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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Les Parisiennes de Mamansnet shop

Hello frivolity, delighted to make your acquaintance! Welcome, you clearly get us.

Reporting back on the Me&Em ballet wrap... it's a keeper. The crossover hits perfectly and it doesn't expose more than I want but it's cut deep enough to feel modestly immodest. The sleeves are a bit too long, but I always roll sleeves. Nice heavy modal fabric too; just tossing up whether I need one in black, or should wait to see if there's any brighter colours in the pipeline.

Responses to our brave new post-COVID world are feeling a bit monochrome and muted, despite the prints someone showed for the start of London Fashion Week. As Flo suggested, we probably need recovery time.

PassivHaus always seems a bit off. Can't see us ever buying or building one as MrXing can't bear a room without an open window. He was definitely born in a barn. It will be interesting over the next few years because we plan to move from Cornwall and are not sure where to go and what to look for when we do but we definitely want to cut two hours off the journey every time we travel anywhere.

I will have to watch Borgen, my family in Argentina rave about it too Bo.
Welcome frivolity always nice to have a nice addition to the party.
I also thought... Chinese concentration camp/North Korea uniform when I saw the +J, but I have to admit that a side of me liked the full skirts.

We definitely need recovery time, I am not too optimistic for this year unfortunately. But I am bloody glad January is over. That was hard.

The full skirts are frivolous enough to take it away from the labour camp connotations, aren't they?

This very limited colour palette and limited amount of styles offered seems to be a pandemic side effect. I can see retailers being cautious so they don't end up with too many floral tight trousers as overstock at the end of the season. Also I think there must have been supply issues, so blue, beige and black are the only colours available.

Bani, I thought it was just me who was bored with black, navy and beige. I mean, they are the important colours, but I need coral and emerald too.

Borgen is an awesome series... we were glued to it from start to finish. If you haven't seen it yet, I am envious.

I am not sure if this was as successful as my previous nice trousers/sweatshirt combo but I wore these Sandro trousers with an unbranded top. The trousers go to the ankles so I had ankle boots with them. To soften the look as it was a bit androgynous I think , I put my hair up in a feminine way, more by luck because my mane is wild right now
I was thinking I need a Margaret Howell Barbour type coat Flo, as I seem to end up in countryside walks pretty much 4 times a week nowadays... or something that will blend well with the mud and allow me to layer underneath, not too warm as I have plenty of warm coats ... and secondhand .

Here is the attire

Now I am in ebay looking for stuff and came across this from MH, very inexpensive... how is the sizing like Flo? This is an S, which I might get into but I don’t like being restricted, I like roomy clothes.
I am probably a 10 right now comfortably.
I don’t really need a dress so not too bothered but I always wanted to try mh since you talk so much about her

Keep forgetting to attach the photos ...

Ooh lucky you Red - what's it made of?
To be honest, I tend to buy Margaret Howell any size I can and get it altered. But I would say on the whole it's generously sized. So I'm typically 8-10 and mostly a 10 these days but the MH Barbour is an 8 and pretty roomy. I also have some trousers from the sales a couple of years ago in a 10 and I'd have probably been fine with an 8 but I like a loose fit. So if you're normally a 10 then I would think an S would be fine, assuming it's not shrunk - and I think you'd have to practically boil her stuff to get shrinkage.

Hope you get it and don't be put off if it seems unremarkable at first because I thought that to begin with too.

Red I think that would look great on you! Get it for me, the one who either doesn't fit the designer brands or can't afford them ! I'm living vicariously through you lot. I lean towards agreeing that the jumper/trouser combination looks less successfull but otoh the photo isn't great, if you'll forgive me (hard to see).

Xing, I absolutely do not understand why basics in colours can't be a thing. Granted, they have to be nice colours and not just shades of Esprit, but surely there's a market? If everyone is making basics in black and white surely the market is saturated???

Today I did get a rain coat, while out in the sports shop buying a yoga mat. It was on sale, but I'm going to have to ponder the colour a bit (sort of dirty yellow but not quite mustard).

Doesn't Kettlewell specialise in colourful basics? Uniqlo does a fair bit too, but I think there's always the risk of basics looking extra basic in all the colours of the rainbow, it feels a bit like the crappy limited paint selection you sometimes get for some products (eg radiators), lots of choice but all equally terrible colours no one wants so everyone just gets off white (which isn't that nice either but it's better than all the rest and inoffensive).

American Vintage has a lot of basics in colours that are actually nice, although the basics are more like 'basics plus' than true basics.

I think Margaret Howell sizing depends on body type, it's cut on the narrow side where you might have a curve, but that looks like a wrap thing so size/fit is probably largely irrelevant.

Kettlewell seems to be the only shop that focuses on a wide selection of colours, but then they are connected to HoC or something. I've never shopped from them because they are style-wise a little iffy , seem cut for shorter women generally, and when I've wanted to give something a go in the sales they've sold out. And now Brexit. But I don't understand how no-one else sees a market in genuinely expanding the colour horizons. Don't talk to me about Uniqlo, I had so much hope and got variations of sludge.

Will look at American Vintage.

Uniqlo colour ranges are a mystery to me: so many options and yet so many are shite. Whereas I think Kettlewell do a decent choice but last time I looked it was nearly all modal.

I missed out on a couple of bright red and pink linen shirts on eBay on the weekend. I periodically search for fuschia/magenta/burgundy/maroon and see what pops up.

