Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: For the Love of Well Dressed Women in Repose

[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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Previous threads:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

Neuf

Dix

Onze

Douze

Treize

That must be hard Auld, hope you get to see your DP in RL soon

As an alternative to linen , (double) cotton gauze can be nice and it tends to be a little bit more hard wearing but it has that same lived in easy look. Example here. Usually comes up cheaper too.

I was at Arket yesterday and tried on the kaftan Flo was once lusting over. I'm on the fence though, I like it but something is stopping me from loving it despite being in the sale and my imagination that it would look good with the The Row Ginza sandals coming my way (I'm imagining a whole new wardrobe with them which is never a good thing as it usually means it doesn't work in reality ).

Couldn't put my finger on why I wasn't loving it beyond it looking a bit 'I'm just here wafting on my superyacht' but I don't think that was the issue, I think it's the uneven hem. It all sort of gathers on me where on the model it has more of a defined shape.

We have the opposite problem, Auld, my parents are in France and we are in the UK. It's coming up to 2yrs since we've seen them.

The uneven hem is not very noticeable in the photo, bo. The fabric looks more silky/drapy on you than the model - in a good way.

than on the model, that should say.

Sorry to hear that, quirky. 2 yrs here, too, in July. I'm hoping to go in late Aug, but not very confident at all that it will happen.

Bo those curtains are lovely. Thanks! Easier to launder, etc., than linen, and long enough for my very high windows.

That kaftan has been pinned onto the model, surely. I agree there's a hint of St Tropez about it IRL.

Lord I haven't thought about that Arket dress for ..... I don't know how long and yet I was obsessed with it at one point. If I were a better person I would take time to reflect on that but I'm not so I won't.

I agree it doesn't look the same as on the model bo. On you it's kind of drapy and Grecian and rich 70s hippy looking.

to everyone still separated from family and loved ones. It's very hard.

Must admit, rich 70s hippy is suddenly selling it to me I think I've settled my hesitance with it as I wouldn't have thought twice about buying it during a lockdown as it's perfect for wearing around the house during one of those, so I think buying it would somehow mean the idea of more lockdowns, which I'm aware are still very much a possibility but I don't want to think about that now...

My the Row shoes have arrived and they're glorious, comfy from the get go, although the soles are a bit hard but that usually isn't an issue for me and I assume that will ease up. I was nervous about the size and thankfully my gamble paid off and they're exactly the right wize. They also fit very different than all the dupes I tried on those often shortened my legs made my feet looka bit pudgy these elongate. I tried them on side by side with a Zara home dupe and the difference between them is quite noticeable even though at first glance they look much the same.

Although I'm a bit miffed as the dust bags are missing. Not sure if I should complain, I doubt they'd send me some and a discount code would probably be useless for me. Think I'll shoot off an email anyhow as it's annoying me.

I think we need a photo of the Row shoes .

I found a pair of black Joseph trousers in the charity shop next to dd2's school. It's very much a few quid charity shop. The woman in the shop thought £15 was too much, though I said it was a bargain, but she reduced them to £10. They're a size up, but I know they run small. I'm having trouble with the light to take photos, as they look grey and slightly short - the hems are a bit creased and need a steam.

To balance that out my zatchels bag, that I bought last year has broken, the strap just came off . So, I have emailed them a photo plus the registration for lifetime guarantee. Not good for handmade, lifelong bags.

Well that's crap about the bag but at least the Joseph trousers were a bargain. If I have time I'll run past Arket with my new shoes (too cold to wear but I'll take them with) to see if they're any good together and remember to take a picture.

Good together with the 70s hippy dress, that is.

Well, zatchels have emailed me back and will either repair or replace the bag, so that's good and very quick response. I'm not feeling so annoyed, at least it broke as I was coming into the house, so I could change bags ASAP.

Good news about the shoes with the kaftan, bo.

