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:

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Quatorze

Thanks, flo.

Yes that's been another moment from me, ridiculous amount of money for a test that you do at home, yourself 🤯 From what I could see in France the test sites were pretty much at every pharmacy and even if you had to pay (as a tourist) it was not very expensive at all, cheaper than here anyhow. They do really love to confuse you with those passenger forms, I filled ours in for France and while they wanted to see test forms and passports they had no interest in the passenger forms, all this extra admin that doesn't get registered anywhere makes no sense to me 🤷

Cashmere jumper !!!

No, definitely in thin, mostly linen, knits here. I have a few cashmere/cotton mix knits but haven't worn them recently.

That's great, Auld. I can't see my parents coming over for ages and dd2 means travel is too tricky, really.

flo, our tkmaxx is in a basement of a shopping centre and I always feel a bit off in there. I thought it was just me, but last week I was with dd1 and she said afterwards she felt the same. We have an M&S food hall that us similar and the low ceilings and fluorescent lights make me desperate to leave, like some kind of anti-marketing.

Hello all, back in the land of the living, and it seems to have gone well. Sore, swollen and retaining water as I am, I feel great. It will be ten days or so before the dressings come off and a bit longer for test results and the final decision before I get a decision on radio therapy/drug regimen. And then, I can consider a future which isn't all v-necks!

Thank you for all your good wishes... I won't be posting any pictures of the (white) anti-embolism socks I am supposed to wear 24/7 for three weeks.

Great to hear from you Xing. Are you still in hospital?

No, Flo. I was sent home just after lunch the following day. But my guardians are being very strict. They keep sending me to rest.

Good to hear you are being looked after, Xing. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Reposting a photo that seems to have disappeared. Diesel jeans from Vinted (hard to photograph and look shorter than in rl), the label says a cross between jeans and sweatpants, but also a bit kind of biker style and curved cut. They're oversized, but kind of like the different style - dd1 is eyeing them up...

I put the wrong photo up.

You are back Xing good to hear from you. It sounds like you are being looked after.

Good to hear from you Xing, glad to hear you're feeling great so soon already. Is Xingdog back home already too?

Your DD seems to be turning into a proper teenager, time to invest in some locks quirky

Meanwhile, I'm dithering over a coat, it's complicated...

I hope you're being waited on hand and foot Xing? And that includes Xingdog.

Do tell bo we are here for you.....

Careful what you unleash, Flo...

It's attached wool and cashmere coat, although it looks nothing like that on me, it's full length and the collar sits very low, it's a bit more insouciant (dare I say louche ) on me. Normally I'd avoid anything double breasted like the plague as it turns me into a barrel but it's low enough to not be an issue.

So my dithering dilemma, I love love love the colour, it's really unusual and it does things for me that makes me sound like one of those getting my colours done fanatics and I have been on the lookout for a while for a coat in a non traditional colour to make winters a little less bleak.

So my dithering dilemma, on account of being short it doesn't necessarily hit where it's supposed to, it doesn't look off but I'm questioning if I'm not going to be too cold with how open it is up top and whether I can cycle with it as it's more fitted at the bottom as my hips sit where roughly my waist should be. I would have preferred to try a size up for the cycling reasons but it's quite roomy on the shoulders so probably would be too big. It's full price but it's a past season item so they only had one size anyhow, small independent boutique so I don't blame them for wanting to achieve full price this winter, the coat seems to be a staple of the brand and comes in different colours (not especially excited by those, though) but I can't get this colour elsewhere, as a result.

I did find it in a size up in a shop in France with 30% off but they refuse to refund sales items (EU rules say different, yada yada, I'm not prepared for the customer service headache back and forth) and I'm fairly confident the size up will be wrong on the shoulders, it's unlined so alterations would be a challenge. But there's also the jumper factor that might actually require more space in the shoulders (I'm still not convinced though).

So I sit and dither. It's all the more annoying that I can order the other boring colours with 20% off from various far flung retailers as they're all trying to entice people into buying the new stock. I'm contemplating ordering a size up in a different colour just to eliminate that distracting voice but that feels a bit morally dubious and all-round shitty from an environmental standpoint.

I could attempt to hold out, it doesn't have much hanger appeal, the colour is one that throws you as it's not a common one and the modelling shots don't really do it justice either.

Oh and another dithering dilemma, my undertones switch up with seasons, that green could make me look fantastic now but I run the risk of it making me sallow come winter.

Hmm that's a dilemma. It's a great looking coat - I was about to say 'lovely' but I think that's a word you don't like Probably not 'louche' (don't ask me why I just don't think it is) but yes to insouciant. Personally if a colour really works on me, and especially if it's hard to find normally, then I'm inclined to overlook other niggles to a certain extent. I'm kind of used to things being too big on the shoulders cos it happens to me so many times - occasionally I get them altered but my usual seamstress isn't keen and will only take it on if it's a very small amount. I also use a tailor who will go further but charges a lot - that's not a complaint, I'm sure it's a fair price but it's a consideration. So a lot of the time I don't bother, especially for a winter coat because, as you say, you'll probably be wearing more underneath.

