Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: Do not ask the kock about les préservatifs in the food.

[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

Quatorze

Ok, my brain is probably a mush up of stuff. So what I read in quick succession one after the other during the first lockdown was a number of books (as found in my kindle ) and my memory just did a big mashup (is it a word?) of stuff… some of which might not be entirely factual … The Designer by Marius Gabriel , Dior by Dior, and later in the year was it near Christmas (lockdown again) The Channel Sisters . I have always been pretty bad at history, names, dates I used to have to study ridiculously to pass, always passed with reasonable marks as I was so obsessed with doing well… give me any maths, science, computing coding, botanical and I was all over it. But I always enjoyed reading a lot. Anyhow, Miss Dior is on my list now !
If this is working now you should see my The fold purchases.
shrike enjoy Portugal and let us know what you wear for dinner!

bani if you know of something on YouTube that would be great - thank you. I seem to have resolved the pocket problem on one side but the other is still slipping - doesn't matter so much on these but I'd like to sort it out before I embark on another pair in a better fabric.

You've got some great buys there Red - love that jacket. Yes I would say that but it's true. The Fold used to send me their catalogue and I'd look at in bed and fantasise about a life where I wore those clothes every day.

bo I'd forgotten you were eyeing up the +J red dress -Yay! The skirt looks fairly demure in the preview but you can see the split better in the lookbook. I still keep coming back to the red jacket but a new jacket is about the last thing I need in my life. I haven't got a red one though...

Hope you're enjoying Lisbon Shrike. I've been twice, twenty years apart. The first time it was a lovely, relaxed, small-child friendly city, bit sleepy - very happy memories. When we went back I hadn't fully realised it had become a bit of a party destination till someone tried to sell me drugs on Rua Augusta on our first night. Great place and much more to do there now. Looking forward to the restaurant reports!

I'm glad they helped you out, Shrike, that's an impressive discount. Despite being French 24s customer service has always been great IME (unlike Matches who are shit at CS, but not enough for me to wish multimillion losses on them either). I hope you're having decent weather to wear them, I heard it's unseasonably cold down south ATM.

Good to know I got the gist of the pretty privilege thread without having to read it 🤣 MN can be a parallel world sometimes, I don't automatically want to assume people are lying when it doesn't echo my observations or experiences but I do somewhat assume that those who court dislike everywhere they go probably contribute to it in some way. I can totally see that if all you're valued for is your appearance and you replicate that behaviour by treating others in accordance to their appearance you're unlikely to be popular.

I'm not sure where all the be kind nonsense came from tbh. I first encountered it when influencers started to be scrutinised and called out for dodgy behaviour and dealings. What terrifies me more is the people who mindlessly use it to silence others, especially in defense of horrific behaviour. See also; the very fluid definition of trolling. The whole parasocial phenomenon terrifies and fascinates me in equal measure.

Flo, I'll try and see what's in store as well, although they don't usually carry much here but I'll be in Antwerp around that time too, maybe they have a better selection. The Antwerpians tend to be quite averse to colour so hopefully that means lots of red is left.

Red, love, love, love the blue blouse and the jacket, and while the dusky rose blouse will look great on you, it wouldn't have called to me.

Very interested to hear about your holiday, Shrike, as I should have been in Porto this week. I hope you are having a wonderful time. And yes, your drinks cabinet is magnificent!

Logging all the book recommendations for inspiration.

Ooh, House of Glass sounds very interesting. I will have to add it to my reading list.

The blue blouse is very beautiful, red. Some good finds!

I missed the "pretty privilege" thread. I think I'm quite glad I did! Coming back to confidence as attractiveness, isn't that one of the things we discussed right at the beginning on these threads?

Thank you for the compliments on the blue blouse. Now, it is see through… so what do I wear underneath? Blue cami? Any other suggestions?

Blue cami, or nude cami. Or a thin silk thermal vest in winter, if you can find one to make the necklines work.

I have a hankering for a black turtle neck. I don't know why this is happening to me. I wear a bit more black than I used to but still not very much, and I don't like high necks. But it won't go away. So any recommendations? I'm thinking cotton-ish fabric, not a jumper - I'm going to be hot enough as it is.

Sorry, I'm so distracted with turtle neck thoughts that I missed your question Red. I think I'd try for a blue cami first but that blouse is in quite a distinctive shade and I'm wondering if more blue might be a bit of distraction unless it was a very close match. So if it didn't work, I'd echo Xing's suggestion of nude.

@Floisme I love these cotton turtle necks, great for layering, they’re so soft. I think they do black even if I screenshotted a cream one!

I’m a long-time lurker, de-lurking to say that the +J collection is already being sold in Japan and Korea, for anyone interested in more info (photos, fabric composition etc.). I used Google translate for the fabric composition:

www.uniqlo.com/kr/ko/contents/collaboration/plusj/21fw/women/

www.uniqlo.com/jp/ja/contents/collaboration/plusj/21fw/women/

Thanks MissMoon good to see that the expensive cashmere blend coat are mostly wool and cashmere and a smidge of synthetic. I had anticipated not a large amount of cashmere and a lot more synthetic. Not sure I want to send for a coat though 🤷

Is it me or is the Asian market not getting as much red items as we are?

