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

Hello - just popping my head round your door to tell you about the sizing for the jeans if anyone is thinking of buying them. After sending back a whole load of things in the winter collab because they were all huge, the jeans are actually on the small size!

My only other pair of Uniqlo jeans are 24 and really quite roomy - these + J 24s fit, but unless they start to stretch a bit at the waist I'm going have to stalk the next size up. It's def not covid overeating because I the other jeans fit exactly the same as they always did

They're quite nice denim though - hope that helps!

@Faustina, come over here to talk clothing. It would save me posting the same things on two threads. We like clothes, but we don't usually do many extravagant spends; we buy (good) preloved and bargains, and talk about anything interesting.

@XingMing - thank you for the invitation - I do lurk quite religiously on this thread as I find it very interesting. Apologies for double JS Uniqlo posting - didn't realise there was an actual thread until yesterday!

You lot are pretty busy!! I want to see photos and admire and be envious of your purchases .
I do bot have anything to report, other than I am beyond excited because tomorrow is supposed to be balmy here! I need to get my spring clothes out!!

Looking for spring inspiration, I came across these in You magazine. Chloe (left) and Alberta Ferretti (right), I thought they were a good, realistic blend of minimal/utility with boho lite and some chunkier jewellery. I probably won't be wearing a white jumpsuit! But, I could do trousers + shirt + gladiator sandals or trousers + peasant blouse + chunky bracelets/cuffs. I liked the colours too.

My Uniqlo arrives tomorrow, and I look forward to updating you then ;) I am, in hindsight, very much with Flo on this
if Uniqlo are serious about wanting to cut down on returns they need to start putting more pics and size/fabric info in the previews. There's really not much point in doing all those meticulous close-up shots for launch day if you just have to grab n' go. I'm having a bit of buyer's remorse.

Lucky you Red with the balmy weather. We're having rain, but hey, it's about 10 degrees ... so I'm abandoning my "wool trousers" search and moving on to the warm season obsession of sandals and dresses. Now sandals. Tell me if I'm completely losing the plot here. But I got an ad popping up that led me to these (pic also attached). I'm kinding liking them as a slightly nursey/granny/fugly option. However, everything else the brand makes is horrible. So am I deluded? I can't tell.

I'm also a bit obsessed with calf-length shirt dresses. H&M (I know, I know) had two linen and/or linen blend options for this season. It pleased me very much to see that in the reviews a few people wrote that they were heartily tired of the dropped shoulder look and the dresses would be miles nicer with fitted shoulders. I hope designers take note, I too am tired of this.

I quite like them, bani, but then I like chunky boots, shoes. I think it depends how you style them.

I have just ordered 2 dresses from Arket (not the same ones as you, bani). A ruched, velvet one I had been listing after for winter - not remotely practical - and a black and white, more spring/summer one. I find calf length hems really tricky, I have defined calves and the hem can really hit the wrong spot, not a good look. I have an ancient, black, silk skirt that is long calf length and super flattering, but I often end up taking skirts up to knee length.

It's 15 and sunny here today, 20 for the days after that I've shaved for the first time since ehm not sure (I Lumea so it really isn't much).

My Uniqlo order just arrived at the store, I'll go pick it up after lunch. I was tempted to book an appointment with the department store but it's fully booked up for the week I'm wondering if I should go somewhere else, but where? Thinking maybe other stories or Arket, I just want to browse a bit.

Sorry, I think the sandals are too toddler like to be redeemable as anything else.

I don't mind the Hobo/Utilitarian mashup of that quirky, but I do feel I've seen that too much already, maybe not so much from the runway but people's own wardrobes and putting it together.

bo, I think it's the only way I can do any form of boho is to mix it up! I do like the return to chunkier jewellery - I feel it's much more me (like chunkier footwear), but that's very much a proportion thing.

I miss shops too. Our city centre just seems so bleak. Warm here, too, but quite breezy. Typical East Anglian burning weather!

I cannot speak for my granny bani but I almost like them. There's just something about that large buckle and the T-bar that takes me straight back to Infants One, and not in a good way. A decent fugly sandal with good foot coverage is hard to find - I've been looking for a few years now.

