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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Merch created in honour of our ten thread anniversary:

Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

Bani, I missed you buying boots that you've already returned which boots did you buy? And which are the vagabond ones?

(My NAP order came in day before yesterday and I've kept the Gabriela Hearst flip flops even though I think they're still overpriced at 70% off but I figured if I'd come across them in a shop in the sales I'd have bought them at that price with no qualms as I really like them, I guess I'm stingier when shopping online).

Also, wrt windows, I think it also helps you're all very polite and would avert eyes, in most places that fika scenario would have gone very differently, the word dogging is also one only the English seem to have and let's not talk about what is Dutchies advertise behind windows.

No one will be shocked to hear australians often have large windows. You may be shocked to realise how many houses aren’t double glazed though, I don’t rate our building standards. You can’t build something that overlooks neighbour’s windows so you’d have to have a frosted window. My house is in a heritage estate so planning rules are very limiting, we are hoping to knock down as our house is not contributing to the estate but no idea whether we will get away with that. The replacement will need to blend with the streetscape and not stand out, architecture be sympathetic to the estate period but not reproductive... I will need a good architect who can do both period, modern and sustainable design!
I love watching what goes into garment construction.

Wrote a long post with funny scathing remakes about Aussie buildings but accidentally lost it.

Boots were “good enough” boots I got, liked the sole. But left boot oddly bigger than right and I have nothing to wear with them ... had a photo so have attached it.

Vagabond boots were not mentioned before but there was a pair that caught my eye as I was returning the boots.

Ah, yes Australian architecture is quite interesting, you all got on the 'Modern open plan inside outside flow living' train early and unlike the rest of the world it actually made sense for climate and lifestyle.

I have seen some of Australian grand designs and I was at the (flimsy) materials used, windows especially, and how easily things are torn down. I got the sense that most owners build for their lifetime (at best, but around 30yrs) and assume it'll be torn down and replaced (which is in line with the whole Modernist approach) so no point in spending insane amounts of money on longevity and quality building products that probably have to come from far so I'm assuming the gap between cheap and available and from far and expensive is large. I assume natural disasters also have an impact on that decision. I remember one episode where they were building almost right on the water (some sort of cliff thing) and midway through the ground underneath eroded away and gone was their home and land

Ah the boots, I see, they're not brown difference between left and right seems a bit random though.

De-lurking only to post the link to preview of the new Uniqlo +J: www.uniqlo.com/jp/en/contents/lifewear-magazine/jil-sander/

(Grateful for the thread, it's better than most magazines.)

Thank you Frivolity and welcome! I hope that’s not the whole collection of course but nice to have a peek at it! What does everyone else think - more of the same or?

Forgot to say about Netflix: the Fogelström film is old but I haven’t seen it and never read the books (just one of those things, was contrary when people raved about them). The restaurant programme — is it Vår tid är nu? Mr bani was watching it when we had
COVID and I ended up with unpleasant fever dreams about it. It’s pleasant viewing with drama that always seems to work out, iyswim. Some logical leaps I think. Some anachronism.

The one with older woman-younger man has had some write-up but we watched one episode and didn’t feel it. Don’t know the oil boom one. Sorry no help!

the first two pics made my mind travel to Chinese forced labour camps the hairstyles didn't help, très cultural revolution. I do like the look of the dresses but it's all very uniform, but like really uniform and the colours are not really outspoken s/s, again very uniform. I'm hoping they're holding onto some of the more standout pieces to reveal closer to launch.

Thank you regardless Frivolity, smashing entrance, do stick around and speak to us, pretty please

Yes I've just noticed that a lot of the new releases are actually old Swedish films 🤦 the restaurant show has an English title of The Restaurant, helpful, I've attached a screenshot of it in case it looks familiar. Several seasons.

Yes the older woman younger man one was a bit hard to get into at first but it became enjoyable with perseverance, required some suspension of disbelief, it was a nice frivolous distraction anyhow.

I do really like the men's jeans though with the flat ass dropped crotch. For me though, not sure I'd actually like those on a man...

Went back for a second look, Flo will have to get this shirt to make up for the one she sent back last time, I like the white details.

