they raise a lot of money.

Pleated skirts and my big bum definitely don't go together. And I can't quite get over the school skirt feeling. But sometimes you can find skirts which are flatter/more structured (if you know what I mean) at the top of the skirt and then swirl out into pleats - those are more likely to work for me.

Yes I think the ones where the pleats are stitched down until past the hips work best for me as you avoid that bulge. I remember Uniqlo U doing some a few seasons back but they sold out before I could get my hands on one.

Yes but the stitched down ones are usually wider pleats and those have very old fashioned frump connotations for me 🤷

I used to LOVE Changing Rooms back in the day. They tried making a Swedish version but only managed one season - tbh this was before property makeover programmes had started here, so I think they were before their time and the programme just crashed when one family were obviously distraught on camera over how their very particular dining room had been butchered. Sadly I can't see the latest Interior Design Masters I think, but it's on my list. It's good mindless entertainment.

My daughter has hips and found a second hand pleated skirt with stitched down pleats - worked much better for her and she could be part of the trend. But I definitely think that I'd just look like I was handing out The Watchtower, I'd need the modern versions to have a hope and they're not cut for the middle age spread or indeed any curves. Agree that hanky hems work better but I have a problem with assymetrical because the uneven brushing against my legs makes me think insects are crawling on me.

Yes, I noticed that you could def see Danius style so clearly. Sven-Harrys are holding an exhibition of her clothes connected to the auctions. They might do a few of the more spectacular dresses there, that would be fun to see ...

I too wonder what people would make of my clothes laid out.

Hmm, until the 18th of April, dare I be that optimistic? I'd love to go see that.

Ah but if you're wearing boots would you actually be able to feel a hanky hem?

I can't stand interior design shows, they hurt my professional eyes. Not talking the aesthetic choices, I'm whatever about those, it's the slap dash bang it all together attitude of those shows. I loved changing rooms back in the day too (it's probably aged terribly), they tried it here as well except the designers were students and knew fuck all and would put in shit like an iglo made out of polystyrene blocks and fill it with fake snow and call it a dining room. It didn't make it past a first season, understandably.

I have got lost in that vice article
I shudder to think what conclusions someone would draw taking all my clothes out, beyond hoarder of course. I don’t like that stiff pleated skirt, I think they are very hard to wear. They can look great done right but I wouldn’t know how. I do have 2 pleated midi/maxis which are narrow pleats, light fabric although polyester I think and very swishy, and avoid all the pleated skirt faults discussed above despite not being low riding. they don’t fit me at the moment of course... and a very floaty maxi elastic waist one I wear all the time.
I have been spending my evening saving a dress. I short cutted by using the machine and cold washed it on hand wash setting... it’s dark with some light bits and the colour ran... but after rinsing and flushing it through a stain solution and rinsing I think it will be ok. It had better be, I wore it to a wedding a few weeks ago and I love it, would be gutted if I have ruined it, pic attached showing all the bright little white bits that had better still be bright little bits.

time, fingers crossed you've saved your dress.

I certainly remember Changing Rooms, I used to live down the road from Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen at the time (mid to late 90s). I think he later moved to a much posher house, but this was a converted bungalow which was very green and purple inside! He dresses like that in real life, too.

Time that dress is lovely - hope your efforts pay off and that it’s salvageable.

Another one who’s anti-pleated skirts. No school uniform vibes, but I am seriously committed to a minimal synthetic fabric wardrobe and I have never found a suitably swishy one that wasn’t at least mostly polyester. I might accept a viscose version but I want it to be lined and most lining is polyester. Sigh.

I have a pleated skirt that I bought a bit large so it rides low on the waist, and I don't think it makes me look huge, but I have no bum worth mentioning. I don't wear it very often, because it would get filthy with the dog and country life, and because it's wool so very warm. It does have a lovely swoosh, but it needs/looks better with high-heeled boots.

I was missing wearing my Joseph culottes , so I decided to wear them with a sweatshirt. I will do the same with some of my other more formal trousers I think.
I hope you can save your dress time.

Looking good, red, I did something similar the other day and wore a printed t-shirt (over a thermal top) with velvet trousers. It's just that wanting to mix it up a bit, really. I feel that even more now it's slightly milder that I want a change in what I wear!

I see, you are all doing ‘reverse wfh’ now. How new! I’m still stuck back in wfh - shirt (too casual to have ever made it to the office before but that might change) and chosen at random bottoms

Ah but if you're wearing boots would you actually be able to feel a hanky hem? This is an excellent point I will have to consider more carefully.

Time that is a bummer, why did they run? I hope you've saved it!

Welp I've just wasted an hour or so trudging the web sales looking for midi skirts. One can't sort by midi, oh no, because according to the shops that means anything from knee-length to low calf. And then if you look at maxi that means anything from upper calf to sweeping the floor. All their bitching about sales going down - well learn to sell your shit, you idiots. Anyway, I found something I'd have been willing to buy and try but you have to pay for returns so I won't bother. www.ellos.se/twist-tango/kjol-ella-skirt/1560228-02 Under maxi skirts, btw.