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.

---

Favoured Parisian addresses:

Second Hand Shops

Outlets

Favoured London addresses:

Charity Shops, Dress Agencies, and Outlets

Favoured NYC addresses:

Consignment shops, Vintage, and Restaurants

---

Previous threads:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

Neuf

Dix

Onze

Douze

Treize

Quatorze

Loving the enabling Elle and Flo, but pink boots would be a summer purchase. I have a pair of loafers the same pink which looked wonderful in the Dubai spring and are rather less useful in the UK.

Sparkle is definitely the way to go with the velvet trousers for parties, Flo. I like the last outfit. According to today's Times, there's no holds barred on over-the-top dressing for the next six weeks so now is the time to indulge your inner diva.

Heaven knows when the UK Govt will make lockdown decisions... but it's so long since any plans we've made for holidays etc came off as planned, that nothing would surprise me.

Hmm the more I look at that photo - the one of me actually wearing them - the less I like them.

I decided to take a skid on the black version of the boots above, at half price, but half a size bigger than normal... in winter I normally wear thick socks anyway, and I can find an innersole. If they are half as good as the grey ones, they will be fab.

I like those trousers Flo: I used to have a pair of blue velvet trousers like them and I'm annoyed with myself at having given them away to charity. I think the camera angle in the picture of you isn't the most flattering ever, but you could make a good outfit from them.

Xing I'm glad your treatment is over and you can plan how to dress your new body. Look forward updates.

Duvet, that sounds terrifying. Glad you walked away, but it must have left its mark on you.

Bo, fingers crossed for your Antwerp shopping. I have booked a train to Germany before Christmas to meet up with DSis, returning on the 25th, and really hope nothing scuppers my plans.

Rushing off again...work, work, work. Finding the commute tiring after WFH for so long.

That's very kind auld although, unflattering or not, that's how I stand a lot of the time! It's weird because in the mirror, my thighs practically melt away in those trousers but then I see a photo and look look!
It's so interesting comparing your reflection in the mirror to what a camera sees - uncomfortable sometimes but interesting.

Taking the photo from above makes you look wider than you are and highlights any curves more than usual. If you got someone to take a picture of you face on, from farther away, melting would doubtless ensue...

It's true I'm not the photographer in our house, as my pics will attest

There's a reason I never post photos on here

The Uniqlo +J Collab launched early today, it's already up. I just randomly went on to check if it's really only the red dress I wanted and it was already up (checked the UK site, seems to be the same). Gaucho trousers were going quick already, I was tempted but still unsure about sizing so I'm chancing it with seeing it in store.

Just putting my head round the door to say a huge thank you to you @botemp - I wouldn't have bothered to check so early if it hadn't been for your heads up. So annoying that you're unable to buy more than one size of things ! Too far and too covid-y here for me to be going to my nearest store. Hope I guessed right this time - fingers crossed!

Well I clocked in nice and early - or so I thought - at 7.45 and all the gaucho trousers had gone. Very as they were my priority buy. I also feel really bad cos big mouth that I am, I'd posted that it normally went up at 8am. Which it does. Normally. I'm very sorry, you must never listen to me ever again.

I got the hoody, which had been second on my list, in wine. And also the shirt jacket, which hadn't been on my original shortlist but when I'd seen more pics in missmoon's link I really loved the shape. And although I really don't need any more shirts, I don't actually have a collarless one. Admittedly this is because I don't normally like collarless but we'll see. Thanks again for that link missmoon - it was really helpful to check out more pics and the fabric content beforehand.

I've not given up on grabbing some gauchos when returns start to come in, although I guess there might not be as many as usual with being limited to one item across all sizes.

Glad you got the red dress bo - Looking forward to seeing the pics.

What did you get faustina?

I'm sorry you missed out on the gauchos, Flo. I couldn't make sense of the sizing charts and the model was wearing a size in centimetres that didn't correspond to inches I don't really know my size in inches, I'm all over the place with jeans depending on brand and my experience with trying on Uniqlo jeans were frustrating. I'm hopeful that means lots of other people will have to return theirs for you.

Really strict on the sizing this year I think, iirc in previous years you could get only one item per size/colour but multiple sizes of the same item but a maximum of five items (don't think I saw that this year). I nearly got the wrong size but noticed at the last minute when checking out.

Glad you've managed to get in early thanks to my bat signal Faustina, I'm as nosy as Flo about what you got.

Also, yes, yes, to phone cameras being weirdos, mine keeps trying to adjust the perspective and it does make my thighs melt away but makes me really top heavy The first phone I had with a forward facing camera gave me a huge complex about my nose. My nose is fine, nothing special about it either way and suits my face but that camera had me believing it was visible from outer space 😱

Also, Belgium still seems on, nothing strict enough to derail 🎉

Sorry you missed out on the gauchos @Floisme, the dresses / trousers seem to have gone very quickly. I checked at 7am as I had a minute, so was lucky, but most of the things I wanted are still available now. I ordered a couple of the jumpers, the bag, and in a moment of madness the cashmere coat in brown . I really don’t need another coat, but couldn’t resist as I’m curious about the design, and keen to try it on. Last year I ended up sending almost everything back except for a shirt and a beanie hat, so hoping this year is better (sizing is always a problem...).

That is a bugger for you @Floisme - so annoying! I was almost tempted by them but 'wool blend' suggested dry cleaning which I can't be doing with

I bought: the shorter of the two wool coats in black - hoping this is the end of my coat hunt which has meant me trying on every coat in the country. Last year I tried a small which was massive, so this year I've ordered the next size down

then, after watching several dozen very strange YouTube videos recommended by someone on this thread I think? I bought the lambswool polo neck jumper with the interesting cable at the back - in navy and black. And the men's lambswool cardigan in black

and finally the oversized down coat in black. I have the long down fitted coat from last year, and I don't really like down coats, but it was actually quite useful, though I wasn't too keen on it being so shaped at the waist

if I like this one better I'll ebay the coat from last year. I hope you have some luck with the gauchos!

oh - nearly forgot! If you, or anyone else, is buying in the uk and you have Quidco, they are doing 12% cash back from Uniqlo which is quite a lot of money when you spend so much!