That is hard auld, and quirky. Unfortunately I have the same problem with my family. For soon to happen reunions!!
The Row shoes sound great Bo
And good that they replied positively about your bag quirky.
I have some fabric samples for my curtains in linen and linen cotton mix. The width they come in should work for each panel, I need a pair for my bedroom.
I also have another sample but it is too light for what I am looking for.

The linen curtains sound lovely, red.

An attempt at a better photo of my black trousers. The daylight seems either too bright or creates too much shadow this time of year to get a good photo, so trying in artificial light instead.

Black clothes can be a bit of a ball ache to photograph accurately. They look good though quirky.

Well the navy Kaftan was sold, some other rich 70s hippy got there before me, it seems. I tried on a beige version in a size up but the colour was so offensive, like I was wearing a sheet of drapey skin I didn't even remember to take a picture or gather how it would go with my new shoes. Anyhow, ordered it online in navy in my size so will see when it gets here and I tried on some other things as I'm getting the sense long and lean silhouettes are making a comeback and since I'm neither I best start practicing on how to fake it again.

However, since I was in a tiny changing room and making weird poses that required spreading my toes out for stability I'm not exactly showing off my new shoes very well. I did like that skirt though (jumper much too big, my mistake, forgot to check size it was tightly knit so it looked my size) but it's 100% polyester. I have some white silk so potentially could make my own version I'm on the fence about shiny or matte (the silk has one side of either). Usually not a fan of the shiny but I liked it here but my silk is off white

The skirt looks good, bo, but I would baulk at 100% polyester, too. I know we have lamented photos' accuracy on previous threads. Usually the full length mirror in my bedroom is good, as it's next to a large window, but the sun is either from the opposite direction or directly in the window.

Fell off Mumsnet there for a bit, let’s see if I can catch up!

Re beauty of Ireland’s Atlantic coast - god it’s amazing isn’t it. If you could eat it (beauty) no one would ever have starved. I’d love to visit Wales too. It’s risky, there a high probability of the accent starting to creep in and it sound like you taking the piss, but I’m willing to take that risk.

That French linen link posted above was very good! They didn’t love Sweden as a shipping country but I’ll keep them in mind anyway.

Quirky you’re lucky with your finds! I went on a charity shop tour with my eldest the other day and found her a sleeveless black linen dress from la redoute, very pleased with it, she looks great. I loved la redoute, still upset they closed their Swedish branch. But it was best in the late 90s/early 00s I agree.

Found nothing for myself, but tried on an off white shirt in a double layer muslin with stitched “ridges” ie texture and felt very brave for trying pale colours. I am warming to pale with texture.

Bought sandals. Cheap ones but comfortable and they’ll do. www.schuhwolf.de/Nach-Herstellern/anwr-Schuh-oxid/Damen/Sandaletten/Tieffussbett/anwr-Schuh-Longo-Sandalette-1006495.html

Found Flo’s lost Swedish twin. A woman who sews and has the same taste as Flo! nouw.com/frkwiberg Blog is I. Swedish of course but keep scrolling and look at the photos!

Nice to see some old faces stopping by!

Ooh thanks bani she looks very cool - love her hair and jewellery and specs - although if she's made everything she's wearing I may hate her too. I'm dying to know what she's saying about Merchant and Mills. I nearly sent for that Ottoline jacket pattern last year but went for the Francine top instead as it didn't involve have any button holes. It was a mistake as the fit wasn't right at all - don't think I even bothered posting about it.

And the Gentleman's Wardrobe posts too..... What's She Saying???
(I know I know - Google Translate is my friend.)

Glad you've found some sandals. Since I got mine the weather's been shite here so I'm now wondering if I'd have got away without any for another summer.

Actually I'm fibbing - I got a week's wear out of them before the weather turned.

Floisme DeepL is way better than Google Translate.
So much so that it totally screwed up all our translation exams this year, which we had to do remotely. Our students just run the text through it...