I've found some YouTube videos from Japan, currently watching at double speed. The puffer looks nice on the woman but not my thing probably. I'm still of the opinion that the men's stuff is very blah this time, if even a funky Japanese man with cool hair in shorts can't make it look exciting.

I have a cotton/cashmere (but mostly cotton) mix black turtleneck from Majestic Deluxe, I really like it and its kept its colour well which tends to be my main bugbear with cotton winter pieces but not sure what you're looking to spend for this or how tight fitting you want it.

mm47 thank you - I can't see a black one unfortunately although there's a really good range of other colours. Plus I'd be paying shipping costs (unspecified till you get to the checkout) and possibly a $50 return fee. I thought it was a shame when J Crew pulled out of the UK - there are always threads on here about how we desperately want well made basics and don't mind paying more for them and yet when a store opens offering that they can't make it pay.

Thanks too bo but I don't want to pay too much for one at this stage. I know there's a sublime irony in that, considering what I've just said about paying for quality but in this case, however well made it is, I'll almost certainly come to my senses in a few weeks and realise I look like shit.

And thank you too missmoon - it's really helpful to see more details. I'm now lingering over the Gaucho trousers which I'd ignored before. They look a tiny touch shorter than I'd like on the model but I'm guessing they'd be ok on me. Expensive but I bet they're beautifully made, nearly all wool / cashmere with a smidgeon of synthetic according to Google Translate. Hmm,

@botemp

I was thinking of a red knit dress from Uniqlo, not sure if that satisfies you enough Flo. I've completely missed a thigh high split thingy, I assume it would be like knee high on me though...

Yes poor Roland Mouret, I think the last couple of years people mostly bought out the sample sales as they were notoriously good and I'm guessing all the celebrities were borrowing rather than buying. The price point was massively out of touch for a long time though.

I think it was once heavily rumoured that he basically manufactured all of Victoria Beckham's things when she started and had a lot of design help from the company too. I think she's still yet to turn a profit.

Business news from the UK seems to be bad all-round, I saw Matches Fashion lost 50 million pounds in 2020 combination of Brexit and COVID.

I've also been eyeing Anne Sebba's, 'Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s' that someone recommended under a Miss Dior review (Catherine also features in that apparently) but the fact that it's massive has put me off so far but the first whiny review complaining about how there was too much fashion in it should spur me on. I suspect this will be a better read than Miss Dior.

@botemp the Parisiennes book is excellent, it really makes you think how harshly women were treated in comparison to men

TwoBlondes I finished it yesterday (it wasn't as long as I thought about a third is an appendix) and I agree it was excellent and makes the Dior book pale a little in comparison tbh, though I still enjoyed that. I only paid €2.99 for Anne Sebba's ebook and I seriously feel I underpaid for the wealth it brought.

I'm still digesting it all and concur it was harsher for women and the Nazis seemed particularly cruel to women in a very organised way too, but perhaps that's what I'm reading into it. The story of Noor Inayat Khan really broke my heart, they really viewed her as an animal where the rest were 'degenerates'.

I was thinking about it this afternoon, as it starts with the notion of choice and why women chose to resist with many dismissing it was a choice and just something you do I think there's a lot there. You have to be fearful in order to be brave and women tend to know fear more intimately so I think they were quicker to respond to it and questioned the necessity of the action less. I also found it interesting why post war much of it was polished away, both in the UK with the SOE being a bit of a legal grey area and acknowledgement in France of only some of the resistance.

@botemp if you're interested in women in the SOE, I'd recommend A Life in Secrets, probably the best book I've ever read.

Thanks TwoBlondes, I'll add it to my list. I see I've already bookmarked another book by the same author about the Ravensbrück camp, have you read that too by any chance?

Yes, also excellent and also harrowing. I prefer A Life in Secrets because she manages to uncover a lot of previously unknown information about Vera Atkins, she's a remarkable researcher.

Changing topics here, I stopped at the Wellcome collection near Euston in London. They always have thoughtful inspiring exhibitions. And I saw this by Celia Pym who repairs with ‘visible’ mendings and stitches, she is interested in the memory held by clothes. There were various socks mended and the stitches where colourful and the result was very pleasing and thought provoking in my eyes. I googled her and some knits repaired by her are really good.

Some good book recommendations above, which I will also add to my list.

There is a really good reality TV show on Netflix about the SOE it's called Churchill's Secret Agents where modern day recruits are put through the same rigorous testing as those agents in 1940 to determine if they would have had what it took to be an agent of SOE. It's obviously an odd concept that it's a reality show but it is fascinating to watch. Thanks for all the book recommendations too

In no particular order -

Elle - thank you for translation . I love this aspect of Irish grammar and want everyone to know about it.

Flo, 2.37 in this video, does that help? And I have no Steve Jobsy tips for you

Red, I think a blue cami will show a lot - it's a look, but I'd prefer the blouse to look "whole" and it not be obvious I'm covering my bra, like. So I vote nude!

