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

[botemp]

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

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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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I'm currently listening to Malory Towers on Youtube, un-woke or not. I love them. (but oh gosh, what seemed ok as a kid feels a lot like really nasty bullying now.) St Clare's was last week. Just wish someone would do the Marlow series and all of the Chalet School books.

Since we're ostensibly fashionistas several of the Marlow books have fashion plot points - party dress and one extremely modern plot involving a second-hand clothes shop and drug-running. And woe betide you if you wanted to wear make-up at the Chalet. Poor Joan Baker. As for feather headed Alison at St Clare's, well, how dare she care about her looks. Hmph.

Happy memories! Boarding school stories had me deluded, and the reality was a rude awakening. Bunty was okay; vaguely recall preferring Judy, but more obsessed by sailing at that age.

#ProblematicFlo

I loved those books, I think Mallory Towers were the first English language books I read, or enjoyed reading anyhow. I don't remember much from them, I guess they're the Harry Potter is suddenly problematic of our generations. I really don't know if it's just of that time and some context should be taken into consideration or that she was particularly bigoted even for her time as I haven't done a reread. I do remember that there was a lot of clique behaviour which must be a whole lot more horrible in a boarding school setup thinking about it now.

It's lovely here today, but the forecast for the weekend is dire! So fed up with rain... but the ballet wrap shirt should arrive tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

The H&M pirates... probably not. Like the Swedish skirts, and red's culottes with a sweatshirt.

Were you able to salvage the dress Time?

The pirate thing just seems a bit literal when styled with an actual bloody tricorn, sure they may as well have added a stuffed parrot and a wooden leg in case we didn’t get that THE.INSPIRATION.IS.PIRATES.

I quite like this fringed shirt though the fringing will no double get tangled in the extendable telescope that I assume is part of the collection. I was also drawn to these trousers that have plenty of pockets for doubloons and treasure maps. I truly am longing for a noughties revival as I used to wear these trousers during that period, much like the Raey wide legged jeans. I preferred Acupuncture over Airwalk. Looking at them you could totally wear them today and nobody would take a second look. The H&M cargo trousers are acrylic though – yuck. I don’t think I’ve ever seen acrylic trousers before. Do I live a very sheltered life?

I like that blouse and the other silk shirt Catherine. The rest of the collection reads as very “Japanese women does French” to me.

Ha 70sduvet we’re the same here. RTE’s Home of the Year is well worth a watch whether you know the participants or not!

I love the Joseph pleated skirt and I do wear a pleated skirts to work (or used to) with a plain top.

Great dress Time and culottes Red

Yes those trousers had caught my eye too, but acrylic put me off, I'd love a pair like that in silk.

I also liked these joggers which aren't really joggers and I paid that for my leather Joseph joggers so they felt weirdly expensive.

I've never heard of Acupuncture, but I was close to the US at the time and Airwalks were the shoes to get whenever you went there. The acupuncture pair really could be worn today. I did like that Airwalk ad campaigns presented girls/teens in a way that others didn't, in different facets, there wasn't a set stereotype of girlhood.

Was a Blossom a thing here, the first as really reminds me of that. And the other is very much tank girl (which strictly you weren't allowed to see as an actual girl).

I quite like the pirate vibe, but might give the tricorn a miss . Much as I like hats.

I find pleated skirts hard, too. Memories of M&S navy school uniform skirts, I think. The COS and Joseph versions do look lovely.

Blossom was a thing for sure and that hat style was definitely a look. I got myself a crocheted cardigan which I wore over a polo neck when I was about 14, it was before the baggy trousers and acupuncture phase.

I bought a very school like pleated wool skirt last year. They don't have school vibes so much for me because my school skirt was a kilt.

Oh I forgot about the Paypal returns but it was a moot point anyway since they shops I wanted to use didn’t offer paypal as a payment service.

Scandi brands that are nice enough but just priced too highly for your average person and too low for someone who regularly buys diffusion designer brands. This is spot on, there are a bunch of these. I think people buy them because they think they’re buying brands when they’re paying more than H&M, and it feels a little more exclusive when there is less (perceived) risk of running into twenty people in the same top. I would consider placing Filippa K here as well, but she is juuuuust a little bit too expensive maybe. I’d say that they are priced the way fast fashion ought to be priced if people were payed more in production, not that I have illusions that the producers of Twist&Tango are, mind.

I’m inclined to agree with Red about the Studio collection being ghastly, in the sense that it shows a ghastly lack of novelty. Feels like one of those crazy Zara collections that come up too often. Especially the fringed trousers. However, if I pretend it’s an attempt at historybounding (a word I just learned) it feels better and more zeitgeist. Esp that corset top I think can fill a void. As Elle says it’s rather obvious though. Elle, did you notice the diamond scarf with a parrot motif? If I only see a Zara collection from any time during the past 6 years it feels decidedly less zeitgeist.

I’ve read a few Buntys in my time but don’t know the Marys. I did watch Blossom religiously . So crap, in hindsight.

