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

Merry Twixtmas mes amies!

Just popped up to say that I remembered to go back to Zara and the Kassl coat is now £99. The cashmere dress was down to £39 (£200 off ) but unsurprisingly all sold out. Hopefully some of you grabbed one!

£39 for the dress I feel slightly robbed now... I need to stop looking at the Zara sale though, I'm now debating some yellow wellie boots

bo thanks again for the advice!
Hope everyone is having a nice festive break! I wore this dress for our Christmas, with a belt. It's such an interesting trapezium cut and glitter made me feel I was the Christmas tree myself

I've finally caught up!

I wore the green satiny Boden skirt I bought last year in the sales. Managed not to spill anything on it too. Felt like royalty.

Have discovered that oil-based heating is expensive so bought myself some cashmere socks and wristwarmers from Brora in the sales, plus a burgundy ish jumper I've had my eye on for a while, since it was finally reduced.

I like the yellow wellies - a happy colour!

What are you all looking out for in the sales, if anything?

I have got about 500 $ in Amazon.com gift cards to spend from various company bonus schemes. They can only be spent on Amazon.com and can't be used on Kindle books. I have some books in my basket, but I would like to get something totally indulgent and treat-y too. I was sort of thinking about something from Jo Malone but not sure if it would be a triumph of hype over reason.

catherine you can get Ortigia Sicilia on Amazon for a seasonally extravagant indulgence. Gorgeous lotions, bath salts and alabaster candles to go with bo’s 1%-er alpaca snoods

I spent today reading the first Les Parisiennes with the ambition to get through all of them this holiday. I am very intrigued by bo's mention in the first thread of exactly the right point where the trousers should hit the ankle. I think this is probably the weakest point in my knowledge, - also because I am so tall I always had to accept trousers that were too short, maybe... I would love an ABC on trouser length in relation to style and footwear. Perhaps it exists somewhere online?

I also plan is to create a series of pics with my trousers for people (and maybe bo) to comment on. I'd love to understand the architecture of the trousers.

I've gone back and read them all too, microbius, it's fun.

Thanks ShangPie - will look!

Glad to hear you all look great in your Christmas outfits, can't confess to the same as I was in PJ's. Not because I'm one of those moralising PJ people who sniff at people dressing up for Christmas at home (wear whatever you like, as far as I'm concerned) but I had a bad night's sleep followed by a killer migraine for the first time in many years. I feel semi human today, I did self test as I know Omicron can present like this but negative twice so far.

microbius, yes I suspect for you it's difficult because any sort of length is a luxury so you've never really experienced much choice in the matter. WRT ankle length it's dependant on how shapely or not your ankle is, basically are you looking to draw attention to it or not and footwear follows to an extend, it can help accentuate or detract.

Catherine, if the oil heating gets too expensive you can consider switching to a wood pellet system, an oil system can often easily be converted.

Yes, the yellow wellies make me happy too, but I never really wear wellies so it feels a bit moot.

I've checked my Amazon US wishlist/baskets, not much exciting in there, some Stashers sets because those are weirdly expensive but slightly less so on there. Oh and an amazing pizza peel. Not much for the luxury treats (well I do have the most tastiest fermented sea urchin sauce ever from Japan, it makes everything taste amazing and it's $$$ but it's not really a beauty thing), they have loads on there though. I think the consensus is that Jo Malone is generally not as great as it used to be and you need to get her new Jo Loves stuff. Personally I always feel a bit weird about ordering something that's made in Europe from the US so I'd be looking at something from the US, I thought of Chantecaille but I think that's all made in France...

(Also, it always freaks me out when people go back reading previous threads on here. I suppose I invited it myself with the call to cancelling...)

On reading previous threads: I am a utopian and for me the internet brought about an amazing and unprecedented capacity to find and share little (or big) pools of knowledge. Despite everything having gone to s* with social media, forums are still such spaces; incredible for DIY, craft, tech stuff, for finding things out. I hung out on mumsnet for a long time and only recently started frequenting Style and Beauty and I found it so incredibly useful. So, bo, I started re-reading Les Parisiennes because I am really interested in training myself to look and see - better. I am a words/books/language person and I lack in the visual department. I also have a problem with the idea of "styling" because more often than not I want not to think about my clothes once it's on, so caring whether the shirt / jumper stays stuck in on one side, or that the off shoulder shirt remains there is something I don't want to concern myself with. I also love modern tech fabric, windproof, waterproof, light, - and have scandi winter gear that I wound't swap for nice but demanding coats, etc. So what I am trying to say that while I would probably dismiss a lot of fashion, I still want to learn better about the architectural side of it. What would the longer body necessitate shorter sleeves? Why wider trousers mostly cut shorter to be worn with longer tops, although not always.. Suddenly I am very interested in all of this.