I agree about calf length skirts. However top of the ankle, even when it's only a fraction lower, works for me. The same goes for cropped trousers.

I'm away on essential care duties for a few days but I'll take some +J photos when I get back and also make a decision about the crew neck. I've just realised that not only do Uniqlo charge for returns now but that they've also stopped sending you the paperwork so you need access to a printer. Let's just say this has not endeared them to me.

I'll also report back on undyeing the dark brown +J chinos. It's nearly gone really well....

Toddler-like - oh the cut, the cut of that! But I'll listen to you all, I need the help. (But it's as you say Quirky, I get the feeling that they might work but I also completely buy that I might not be the one to make them do so.)

And you might be right about calf-length, I think I do mean more towards the ankle. Underneath the swell of it, sort of. Basically what I envision is loosely based around the words swathe, drape and waft.

I have two pattern magazines from say 2005 with very staid and polite models in them that I'm hoping maybe to play around with and adapt to learn from at least. There's a shirt dress and a few trouser patterns that might be salvagable. I'd focus on the dress and try making a mock up of that, adding length and maybe a bit of width. I find it hard to judge line drawings.

Pressed too soon! Yes, I'm longing to just browse and not worry about other people being too close etc. And I'm looking forward to seeing Quirky's Arket buys and the rest of the +J stuff. :)

Tbh Bani, I'm just running out of adjectives, I'm down to polite, toddler-like (but only because they don't have a Twitter account to descend on me and tell me off) and married to God (ditto the Twitter). Matronly was ok to use for a bit but it seems that's no good anymore. Granny should only be used in a 'kick ass yeah don't give a fuck' granny way. And I have issues about 'flattering'...

Well I've had a blissful late afternoon, highly recommend the private shopping experience, not sure why I didn't do it earlier. I ended up at both Arket and Other Stories, the latter was a bit of a wash, clothes were just a bit blah and all the dresses were bad Simone Rocha rip offs. I tried on some cargo trousers but they were fitted WTF I want nonchalant easy breezy cargo trousers.

Tried on some dresses at Arket, loved the colour of the green but there was something very off about the fit, which is nothing new with me and Arket but everything sat too high, I should be having the opposite problem and I'm not sure how this would work on a taller person, the people Arket usually favours, everything sat 10cm higher on me.

At Arket I ended up buying some more impractical shoes as these seem to be my pandemic constant 🤦and have a very The Row vibe, got them in the sale but seem to be full price online and got some opaques from recycled material because it was 3 for 2 on sale items. Terrible effort as those were a few Euros but I hate those offers where you essentially end up spending extra because you're looking for three things of equal value end up with two things you sort of want.

Anyhow, it was lovely being in the shops again and fingering things. I'm booking in with the department store next week because it's wonderfully mood lifting, picked up some poké bowls for dinner on the way back #capitalistbliss 🤑

I've tried on my JS Uniqlo things just now, will take pics later. Spoiler alert: I'm a bit meh about everything (except the t-shirt, there's no meh about it, I am indeed the exception, it looks crap).

Oh and also added an ootd, aka, help it's spring all of a sudden, what do I wear 😱

How does this private shopping experience work?

So nice to see some dressing room photos capitalist bliss indeed. Arket's dresses do all fit weirdly. And yy to 3 for 2 being a pain in the arse - I often end up not buying anything because I can't find the third item!

Easter is supposed to be balmy here. I'm panicking already about how to adjust to that.

It's very simple, you book through their online site or by phone, you get half an hour minimum and shops are allowed 2 shoppers per floor at a time but the larger stores are allowed more. You have to book 4hrs ahead minimum to avoid 'fun' shopping not sure how effective that is as just scheduling a few behind each other does allow for that 🤷

I was on my own in OS and there were two other people at Arket. Staff left me alone, thankfully, that was the main thing putting me off previously.

I'm still in exercise gear because I don't know what to wear, it's still cold now but it'll be 20° later. Urgh.

I need to edit my JS photos, I'll post them later.