One of the great gripes of my life is how utterly hopeless RTE is at selling programmes abroad. I’d love an Irish property/home show to be shown here, the vibe is completely different from the UK or heaven help us US ones. What’s the one with your man who goes to houses people are going to do something big to and gives them some advice, that’s a good one. I’ve only seen one or two episodes.

I think I just really hate the word ghastly, it's probably one of the worst words the English language has produced IMO, it's just steeped in judgement and dismissiveness. The equivalent word in other languages doesn't seem to quite cover it, we'd only use the equivalent word to express horror at a tragedy or something, not at something mundane. I also always hear it in a horrible haughty voice.

Totally watched Blossom religiously although I think I missed a lot of what was going on as I was around 9 or 10, maybe? The ditzy best friend was kind of annoying and the boy crazyness was lost on me.

I've seen Irish grand designs at some point, I found it interesting because I hadn't thought planning was so open to contempary schemes (much more so than the UK equivalent), and that there were so many clients who would really want that, tastes are definitely different in Ireland. It was a bit of a mixed bag though and I was staggered at some of the money spent for properties on really crappy plots in the middle of nowhere, that they had to half excavate out of a really rocky hillside and have no real 'back' of the house. Does land not come up for sale often? I always got the impression that they'd have to live in those properties for 20+ years before they'd break even.

If we're still stuck on pleated skirts, money no object, I do really like what Peter Do does with pleated skirts, even over trousers. His are all sold as high waisted though, never tried that, but never came across one that isn't medium waisted.

Diarmud Gavin ? The Irish property show - I met him this summer he was adorable in the flesh . It's sometimes repeated on sky, or YouTube
Scotland home of the year is the best property show - and the clothes on the female presenters are worth the watch too

Isn't Diarmuid Gavin a garden designer, or am I mixing up names? Or is he a home designer now?

Sorry it's Dermot Bannon! The show is room to improve . Always over budget and involves a glass cube

I'm mixing up my Diarmuds /Dermot's 😂

Oh god it's frightening how many clients I've had who disclosed that another architect they had round to interview suggested incorporating a glass cube in the design. These are usually the bog standard extensions/roof conversions in conservation areas where people have a bit more money to spend than most but not insane deep pockets to fulfill any ambitious design fancies either 🤦

The worst that I heard of was an architect who wanted to pretty much build a glass box over the entire garden (small bits left on all sides but like a metre to the fence, it was an odd shape garden and not terribly large, and had a lot of sun throughout the day) and then they could use it as an art gallery (not remotely close to the brief, they simply wanted a larger dining area attached to their kitchen and if budget allowed a large skylight).

Yes that's it. He's a very nice man, but the projects are all very samey. In a way though that's what makes it watchable. The houses are normal suburban houses and the budgets are generally fairly realistic albeit out of reach for lots of people. I kind of like watching people insist, quite correctly, that they want a big utility room and that's the most important thing to them!

Our extension has a fairly bonkers chimney and is very concrete-y but got approved even in a conservation area. I think that the planners are receptive to contemporary schemes if they don't impose on the streetscape. Land in the country is difficult to get with planning permission and whether or not you have ties to the area can impact the chances of getting planning permission.

Our new neighbours proposed a glass cube on top of the garage in a Grade II listed building/conservation area ehen they first moved in. It was refused because you could definitely see it from the road, it would overlook our kitchen and garden, obstruct the light (they hadn't even told us, or come round to see the effect it would have) and the proposed architects were not even properly licensed. The planning officer said that they don't refuse on grounds of modern style so much as the materials etc. that were planned were "not good quality".

I really like the pleated skirts you showed there Bo.

I see why you did not like my description for the H&M piraty thing. I don’t really have any connotations with that word, as really came to the uk as an adult and when I learnt English it was only the more commonly used words and there was nobody who spoke English other than a very very small number of people that were not even in my circle. But in any case, I don’t like the stuff h&m did there with that collection.

I have to look up Irish grand designs! What is the decorating show you were discussing upthread? I need lightweight shows to watch while I fold washing, do exercise, drink wine, do embroidery and once in a blue moon some ironing. All the other shows mentioned are completely unknown to me, and this blossom thing.
Dress salvaged! A few patches where you would need a magnifying glass to tell but I know they aren’t as bright, but no one else would ever know. It’s a fine 100% cotton by a good Aussie high street so that shouldn’t have happened, but I’m so relieved. We are actually going out tomorrow night, I could even wear it!
I really like the sharp blouse , brown pleat skirt and trousers combi bo. Skirt and trousers combo have made it into a few collections over the last few years and for the high st zara at least I’m sure, so maybe we will turn around one day and all be wearing them. (which isn’t going to happen for pirate suits. I love a hat but have never actually hankered for a tricorne. Plus, my 5yo would steal it) I have photos of teenage me wandering around in old school straight jeans and a net petticoat of my grandmas on top, because I felt like it.