I also meant to say, I am sorry you were ill bo

Thanks, I'm just glad it's over but a feel a bit bad for ruining an already ruined Christmas but thankfully made up for it yesterday.

I think with these threads it's just that the first one (maybe two) were a bit of a shit show, I don't think they'd have survived current MN moderation. Obviously I've maybe changed my mind on things and I have no clue what I wrote when so it's always a bit odd to be pulled up on something I once said (good or bad). I think some posters also really wanted to dilute some fail safe method out of it, I can neither deliver that, nor do I want to.

I think "styling" has become a bit of a diluted concept. It should mean making something work with/for you, and adjustment at most, but it increasingly tends to mean you should be able to make anything work for you if you just style it out, whatever that may mean. Entire businesses have been created around that ambiguity with personal stylists on Instagram with communities on Facebook groups or elsewhere. It feels very little personal to me and just how to dress like that stylist, belting everything and anything and pairing it with chunky trainers for example and then pay for the privilege. Clothes shouldn't require that much thought to wear, yes, you have some input but you shouldn't be doing all the heavy lifting and torturing clothes into submission for some arbitrary look.

bo a couple of people I know went down with bad migraine after getting the booster jab, don't know if that's relevant? Hope you're recovering. In the end Christmas here was nearly as quiet as last year, but less weird.

Yes I've used two shirt patterns from the Makers Atalier. The Lounge Shirt (I think that's the name) was massive - I ended up unpicking it and cutting it down by 2 sizes. The Box Shirt was a simpler pattern and would probly work as pyjamas. Their patterns are expensive but they're on decent weight paper so you can keep re-using them and instructions reasonably clear,

Thanks for the tip about the MH Garden Shirt microbius. I do like an oversized, boxy shirt but I take it too far sometimes. Her regular shirts are probably boxy enough for me.

I'd probably just stick up on books with that voucher CatherineMaitland so I'm probably not much help but it's a nice dilemma!

I think bani should snap up those yellow wellies to go with her coat.

I haven't had my booster yet, Flo, probably will be able to make an appointment this week as it goes by age (hence why we had to cancel our holiday). I had a headache with both previous jabs but this was a lot worse. It's annoying as I don't know what triggered it and I really hope it's just a one off, stress related, maybe? Eating made it worse though so I suspect it's food related.

Yellow wellies are sold out already

For me it's interesting to see how the threads have evolved, and also to go back to some of the early ideas eg from the first advent calendar. It'd never be to go back and slavishly copy things from it.

Sorry about the migraine Bo, glad it is better today.

Woe betide you if you dare to criticise some of the stylists in those communities, too. Some of them seem to exist only to be monetized.

I think I'm going to buy a Fitbit - my last one died over the summer while moving house and I don't do enough exercise without one. And definitely some books. Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

Merry Christmas 🎄 parisiennes.

Shame you hear you were feeling unwell Bo, but you are better by the sounds of it.

I have not been looking at the sales either. But I ordered a couple of finisterre boiler suits to try on, I am not hugely optimistic but I will see.

So you can only order from the us Amazon catherine? Obviously if it were me I would get Niwaki gardening tools (but that would be me …). Or outdoor type equipment or a down jacket like a Columbia, or something like that, no style and beauty ideas… maybe a really fancy hairdryer?

Xpost with Catherine. Sounds like you found your present 🎁

I wanted to thank you bo for your time and effort with writing. Even though now old writing, you did put so much work into drawing women's shape and lines of sight and the advent calendar was an amazing tutorial in how to look and see!

On another note, I wore a scandi dress for Christmas and realised how comfortable I was in a dress which actually had sleeves long enough. I was looking at me+em sale and see all their models are 173 cm. Can I only shop scandi now ? (can't afford Maxmara boutique....) I am especially after a heavy cotton drill and interesting cut daily trousers. I loved MHL but they were too short on me. www.margarethowell.co.uk/womens/shop/trousers/mhl-wide-hem-trouser-worn-cotton-drill-slate

I don't think I'd like to be the target of that type of criticism either Catherine, as much as I think people should be held to account if they're acting dodgy I do find it concerning that anyone on the internet with somewhat of a public profile is fair game for harassment.

Is the Fitbit usb charged? That would be my only concern with US electronics and their 110v.