Shrike, that's a good discount! Well done! I agree with your scepticism of people being treated badly because they're pretty - all actual research shows the exact opposite after all. But it's connected to the general zeitgeist of wanting to find something to be a "victim" of so you can't be labelled a "problematic oppressor" IMO (I'm paraphrasing heavily, please read me in good faith).

Also, I've never been to Lisbon, I'd love to go!

Miss Moon, thank you so much for the links. It was great to look at the stuff in more detail - and I notice that the Japanese sites give a lot more information about cut etc. than the Swedish site (and also seems better laid out. Why?). Very pleased to see that the fabric quality was so high!

I'm miffed at the dull colour selection. I quite fancy the pintuck front shirt. It's something I don't have and it would feel very different and a bit dressy. But I don't want white or black particularly and I (after all) already own a blue J+ shirt (and everything I get from Uniqlo seems to be navy because it's the only colour they have) and am a little at how fast the colour has started to go from the collar tips and similar spots. Now, an olive green or the deep red would have tempted me, but of course the other colour they chose for that one is the deep purple. Which I'm just a bit tired of, I've worn that colour to death for many years, and I don't think it's my best frankly.

They do have the almost same shirt I own in the deep red. But it's the same shirt. I don't love it that much I don't think.

I was pleasantly surprised by the tapered wool trousers, which on this closer inspection looks like stealth pyjamas and now I've actually been wanting navy trousers so it could be a win. No great hopes for fit though and no idea about size which is annoying since you won't be allowed buy a lot, but I might give them a go.

The Churcill's secret agents show was on my list for a while but I'm not enough of a middle-aged man to prioritise WW2 stuff so it fell off. Sounds like it's worth a go then?

Adding all the book recommendations and Netflix recommendation to my list. I was going to add the book Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. (I think there's a film, too). She was a Russian Jew in Paris, wrote a fictionalised account of the Nazi invasion, which was cut short when she was sent to a concentration camp. Very poignant.

Thanks for the link bani I'll give it a go.

Red that thing about mended clothes telling a story really resonates with me. I won't drag up my old tweed coat again, oh ok then I will - that was why I found the patched up lining really poignant and why I still can't bring myself to replace it. I remember my mum darning socks - I, of course, was far too progressive and liberated to learn

Please keep the book recommendations coming everyone.

@banivani my 12 year old wanted to watch it as he's reading and watching anything WW2 so initially watched it for him but it's fascinating so yeah definitely give it a go!

Thanks TwoBlondes, I'll start with a life of secrets as I was very intrigued by Vera Atkins too, she seems to be interpreted very differently by different sources. I'm reading Rosemary Say's memoir ATM as it's available on Scribd (so free for me) and quite an easy quick-ish read. She's the English nanny based in Avignon who gets stuck in Paris who is also mentioned in the Les Parisiennes book. She also joins the SEO at some point, I'm not there yet but I think it's more in an admin capacity.

Thanks for the tip too Molly, I've also spotted another movie on Netflix while bookmarking the SEO show as it came up in the results that seems to be about Noor Inayat Khan and another SEO agent, A Call to Spy.

Ha, I have one of those WWII middle aged men as an uncle, Bani. Thankfully he can't pass for anything close to Aryan so it's all healthy curiosity. He's ex military but I don't think that's a requirement for the interest. Think it started with buying all his clothes from army supply stores and always enjoying history.

Hmm, I think the 'everyone hates me because I'm beautiful' narrative existed long before the oppressor narrative that seems to be popular now. To me it fits much more into the 'cool girl' narrative (which was just named something else before we called it that, think it's a 'pick me' now, even, but that sounds too much like pygmee to me 🤷) it's a way to distance yourself from other women to the favour of men as a poor pitied thing that needs to be protected by their 'masculinity'. I'm always surprised how much of MN is eager to affirm the 'everyone hates me because I'm beautiful' cries. Undeniably, female friendship groups can be competitive and/or toxic and being ostracised can feel especially punishing but it's usually far more complex than appearances.

I do find your take on everyone trying to identify out of being classed an oppressor too simplistic (appreciate it's a paraphrasing) as I feel only critics of woke ideology seem to argue it and not the proponents themselves but I agree that it's generally unhelpful to attach the word privilege to lots of things when the word advantage works better as we then also acknowledge the disadvantaged without it becoming this polarised us vs them fight fest and further eroding the meaning of privilege, eg. where privilege also means opportunity. And don't get me started on the fact that those bandying around the word privilege with abandon can never spell it properly

Yes, Irene Nemirovsky featured in the Parisiennes book too, quirky, Suite Française is on my list too.

Red that work has reminded me of a Dutch female artis that does similar things, she even sells little kits where you can do it yourself and patch up old clothing. I really liked a project she did with carpets, a bit reminiscent of the Japanese kintsugi. I do personally have mixed feelings about projects like these sometimes though, when artists take established mending techniques used by poor people for forever to disguise their poverty as much as possible in getting things to last that would never see them receive credit and then to 'elevate' it and call it art. It's more artistic than art in my book.