Very blah preview
It does look uniform. The men’s blue coat in the first pic is probably nice removed from the uniform line up, I might look at it for dp. This dress is a little cos in the plain black cotton with plain lines, especially if the cotton is nice, and the style suits lots of people including me.

I liked the uniqlo collection last year that I missed out on more, with long shirts and jackets.

Oh and hello frivolity!
I wouldn’t want to have to build to fire code, it definitely adds 100k although that will improve. But is necessary of course. I don’t think any building materials are pretty cheap, but I could be wrong! Hopefully it’s improving design but I don’t see enough of it to know. The lack of passive design is stunning and people having no idea how much they would benefit in quality of living from a northern aspect.

I’d like a closer look at the silk blend fabric, and the selvedge jeans could be worth a punt. But yes, rather drab unless they’re saving some show-stoppers for later.

Hello frivolity, agree with you that this thread is like a fabulous magazine. Articles in this edition: Irish and Australian building codes, pleats, Mallory Towers and the next installment of the ongoing boot saga

Hmm it does look quite austere but hey that's me and I quite like it. As usual I'm more taken with the men's stuff - those trousers in the first pic look as if they might be agreeably outlandish, and I like the long coat too, although both would probably drown me.
Also pleased to see long sleeved. cotton Ts - often hard to get in summer - but hope they won't only be black or white.
Has the skirt got a bit of a 3-D quality or am I imagining it?
Blue's a funny colour on me but that shade might work - head to toe in one colour is the New Thing isn't it? I read it in Vogue so it must be true.

But anyway the main take out for me from the last collection was that the most interesting pieces aren't necessarily the things you notice first. So I'll drum my fingers a bit longer.

Sorry thank you frivolity and please don't post and run

I was hoping for a bit more frivolity in spring summer and the decade thereafter. Clothes had a bit of a 3d swing quality in the last +J collection but this one looks like all the joy has been sucked out of it. But apparently uniforms (I blame Bani and her talk of desiring one ) are the thing designers are jumping on per oracles Miucca Prada and Raf Simons although attached look from that article is kind of what I had anticipated for the new +J collection. Anyhow, the whole uniform thing made sense pre pandemic, I am not convinced for after. Well for me anyhow, not that they ever made sense...

Time, well I assume there's a huge price difference between locally made aluminium or upvc windows with not so energy efficient glass than imported high quality German windows you'd use in a passive home (though they're really unpleasant to live in, would not recommend). I can't believe you wouldn't have to build up to fire code, are the rules different if you're tearing something down and replacing as opposed to a virgin plot or something? I thought rammed earth was quite popular and not as crazy expensive as here in Australia and very sustainable, and a very aesthetically pleasing colour too, but it's a look, not one that's very 'heritage'.

The Restaurant - yes that’s the one, v popular, language too modern which annoys me but won’t matter much in translation and def an easy watch and an overview of Swedish history in a way.

The shirt dress looked pretty but too short for me. Full skirts that length = dirndl. Full skirts calf length = Dior new look. 😉

I accidentally bought a pleated skirt on Tradera so we’ll see how that goes. Black = boring, but it was cheap.

Boot saga - haha welcome to 2024 I still won’t have found any I’d wager!

Actually anything locally made is expensive, although I assume high quality German windows are more expensive once shipped. The cheaper materials come from China. What was so miserable about passive house living?
I think I was misleading re the fire codes, of course everything is built to fire code but we have relatively new building requirements for bushfires- fire resistant timbers, steel frames, window coverings, don’t build on a slope, surrounding vegetation. This place has been for sale for years, and i assume it burnt down in the black Saturday fires or around then. Views would be amazing but... m.realestate.com.au/property-residential+land-vic-marysville-202839014

How are fashion designers coping with covid and brexit? Does anyone know if there is a wave of shutting up shop going on? I assume so but am not in the know.

Forced labour, uniform, blah, drab, austere, maybe shirt dress, interest in the fabrics... exactly my thoughts. I don't understand how it came to be described as "quiet optimism" when the pics are so bleak. Hoping this is just an attempt at an edgy campaign and the actual clothes might have a bit of colour and relate somewhat to her description.

Thank you for welcoming me. It's a bleak mid-day here in the Balkans and only the crows and sparrows appear lively. I don't think I have the stamina to become a regular but I've learned a lot from you lot, you helped me refine my eye and taught me how to shop.