The low fastening would be a bigger issue for me. It pisses me off that it basically means you have to wear it with a scarf or leave it open. I tried on a really nice maxi coat (probably early-mid noughties) at the weekend and left it for that reason. But then again the colour was nothing special - if it had been, what would I have done?

And round and round I go. This isn't very helpful, is it??

quirky that's interesting about TK Maxx lighting. This wasn't in a basement but it all was very fluorescent and there were quite a lot of shiny, headache inducing fabrics. Mind you, I had drunk too much coffee too

I like the coat, bo. Is it for full on winter, or could it be for milder days, then the neckline would be less of an issue. Or worn with a large scarf .

Stealing your mother's clothes, made me smile. As a teenager in the 80s, I was rather partial to some of my mum's stuff (without asking, of course). It was the New Romantic era and I definitely remember wearing a white, crepe, lacy/ruffly blouse and a black, Spanish hat.

It's unlined so I wouldn't be relying on it for the coldest days but those are rare. Cold tends to be damp cold that settles in your bones here so socks, gloves, hats, scarves, and jumpers tend to be more important than coats. They're more of a wind deterrent than insulating layer. A proper outdoorsy parka type coat tend to be too suffocating on bikes and in shops so those are really reserved for extreme cold or if you do a lot of outdoor walking.

Normally I'd just buy it to try at home but this was in another city and we're due to go on holiday tomorrow. I'd have to pull out all the winter bits out to try it with which isn't that easily accessible atm and it's all vacuum packed. Just didn't feel feasible to rush and do that and do the trip back and forth again and putting pressure on to make a decision, doable but extra stress that I could do without.

But I really liked the colour... ARGH

Anyhow, Tkmaxx, yes, they seem to excel at worst retail design ever. I don't really understand it, places like Lidl and Aldi have special lighting that gives the impression of value but no so budget looking that it makes the items look bad (it's quite a technological feat). Tkmaxx also always has those horrible brown and beige melamine divisions for the changing rooms and walls that make me shudder. Flooring choices are also odd, it's like an exercise in making things as unappealing as possible. I can't make up my mind if it's deliberate or that they just order the cheapest of everything.

Speaking of autumnal things, I've found a leather blazer at last!. Yes I know I'm obsessed with all blazers of late but I've been looking for this ever since I saw Cate Blanchett in an early noughties movie a couple of years ago - can't remember the film now, probably because I spent most of it thinking how leather blazers were looking interesting again and wondering what I'd done with mine (I still don't know but it wasn't particularly nice - probably from TK Maxx )

This one's a very dark brown - one of my favourite noughties colours - and a nice relaxed fit The trouble is, I still can't stop thinking about a couple of women I've spotted lately in properly oversized leather blazers, and I'm not sure mine's going to measure up. I've a sneaky, bad feeling I might not have fed my craving but rather given it an insubstantial, sugary snack. Still the worst that can happen is i re-donate it and go back to obsessing.

So bo - the coat? What did you do? You can't go on holiday and leave us up in the air like this.

So glad to hear all went well, Xing. Hope you feel better soon.

Ooh, blazer sounds good, flo, I hope it's more than a sugary snack! My leather blazer is black, but is old and genuine noughties. I have phases of wearing it and phases of not, but was so worth it - a bargain from the US.

I'm guessing this is genuine noughties too quirky - there's no label but I can remember looking longingly at some v similar ones in the La Redoute catalogue back in the day.
I kind of wish I'd found it a couple of years ago before they started popping up again cos now I'm going to be making comparisons.
But as I say, no real harm done if it doesn't work out - it just means the charity shop will get to sell it twice!

Sorry, didn't mean to leave you hanging in suspense Flo we've stepped into a bit of a situation here 😨 probably best leave you out of that drama.

Anyhow, coat is still at the shop, I'll wait it out but if I do crack I can always have it sent to my holiday address as they sell through Farfetch.

I've seen a lot of leather blazers but they're mostly black but they always feels a bit massive to wear, even when not oversized. I suspect all the oversized ones you're spotting are faux though, I've seen some at the Frankie shop and they tend to be patient zero of nineties and noighties trend revivals. Very dark brown sounds very nice, any chance of a picture?

I'm wondering if those buttery yellow ones that were a thing way back when are suddenly going to make a reappearance. I didn't like them much the first time round, as most people had leather sofas that colour and it all just looked a bit like pat of butter sitting on a butter block...

Yes they were almost certainly fake leather and might not have looked so good close up but from a distance I loved them. I'll post a pic when my phone's charged / the light has improved. (Or better still I might go out and post from a changing room.)

Hope the situation is resolved.

Sorry to hear about the situation, bo
I am in Scotland!!
Things at my parents' house are v bad, but the sun has just come out so I'll escape later. Little opportunity for style watching so far, but since I was here pre-pandemic there has been a huge increase in the number of fit, sporty people walking, running and cycling around the place.
And I cleared out a linen cupboard last sorted out in about 1978 and found two beautiful old pillow cases in that amazing thick, soft, white early 20C cotton used for quality bedding, with lovely embroidery. Very odd size, though, so too big for any pillows in France or the UK. Am popping them in my suitcase to think about.