It's "Room to Improve". This article still makes me laugh about the episode where he's designing his own house www.irishtimes.com/culture/patrick-freyne-it-is-now-late-period-dermot-bannon-he-is-on-the-verge-of-losing-it-1.4134770

"At the dramatic high point of the show, both Dermot Bannons meet award-winning architect Niall McLaughlin, who suggests that covering a building in big windows may not actually make sense in a northern, light-rationed country such as Ireland. “Large sheets of glass can be quite forbidding,” he says.

This triggers a sort of nervous collapse in Bannon, who has spent his lifetime and 13 series covering other people’s houses in big windows.

“In Ireland, a lot of the time you spend in your house is in the dark,” says Bannon, somehow realising this for the first time."

Is he just the presenter or has he been a clueless designer all this time? It all sounds hilariously tragic, the show seems to be on Amazon Prime (not that I have that) but not in my region I'll see if it's available elsewhere.

It depends on municipality here but they each have an elected 'Beauty' commission which includes architects, urban planners, architectural historians, etc who set out a vision and make judgement on planning proposal. Mostly it means any additional building volumes, even in conservation areas, need to reflect that they're built in the present (so no pastiches) so that there's a legible history but the design language needs to relate to the original which usually means following fenestration proportions and similar materiality and scale but there's a lot of leeway, especially in urban built up areas. Although a lot doesn't fall under planning anymore, they expanded the legislation, if you're not building out something massive or over half your garden you don't require permits.

Time, I do like the editorial take of skirt over trousers but I do think it's most popular under modest (religious) dressers and good for them and all that but that's one thing I never want to be mistaken for.

Atypical on Netflix is good laundry/ironing TV. There's a load of Swedish/Scandi shows being dropped on Netflix here this month, I need to figure out which are good, Bani any suggestions?

Edit: I found this , how accurate is it 😬

Room To Improve! Dermot Bannon! That's your man! I think it's great, but I just relax into the whole atmosphere and culture of it. Mind you, I sometimes listen to Joe Duffy for pure nostalgia #ifyouknowyouknow

I loved that brown pleated thing, very sharp and very modern great kilt IMO but unisex.

Found this Dior on pleats video, am in love ...

Land in Ireland can be a funny business, there's people who just get large plots from family and build massive houses on them. Have to read that article later, being Swedish I don't understand - we have large windows, it's considered good? Will be back.

I don't at all mind the word ghastly is that bad at all, but it's certainly very English - and I hear it as one of those exaggerated words all languages have (like, apparently swearing is in Argentina, my ears blush just thinking about it)

Well there's a point where a window really just becomes a wall of glass and it gets a bit discomforting in dreary winter weather the way it doesn't on the Mediterranean. It can also be rather fishbowl when it's dark outside and you've got the lights on.

Ooh, yes, those Dior pleats look great, I love the savoir-faire videos they do. The company that does all the pleating is Atelier Lognon, I think they're owned by Chanel now. There's lots of videos showing how they make their pleats, it's very satisfying to watch. They also have a huge archive of historical (very time consuming) pleats, they're absolutely fascinating.

I’m totally going down that pleat rabbit hole.

We love big windows here though, we don’t care (apparently) about any fish bowl effects, this is for the summer months. My boss has a story about some neighbours who cleared away a few trees and built a very glassy kitchen extension, right below my boss’s kitchen window. After being treated to views of the naked neighbours strolling around the house for a few weeks she asked them over for fika one weekend and sat them down at the kitchen table for a nice chat. After a while they said “wow, you really can see right into our kitchen, can’t you?”. Nothing more was said, but curtains were put up toot sweet.

Oh yeah netflix recs - I don’t know, it’s not the same in all countries? Tell me what you’re keen on and I’ll tell you no say if it’s worth it if I know.

I returned the boots but they’ve marked them down some more now and she was very nice and put on a hard sell so I might have to go back. Maybe get the Vagabond boots they had on sale instead, they are a little more fashion forward I think, which I could use. Still doesn’t solve my skirt problem. And I still would prefer brown :(

I'm a Borgen fangirl for life 😍. Also enjoyed the Bridge and the Killing but more for the strong female leads than that I particularly enjoy that genre I do enjoy the Scandi take on murder mystery but they have to be of that calibre, my grandmother was the one who enjoyed the Wallander genre.

There was a relatively new one (Swedish) about an older woman (not really old, but maybe late 30s/early 40s) who was a bit tired of adulting and a young intern sort of made her re-evaluate her life by daring her to do things and vice versa. It was very Scandi but quite light fair but not without depth, and it poked good fun here and there. It was good light entertainment that wasn't mind numbing, (but it's not Borgen).

I have one about a restaurant family lined up and I think there was one being released that looked to be a TV version of Per Anders Fogelström's City series, I read those books (well what was translated at the time, I think I got to around mid 20th century) and really enjoyed them, so if the the TV show is crap warn me now (although I wasn't sure it was actually based on the books, Netflix descriptions are annoyingly brief but the synopsis seemed familiar but it's not the most original synopsis). Think I also bookmarked one about the oil boom and subsequent increase in wealth in the 70s in a coastal town in Norway (I have high expectations of enviable Scandi interiors and 70s fashion on tall blonde model bodies).