Here in my city the minimalist +J stuff would normally be worn only by architects and product designers sporting their global modernist uniform. Maybe also by some bohemians in various degrees of arty frump. But this collection makes me think of the early morning army of overworked middle-aged working-class women who buy their unbranded dark nondescript Chinese clothes in open-air markets from our own Delboys and Rodneys. It seems to me that this is the uniform elevated here. The bleak feel might also represent our true feelings towards this spring. It seems that fashion says the pandemic is far from over.

I've never lived in a passive home, but I've visited some and it's just very eery, there's barely any outside noise, the air is very staid and doesn't move if that make sense and you're not supposed to air it out (I mean you can, obviously, but you undo a lot of good and I really can't imagine it's nice living in a house where you feel guilty for opening a window). They felt very claustrophobic in a way even though there was plenty of physical space. The only people who seem to want to live in them are of the die hard ethical sort with Spartan lifestyles with little regard for comfort and a lot of money as they simply don't spend it. It all feels a bit a step too far and not a realistic ambition for the majority of the population. Also, if it's not built right you can end up with some horrible health issues and more often than not, the homes aren't even passive after they've been thoroughly tested. It's best regarded as experimental building where we can take really useful things from as opposed to a new standard to implement.

That's a lovely bit of land but I'm with Flo, in that nature scares me, and Australian nature terrifies me. Is that a wild dog that comes with the property?

Well, fashion designers are a large group. The luxury houses are making unexpected huge profits in Asia, which would put faith in my frivolous twenties predictions, I think having to be good and obedient for lockdowns etc. will mean we'll be spending money like irresponsible twenty year olds with no responsibilities in response for a bit.

Wrt Brexit, I do understand it's not been great for the fashion industry but we've yet to really see the impact. I did see a on it from a channel I occasionally watch but he got a lot of things wrong/misinterpreted factually about the Brexit agreement itself and therefore made things sound worse than they are but I think for young designers (especially independent ones) things are pretty dire and the UK was already losing relevancy in the Paris, Milan, New York, London lineup, big names chose to show in Paris instead, etc. I think one of the biggest losses will be Central Saint Martin's Master program, as it'll probably be far too expensive for European students to attend if they have to pay international rates so it'll be a rich kid's reserve.

Very astute observations Frivolity, perhaps we're all unwilling to face the reality and would prefer a bit of delusion. I know I've certainly been acting with the idea that summer, at least, will bring a reprieve, even if it's short lived, it's something. I really can't face the idea of the continued monotony and that collection with it's 'quiet optimism' seems to suggest it's here to stay.

See I no longer think we'll see an outpouring of joy and optimism this year. Maybe next spring but not this one. Ok I assume young people will go out and get wasted as soon as they can but otherwise I reckon the mood could remain cautious and reflective for some time.

Maybe it's just my own circle / circumstances but I know a number of people who've been pretty much housebound for a year. And people with life threatening illness who have had their treatment delayed. You don't bounce back from that quickly. It changes you.

Basically I think human beings have had a shock. Yes we're clever and resilient but we're also so vulnerable we can be floored by a strain of the common cold.

So an austere collection this spring / summer makes sense to me.

Maybe it is a generational thing Flo. Geographical location may also play into it, I think with Brexit on top of Covid, it's a lot to take all at once. I think the mood will very much depend on the effect of the vaccines, as it's still unclear whether they reduce transmission or not.

But I still take umbrage at the 'quiet optimism' bit...

Yeah there are a lot of unknowns still. I always remember my mum saying no-one she knew joined in any VE Day celebrations, and that they were all quite baffled when they saw the reports. They'd lost too much to feel like dancing in the streets, and they still had loved ones out there and didn't know if they were safe. I think it was smart of Dior to wait till '47.

I must be joining the utility vibe, as I've just ordered some navy combat style joggers. They're from Superdry and were reduced on zalando lounge, they look fine but are not quite as loose as I would expect. I'm just trying them out today, they might end up with dd(15) though.

Welcome, frivolity, great starting post.

On the optimism front, I did get my vaccine on Friday (classed as a carer for dd2).