Ah good Bani, you're back, you'll appreciate my latest find, Voriagh, it's an all things linen heaven crossover with historical designs, beyond the costume pieces it looks really interesting. They have a shop in Paris so will hopefully have a nose around when there.

I've never heard of DeepL before Auld, I'll have to try it. Google translate is better with some languages IME, Swedish to Dutch seems pretty seamless but French to Dutch is barely readable 🤷

I posted earlier, but it seems to have disappeared .

I love the Swedish flo! I agree her jewellery is great. I'm loving all the linen talk, too.

The Swedish Flo has Quirky hair I believe so I think she does you both! Wish I could help out more with translation but I’m on mobile devices now with poor memory 😬 and that blog just doesn’t like loading for me so I didn’t go very deep. DeepL looks very intriguing though, I sincerely look forward to using that! Tried it with a bit of Polish with good results and that’s promising, automatic translations tend to completely bugger that up.

Voriagh look super interesting, fun to see! Definitely costumey but there is a market for that, and the plainer sun dresses were very sweet and girly. I don’t think I’d wear them (unless I manage to get a very fit upper body) but I know one of my daughters would like them.

I’d love a comparison of the sandals btw Bo, why one worked and the other didn’t! Love stuff like that, I’m not very good at it and doubt my judgment too so would like a class 😎.

Not sure about the Arket kaftans by the way but I think I’m just disillusioned by the company. Could it be that I’m not feeling the fabric with the style? What’s it like on, it has to feel a bit swishy doesn’t it? I’ve gotten nowhere on the dress btw I realise I should slash and spread to add width because I somehow buggered up the notches when I added to the sides. Instead I made a tube skirt from that jersey material that comes in a tube (for cuffs). Buy a length, fold it double, elastic on top. Skirt. No hem to worry about sewing. I’m a genius.

Personally I’m not too grand for Baltic linen ;) but they can’t style for shite a lot of the time. Assymetric hemlines with side ruching and a hood, like.

Well, I'm very flattered, bani.

Non-S&B alert (while I wait for the end of the endless France V Switzerland match, so the entire neighbourhood will stop squealing in excitement/frustration and my DC will go to bed...):
I'd be interested to hear what other posters think of DeepL. For Fr-Eng/Eng-Fr it is often scarily good, even with very literary, metaphoric or implicit language. And then it trips up on the oddest, apparently simple things. I'd like to know how it handles other language combinations.

I really like Swedish Flo with Quirky hair.
She has the kind of timeless, powerful, apparently straightforward and yet sufficiently put-together style that some French women achieve. With more fun and freedom than most French women who fit that definition allow themselves (e.g. the bright floral dress & Converse combo). And beautiful grey hair, which is still a big no-no for many here in France...

I remember when I went to Germany in the early 1990s, how confident young women my age (18-20) were, or appeared to be, and how comfortable with their looks, with what seemed to be minimal input/effort. Yet they managed to look stylish and sure of their choices.
Swedish Flo reminds me of them.

I'm slightly at dubbing Frik (I'm assuming that's her name?) the Swedish Flo when she's clearly more creative and a lot less lazy than I am and can even wear lipstick without looking like she's been eating the crayons. But hey I can live with shame. I've run a couple of posts through Google Translate but thanks Auld I'll try DeepL too.

A lot of The Gentleman's Wardrobe post was about food and living alone in a pandemic but it seems there's a workbook by that name which, judging by Google, looks quite similar to the Merchant and Mills one (which I've never used but looks divine on the coffee table). So something to check out.

Frk is short for fröken, which simply means Miss. So her surname must be Wiberg. We don’t use titles any more since the 70s basically - although interestingly fröken survived in schools as something to call teachers (the marital title transferred to the job). But that’s dying out I think.

She does have a very Stockholm Scandinavian style, I admire it myself, it seems very effortless.

Auld, DeepL didn’t have all languages I noticed but I’ll be trying it out with Polish where I most often have trouble. It seemed ok with Swedish to English but I’ll have a peek at polish to Swedish etc.