It sounds blissful - if only we had some department stores left

Don't keep us in suspense about +J bo - didn't you get the dolman-sleeved shirt? I'll be disappointed for you if that's a let down.

Sorry cross post.

Fabulous if a bit bizarre - it reminds me of when they used to close Harrods so Princess Diana could shop there.

Ah - we've these past few months had restrictions so shops etc have to have a notice up saying how many people are allowed in (calculated per sq mtr) so they're more reliably empty now and/or you have to queue to be allowed inside, but they haven't shut for pre-booking.

Alright specially for you, impatient Flo

So t-shirt not looking great on me, it's just not very oversized and not sitting at the right spot so it's bubbling up so I'm guessing I should have sized up but it's sold as oversized 🤦 maybe it's the height thing? I do feel it should be longer. I do like the potential of it so will keep an eye for a size up to come back in stock.

The dresses, I correctly guessed my own size was too short and it hits me at the exactly wrong spot and is unflattering.

Onto the white which is a size up, I will say this dress is a gorgeous quality material and so well finished. It's astonishing for the price really but... I don't really love it and I'm not sure I even like it. It's too big at the top and far too difficult to be altered by me and I've owned dresses of this silhouette before but have always gotten rid of them from lack of wear (material a bit too thick and too fitted for actual warm weather and I always feel a bit goody goody in them) it would be perfect for today's weather but I'm still really meh about it. I feel really bad, it's a perfectly nice dress that's better made than things at ten times the price.

This is the dolman sleeve that I've grown to like a bit more. Initially I only liked it from the side but I tried it on with higher waisted trousers this morning and that's made a difference on the front view. It doesn't look much like the online images though, I think those have been starched to an inch of their life.

I think you look lovely in the white dress. Yes I can see it's a bit gapey around the armhole and if you don't feel right in it yada yada yada, but you still look lovely - one of those cases where the whole effect overrides any detail.

I think the dolman shirt looks great and it had me scurrying back to check for returns until I remembered none of the colours are right for me. Yes it definitely needs to be seen sideways but hey I'd just walk everywhere sideways. Are they the pink trousers you made cos they look great too?

Agree the other dress and the T not doing much for you.

What Flo said, can't add or subtract! Great photos!

pigeon that’s great about the shirt, it’s a lovely style. It was just too work adjacent for me.

quirky I like those images, they are both very Isabel Marant in aesthetic too.

bani It’s a no from me on the shoes. The open toe doesn’t look in any way deliberate. It’s like they took a (toddler) sandal and chopped the toes off to accommodate an orthopaedic procedure. If you’re on the hunt for an ugly shoe would you consider a fisherman’s sandal style? This sort of thing..

Botemp I agree with flo. I love the white dress. I’m excited for mine to arrive now. The t-shirt is a really strange shape. I like the Arket green dress, but I see what you mean about it almost being designed for someone with a shorter torso than you, which given you’re very petite is really strange. The white shirt is great with the pink trousers. Those pink trousers are really exceptional! Love the shoes and nice to see an outfit of the day post, I must try to do one. Does your t-shirt say “GAINS” or is that the light.

flo totally agree that more sizing info is needed up front to cut down on returns. Without that, the new policy is for me anyway more likely to result in more returns because my view would be “well it’s a fixed cost to return no matter how many items. It’s highly unlikely that everything in my order fits and looks good so I’m going to be paying at least 1 return fee, in that case I may as well order everything in 2 sizes so that I can get this over with in one go”.

Right so I'll have to embrace #capitalistcrablife with the shirt 🦀

Yes, those are my own made trousers

No my t-shirt doesn't say gains 😲 I'm not some gym bro. I can't remember what but it's in French and something about resistance (not training), I'll have to fish it out of the laundry basket.

Yes, the dress is lovely, I think I'm just not a fan of lovely on me although it's the adjective my mother used most about me (she even got me an Audrey Hepburn book called how to be lovely) so I might need to unpack something there while reclined on a chaise longue. I think I was just anticipating something a bit more forward than classic from JS, like the white dress attached, fifth in.