Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: Maids Cosplaying as Schoolboys are Going to Get Themselves Cancelled by North Korea

[botemp]

Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset and lots of chatter in between. Feel free to join in.

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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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botemp I got all excited at the history of that chocolate and determined to buy some even if it was £5 a bar, then had my dreams crushed with that last sentence 😭 Ah well.

Agree with you all about past trends. I love recycled fashion. I don't worry about wearing things 2nd time around.

I've had fun over the last few years rediscovering my confidence and wearing what I want instead of what I think I ought to wear or whatever is practical. I looked over my spring clothes last month and realised how dark they all are. I remember buying some of them and thinking they were bright and colourful at the time, mainly because they weren't plain black or navy. My most recent purchases have been the colour of spring flowers.

I saw a young man a few months ago who looked like he'd stepped out of a boy band poster from the 90s. It was like watching a ghost.

Would like to report that I won’t be IM jeans and they are currently winging their way to me, thanks @70sDuvet

Cheres Parisiennes I’ve just been asked to hotfoot it down to our cottage in Devon tomorrow for a survey on Thursday 😱 which will give us quite a decent amount of cash for providing greeen energy into the grid - it’s 10 days before the cutoff deadline for making an application but we’ve only just been told about it and have magically managed to get a survey slot in time.

All a very long way round of saying I can’t wriggle out of it which means I won’t be able to come to the MN meet up and I was so looking forward to it! I am so sorry and I look forward to hearing all about it. I will think of you 🏃‍♀️🛒 👚👗👖🧦👞🛍
🛍🛍 ☕️ and maybe 🥂 …

😭

I hope you all have a lovely time in London and that the MH sample sale doesn't disappoint.

I found 90s fashion such a letdown. It wasn't so much the 'Can I wear flares again?' question - like I've said, I did and I enjoyed it. It was more an 'Are we really doing this again?' thing. Until then I'd thought of fashion as endlessly new and exciting and outrageous but the 90s was when it dawned on me that, aside from the occasional outlier, it was actually just an endless recycle. It was a huge disappointment and, even now I still catch myself snarking about it.

I don't remember the 90s being that interpretative but that could just be me. It was selective though, e.g. I don't recall a revival of large collars or platforms. I'd say the big difference was that the men didn't play the second time round. In the 70s some of them were more flamboyant than the women - I've not seen that since,

I feel more fondly towards a nougthies revival because I'm watching my son and his friends discovering it. One of my son's friends was wearing a boob tube under a huge shirt/jacket recently and I thought 'Aww how sweet'. (Don't worry, I didn't say that to her.) But interestingly my niece, who's a bit older but still only mid twenties and too young to have worn it herself, is very dismissive about it.

Correction - it wasn't a boob tube but one of those handkerchief top things.

Quelle dommage mm, I am in London from Wednesday through to Friday so I'm flexible to switch days, not sure on the others' availability though.

Flo, when I mentioned interpretative, I meant more that the most recent revival of the 90 was/is interpretative of the 90s as it mixes things from all sort of subcultures at the time when back in the day those wouldn't be caught dead with each others signifiers, eg. a bucket hat would be plopped onto any 90s look or skater shoes worn with any thing.

But I agree, the endless cycle of eras is dispiriting in a way but somehow an era style does sort of emerge somehow, doesn't it? The 2010s definitely went from the Kardashians inspired body con trends and then merged into athleisure which is now evolving into something else again that isn't referenced to a previous era.

Wild sorry to disappoint, even more annoyingly their chocolate factory here is entirely solar powered and they distribute by bike locally and they're nowhere near £5 a bar, more like half that. It just has a bit of a chalky mouth feel with a strong acidic profile that isn't great when their bars are quite thick (I like a thin bar). I've only tried the dark though, maybe the milk tastes better, and they also have a thinner bark style line with flavourings (tried the dark with cocoa nibs and was a bit meh but that could have been down to hot weather undoing the tempering) happy to send you some if you want though.

I can switch to Friday if it helps.

Thanks for te offer of chocolate botemp but I think I'll stick to what I usually have. The company do sound wonderful though in their ethics

Floisme I had platform shoes in the 90s but they were 1" platforms not huge like today.

Also I'm WildPoinsettia

(Hangs head in shame at being such an idiot). Just realised the survey is this Thursday and the MN meet-up is next Thursday. So I can come after all (I’ll be the flakey one in a straitjacket😱🤡)

🤣🤣 @mm47

Ha ha BlueSummerBaby I stand corrected - don't remember them at all in either the 90s or noughties! Which is annoying as I love platforms - they're the only non-heels I like. This is what permanent fashion cycles have done to me - I lose any point of reference when I try and look back

The chocolate-on-a-bike story made me laugh. I'm sorry to say that, the more inventive companies get with their ethical credentials, the more I simplify mine: 1) Pay and treat your staff fairly. 2) Use suppliers who do the same and publish their names. 3) Make the very best product you can for the price to minimise the chances of my having to do a repeat order next year. Anything else - and especially if you don't do 1-3 - then I am increasingly reminded of those photos of David Cameron posing with huskies.