Good to hear it's still useful microbius. I would say you'll have more luck with Scandi and possibly some Dutch brands like Humanoid. These trousers might be an alternative to those MH ones, the model is 176cm and they're not super cropped on her. It's a nice internet shop to browse as well. I do think you are just in a handicapped time as there's such an emphasis on cropped trousers and it's been like that for a while and I assume it'll stick around for a bit longer, especially in casual styles. The longest pair of trousers I've ever had to take in have been from Lemaire though, not all their trousers are that long but I had to take in 20cms where I usually take it up between 8-10cm. But their prices are more in the Max Mara range.

microbius , I have not seen this brand in person but are these any good? poetry, you can choose their trousers in regular or long.

Thanks bo. interesting shop and trousers. I will use this opportunity to ask about the length of trousers and styling. The ones you linked are straight and styled with long shirt. They are not full length trousers, I guess (I've been taught by my mum that these should lie on your shoes and have a crease) but not super cropped - as you say - either.

The whites I guess are longer, but the brown ones are kind of the same length. I see these always styled with short shirt, or boxy jacket or tucked in jumper. Is it just the fashion of today or is there any reason why straight but slightly cropped trousers would normally be be paired with something drawing attention to the waist?

Another question, how can I recreate this look given this blouse and trousers would be too short on me? I understand that the trousers are of quite a complex construction, but also, how would one describe the relationship between the length of the blouse and the length of the trousers?

And to MH; in her styling everything seems to be tucked in, with the visible belt. Bar this skirt. The shirt is slightly longer than a straight woman's shirt, I imagine the blouse from the previous post will not work here. But equally, MH long shirt will not work on either white jeans, nor brown trousers (why do I have this feeling, are they too narrow?) but would work with the Norse trousers bo recommended. So I can see now those trousers are slightly cropped but the skirt is slightly too long, and that's why it works? If it's normal length, it would need to be tucked in? Many thanks for my enlightenment

I'm going to hazard a guess and assume the brown trousers are from a more affordable mainstream high street brand. Styling from retailers isn't a how to wear something it's very much a how to incentivice a sale to a specific audience. The brown one stresses wearability and how flattering it is. When we talk flattering, the current cult around it seems to concentrate around the waist, and to me it's a bit odd because if you want to highlight a waist you don't do that with a straight harsh horizontal line, that only works if you don't have much of a waist to begin with. It's very confusing to people with an actual small waist because all these 'flattering' things look anything but on them. The black trousers styling wants to suggest a certain point of difference and aloofness that is less concerned with the body underneath, the outfit has to deliver the interest not the body. The subtext, by extension only an 'interesting' person would choose to look like that. MH also plays on these slightly off proportions, it's not that these somehow work against odds of previous convention, it's that it's convincing enough to you (general prospective audience of these brands, you) that it does work somehow even if you can't quite pinpoint, but there's a bit of happenstance to it so not impossible to replicate (intentionally or unintentionally). And if you clap and believe someone else also does, Tinkerbell styling if you will.

I won't go so far as calling it a more modern approach or something like that, but it's overwhelmingly the way high end brands of a specific genre (see also Acne Studios, Maison Margiela, Lemaire, etc.) present themselves. A post modern approach would be a better description but that term has been bastardised so I can't really use it convincingly here.

We haven't really had a Cos outrage thread on this board in a while (I've probably summoned one now ) but that's where you see these two worlds of clothes have to be flattering and there's something there-ism tribes collide.

exceptionally interesting, bo
I guess my question to myself is whether I am the you of this address that you describe very well. Do some people adopt a "postmodern" approach in all their dressing or only a few outfits? Is it something wearable across all needs or not really

The other trousers in the pics are all from plumo, I think they do buy some high street (second woman) and remove brands now

Continuing the question of length, here is my long, straight jeans. One pic rolled to fit big winter waterproof walking boots, another rolled down, with and without slightly cropped jumper. Would you say these lengths are good, or I should roll them further up / down or the straight cut of the them necessitates only a certain look - quite traditional (?)

my other question is what you think of these trousers below.
I want trousers that are 1)really thick cotton drill warm for when it goes down to 0 degrees and jeans are too cold 2)I can go on all fours to play with my daughter on the floor, squat, etc 3)still somehow interesting 4)fit me in terms of length (so min 80 cm inseam)
The Norse ones you posted bo are poplin which I worry will be too thin. Also, I am very drawn to this aesthetic but I am not sure whether I need to overturn my wardrobe for it, i.e. buy shirts that are too long (I don't really wear shirts normally), different knitwear, jackets. I guess I am trying to make sense of it in my head and as you say whether I'd be able to use these garments on my own terms, reconstructing styles without necessarily buying whole ensembles from these brands.

www.carriercompany.co.uk/collections/womens/products/copy-of-womens-work-trouser-4?variant=39613385736245