Get the MH red! You could wear it over things. I have a vintage jaeger linen dress I wear as a light overcoat going out.

I actually like sober colours but I'd still like more of them than just blue, black, and beige. I find this with Cos too - nice looking item but then it's beige or white or nun grey. And if it is a different colour it'll be lime green.

Preach Catherine. Now I like navy, and spent many years moaning I couldn't find it you know the capsule wardrobe suggestions where you pick a base colour? Well one could be navy they suggest good luck finding that I thought. It's having a moment now alright and the high street are congratulating themselves on their expanded colour palette. Not only black, but nun grey AND navy! And a pop of colour in the shape of lime green or blush pink!

Personally I don't mind modal but quality really varies and can't be judged in the shops or even by the price.

I often go to Kettlewell colours, open the "show all colours" page and just look at what could be on offer, haha. Got to hand it to them, it's a definite USP and it's the poor style choices that's holding them back! Bit too much Bridget Jones's mum. They need to hijack a designer from Other Stories maybe.

In Sweden obv the cult of neutrals is even worse. I love this jumper from Dagmar for example but a) can't afford it obv but let's say it was on sale and I could stretch to it b) it's never going to be worth the money for me in black or off-white. www.houseofdagmar.com/shop/sasha-2/ Their seasonal pop of colour is a washed out teal - not bad but it's the ONLY CHOICE.

Saw some quite nice things on American Vintage, thank you for that tip Bo (have we talked about them before?) but I might be sized out depending on how generously they cut (probably not at all, seem fraaaanch).

We're making our way through the last season of Call My Agent. Good call to make it the last season, the storylines seem more fan-servicy. Am noticing how everyone's style has changed a little. Loved Sigourney Weaver's coats, thought the plot was clumsy and preachy. Perhaps edgy in France, the country decades behind the rest of the world in these matters.

Me too, I need some long sleeved Ts but I've not bought any for a few years because I don't want white, black, grey or even navy, and nor do I want zingy yellow. I'm after mid-to-dark greens or pinks, burgundy, or indigo rather than navy.

Glad the ballet wrap fits Xing bet it looks really elegant.

Couldn't get into Call My Agent - apart from the clothes, and they weren't enough reason for MrFlo. Should we have persevered?

American Vintage is very roomy as it is meant to be wafty, a lot of it is cut on the bias so it has a lot of give. Yes, we've talked about them before, their outlet is good to nose in as they are on the pricier side. Although the outlet can be really annoying as you'll see something the model is wearing besides the thing they're selling and then you're desperately searching the rest of the site with no luck.

I like that Dagmar jumper but I don't really understand thick cotton jumpers, the only time I'd wear one would be at the end of a warm-ish day that suddenly turned cold and I'm still hanging out outside (and I've been schlepping that jumper with me all day in anticipation of such an occasion), that's a scant few hours a year, and my upper chest would still be cold . I had an oversized wrap cardigan type thing in a thick cotton knit once, think it was some Ralph Lauren outlet purchase, navy actually, never wore the thing except when I was ill in spring 🤷 I guess they make more sense if you're in a moderate climate where it occasionally gets cool but not propper sitting beside the North Sea cold.

Yes, I'm glad they finished CMA before it got repetitive. I suspect they might do a spin off with one of the characters but not sure who. The French are very preachy at the moment but now everyone is accusing each other of turning into Americans...

Weekday also has a pretty decent selection of colour basics, they do nice greens often and if you're into it a non gaudy turquoise. But you have to watch out as a lot of it is weirdly cropped or boxy, their Prime t-shirts (also comes as nice t-shirt dress) is a nice basic T-Shirt though. All organic cotton too, we've had the cotton discussion already (I must admit I do like a viscose t-shirt but I seem to be in the minority).

I have some Kettlewell tops that are about 9yrs old and have lasted well (I do wash long-sleeved tops on a delicate wash, though). They are variously a wrap top, cowl-neck top and knot-front top. Two are nice, heavy viscose and one is cotton. Some of their styles are pretty boring and some not, though mine are obviously old. I have a few of their vest tops with wider straps as well (similar age) that are ribbed cotton and some modal. All have washed and lasted well. I have a couple of American Vintage tops too, but those are grey. They are much finer, looser, slubby jersey style. I think they're a viscose/cotton mix.

Gap always have colours, and some of their tshirts have lasted me a long time. I don’t rate one slightly thicker boat neck style but the ‘modern boatneck’ they have now is presumably different, and I do have a burgundy v neck very soft slightly ribbed ls tee. Just a couple current items-

www.gap.co.uk/gap/softspun-cowl-neck-top/000646862.html?dwvar_000646862_color=000646862002&dwvar_000646862_fit=regular&cgid=women-clothing-teesandtops-longsleeve#start=16&

www.gap.co.uk/gap/softspun-dolman-t-shirt/000665798.html?dwvar_000665798_color=000665798004&dwvar_000665798_fit=regular&cgid=women-clothing-teesandtops-longsleeve#start=55&

This is an (8/9yr) old Kettlewell top, I thought it was cotton, but actually is a cotton/modal mix. It feels like cotton. Apologies for the weird angle, the light was not good enough to use the mirror.

time, I used to wear a lot of gap tops once, but they went through a very flimsy stage and my loyalties switched. I like the ones you've linked.