What's annoying is I'd have seen your post around 6.30 bo, if I hadn't been trying to wean myself off reaching for my phone as soon as I wake up. I noticed your dress sold out pretty quickly, as did that red jacket I was eying up at one point.

On the plus side, I might easily have picked the wrong size through only getting one choice. I'll be reading the reviews when they start coming in so hopefully I'll be fully primed if I do get another shot.

And I'm glad you didn't miss out because of my duff information missmoon!

Oh and I've just seen you got the men's cardigan faustina! That was on my list too at one point and I can't remember why it dropped off. I'd love to hear what it's like.

@Floisme - Will do! it was in a lot of the Youtube videos and looked quite nice. No idea what size to get so I opted for a small - no-one else seems to want them so hopefully there'll be another size to try if I got it wrong!

Thanks for the warning - I bought the +J down gilet in navy- I’m curious to see what it looks like.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but maybe it's sort of good news. The +J gaucho trousers are pants. Just too flimsy to hold the shape, I tried them on in a far too large size but I think it would be even worse in my actual size as it would just look like I'm bursting out of them insteaf. The rise is also weirdly short which I sort of got the impression of that from the size guide already. Granted, pleated trousers tend to be the bane of my existence if they're not a wide and deep pleat so it may just be me with the fitting issues but the material is still disappointing, especially at the asking price.

Did quite like the shirt which I wasn't expecting but I have lots of things to see and I'm terrible with shirts because they require ironing 🙄

From what I've seen so far, nothing for me at Dries but I'm contemplating these trousers at Christiaan Wijnants (where I purchased some fabric will picture later), they're really thin, like summer breezy thin but it's wool/silk 75/25 so I'm just a bit clueless when to wear them as they're very wintery and for summer trousers they're probably more money than I'd want to spend. I can also buy the fabric which wouldn't cost much but I think it's so delicate my machine will probably end up butchering it and it kind of feels off somehow to copy them so explicitly in the same fabric and I'm not confident they'll turn out well. Plus, I'll probably make 15,000 toiles before I'm happy with it and by that point I probably have spent a lot more than intended (probably still cheaper than the trousers though...).

Also, they're very Shiv Roy and she's not a very nice (fictional) person.

But maybe they'd go well with the Ginzas...

Sigh, I promised myself to look at other things first.

It sounds like you've made it to Belgium bo? Thanks for that review and no need to be sorry, the truth sets you free etc. It also makes returns even more likely if I do still want to satisfy my curiosity. I can never predict how pleats will look - sometimes they work for me, sometimes they don't and sometimes they don't but I like them so much I don't care. The low rise doesn't sound promising though and nor does the fabric; fluid - yes, flimsy - no.
I must admit, I was surprised they'd sold out so quickly as I'd have thought they were pretty marmite. I'd wondered if word had gone out to those in the know that they were the pick of the collection, but maybe not.

I think that's the shirt I ordered, only I got the blue so I'm looking forward to seeing that. I expect it's going to depend on the fit and the length.

I love those Christiaan Wijnants trousers but then I would say that and I can understand the fabric issues. Maybe they're only wearable if you own a limousine? They don't make you look like Shiv though.

I think the gaucho trousers were well styled to the slightly alternative +J crowd with the doc martens shoes and slouchy socks in the lookbook, not sure how it'll be received there, they don't seem to care that much for a perfect fit so they might very well enjoy the flimsy slouch 🤷

I thought the puffer coats were very nice but I own one puffer that almost never gets worn and it's not because I don't like it, I just find them too hot. There were no red items either or the cashmere coats, I would have liked to try those on.

Well I was pretty pooped out pretty quickly and had decided to just see an exhibition on Belgian lace in the renewed fashion museum instead and get the Christiaan Wijnants trousers after. The pandemic has really killed my perseverance WRT shopping and I'm also a whole lot less interested in it (especially secondhand clothes, I just don't have the will to go through all the racks, even in the better selected well organised consignment shops).

However, on trying the trousers on again OH pointed out they're much too big (he wasn't there the first time), and it's true, I kind of glossed over that (it had no size but it was easily several sizes up) and by OH's reasoning I'd be fixing the oversized fit at the waist anyhow as it would annoy me (guilty ) so I may as well just start from scratch so I ended up buying the fabric instead. I'll probably come to deeply regret that decision when I'm on toile #14,780 and cursing through the pattern matching process but I'll be more pleased with the end result, probably, hopefully. I think the only reason this worked so well for me was because it was so massively oversized and didn't really interact with my body shape so I do hope it works out in the end but I paid a tenth roughly of the trouser price for the same fabric so even if it doesn't I won't feel all that bereft and if I can sew delicate silk on my machine this really should survive too.

Also got some beautiful silk/wool coating fabric for a bargain price of €8/m from Stephan Schneider. Raf Simons had soms lovely fabrics but it was all black and navy and mostly suited for trousers and I don't need more trousers in those colours. And I just got an email from Dries van Noten that they'll do their fabric sale early December (they always do it separately) but I think I'll let that pass me by. Maybe. I'm too pooped out to think about it but my tired self says no right now.

I like some velvet trouser action Flo. I’m coveting these but won’t pay full price so let’s see what the sales bring
www.agnesb.co.uk/women/ready-to-wear/trousers-jeans/taupe-corduroy-gar-on-trousers/taupe-corduroy-gar-on-trousers/