Ha all that angst for nothing mm47 🤣 good to hear you're still joining us.

Got some new information though, as I think micro wanted to get in there at the first possible opportunity. See attached, Tuesday and Wednesday are by appointment so Thursday isn't the first day, technically, might change our meet up plans?

Also it mentions masks are mandatory, genuine question how much of that is still a thing in London? I haven't worn one and barely seen any on anyone else for weeks now and assumed it was the same in the UK. I just have a small stash left that would have covered me for the airport/flight wondering if I need to buy some extra.

Flo, IME these type of doogooder brands do tend to have their social aspects in order. I don't think you have as many biodynamic farmers in the UK in comparison to Germany and parts of the Netherlands but the chocolate company structure is much more in line with that than the usual slick greenwashing with a sustainability USP. The whole single origin aspect means it just comes from one estate so it's fairly easy to check but they are definitely the sort to care more about the process than the quality of the end product. A lot of the German biodynamic products in my local organic supermarket are inedible but popularity of it has increased in Italy and those products are great.

I don’t see anyone (maybe a very small percentage) wearing masks indoors or outdoors. In the underground you can still see some people wearing them, peak times last week I would say around 50%? But every week is less people with masks and more people in the underground.

I can only meet up Thursday or Friday as working the other days.

Hi bo just on the masks issue I think it’s definitely worth bringing a stash of masks with you.I don’t think it’s mandatory any more but there are still places which - like the Music Room - ask you to wear them. I’m not sure that they can enforce it, but still … Covid is on the rise again even for those fully jabbed and boostered so for example on buses and the l tube I think I’d probably rather wear one than not. I for one am a lot more relaxed about mask wearing than I used to be but I suspect this is why numbers are climbing again (well Ok I’m not solely responsible but YKWIM).

Sorry Red cross post I’m still happy to come on Thursday after all the self inflicted drama I think I better keep it simple!

Sorry, didn't mean to confuse things further, thought more of a heads-up about the days of the sale might change meet up time as you can get in there earlier but probably simplest to stick with the original plan lest we all end up confused and arriving at a different time 🙈

50% at peak times still seems like a lot to me, but I was more surprised to see a mandatory face mask notice on the announcement, I assume that's still really rare?

X-post, thanks mm. I'll bring the last of my stash, I assume anywhere that strongly encourages it will have some to offer as well and otherwise surely I can still buy some somewhere. Just feels a bit silly somehow now 🤷

Mask wearing is still completely de rigeur here in Scotland, London feels like the Wild West by comparison.

Salut les maids!

Not sure which dates you have settled on for London, but I just got an email about a Toast sample sale with all proceeds to Ukraine Crisis Fundraiser on 1-2 April at their Mayfair store. Appreciate their style is not really aligned with MH but it might be worth a look if anyone is in the area.

Also, thanks to duvet for introducing me to eBay. I have happily wasted a LOT of time browsing and successfully bought a gorgeous and totally ridiculous Joseph miniskirt in silver laminated wool for £1

Bonjour mes amies, I just got on the bus to work and realised how un-parisienne I am today and more demented art teacher - long white linen shirt over grey trousers, teal cardigan, orange linen scarf, deep olive wool wrap coat, visibly orangey socks in my peach and grey “out for a walk” sneakers (they were handy and I was in a rush). Welp.

I read that to be environmentally OK you should only buy three new garments a year. As in new-made. My quota is full then 🙄🙃😭

Well if London's the wild west I guess we're back to Sodom and Gomorrah status as I thinking we have more infections at a population level than the UK and though I don't make much use of public transport up to a few days ago when masks were still mandatory there I think about 50% adhered to the rule.

Thanks for the toast tip Shangpie, I never look there as the euro prices are highly inflated and at the risk of Flo hitting me over the head, I don't feel grown up enough for it. But it might be worth peeking at for the sake of charity. Do they require a mask too?

Thanks for that Bani, I think I'm very screwed if I'm only allowed three items a year 😱 I did finish sewing my new pair of linen trousers (how do those factor into environmentally 'ok') at record speed (it was my attempt to stop doomscrolling all the time displacement therapy) only to discover I made them too big, sigh. I had made them with a bit of extra ease in mind as linen still tends to shrink after a few washes (apparently) but this is just a bit too much. Ah well I wore it for the brief spell of nice weather and now it looks to be freezing again in the week ahead. I did buy a boob tube in my warm weather optimisim though, I kind of forgot what a mare they are to get on and off again while desperately trying to avoid deodorant marks 🙈

Does a boob tube not get pulled up from the bottom? I always assumed.

Yes, I fancy myself a restrictive shopper and I'm fecked too. Based on research from Leeds university, but I haven't found the original yet.

The weather forecast for Thursday is looking pants…

Last week went down the drain and I successfully missed the email about registering for MHL sample sale on the two days by invitation only; also missed bo's reminder of it here. Let me think how else I have failed [long list here] Looking forward to our meeting; hope it can still happen on the 31st, that's the day I freed up