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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Second Hand Shops

Outlets

Favoured London addresses:

Charity Shops, Dress Agencies, and Outlets

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Consignment shops, Vintage, and Restaurants

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Argh, what is this weird new formatting, I posted a link to the video and now it's just midway through a sentence , some words were lost too, it's about the Givenchy Christie's sale.

Thank bo, it's playing ok for me although testing my French to its outer limits. (Subtitles too small to read.) I went to a vintage clothes sale at Christies many moons ago and it was riveting - the people almost as much as the clothes. Always meant to go again.

bo loved the video- glorious even if not my taste - I love the ingenuity of the mechanisms in desks and so on. And the statues of the dogs (plus all the rest of the sculptures - especially that fish skeleton (?) in the very last room he ever made). But most of all wow Givenchy was so incredibly good looking….

How are you all? Heatwave and all!

I had to make a short trip to Edinburgh and had the chance to stop in Amstrong’s Vintage shop. What a fantastic place! Wow just a wonderful Aladdin’s cave of the most wonderful clothes and very reasonably priced.
A couple of random images of the shop interior.
Bracing myself as tomorrow will probably tip over 30 around mine.

Very nice looking shop, Red!

Got back from Barcelona, turned out to have covid. Do not recommend travelling while sick! It was quite funny because I couldn't figure out for a long time that I was feeling unwell, I thought there must be something wrong with Barcelona: too hot, too many tourists, difficult to find good food places, etc [all of which is true too]

I saw a woman dressed in oversized dark navy shirt a la Studio Nicholson with a voluminous back and a loose, square-shaped deep yellow skirt (calf length, streaming loosely from under the shirt). This rekindled my search for a yellow summer skirt. Any advice here? So far I only very unhelpfully found a ££££ Chloe linen yellow skirt (attached). This looks beautiful. Pleats at the waist don't really suit me, I prefer very plain, A line or straight-ish skirts, but I think it need to be mid calf and loose. I have a thing for yellow and have been coveting a yellow skirt for a long time. Now I remember seeing another woman, years ago, in Denmark, in a very similar looking yellow longish skirt. Any fellow sufferers and any ideas?

We're not having much a heatwave just one hot day today and sort of hot tomorrow. Probably a good thing as I shipped most of my hot weather clothes to our holiday destination (long story).

Lovely as that shop looks in pictures I'm not a fan of stuffed to the brim shops for browsing, just too overwhelming.

Yellow skirts, here's one I looked at recently and decided was going to be way too long for me (not an issue for you, obvs) not sure if it's helpful as I don't know if they ship outside the EU but it's a bit of a bargain even if you calculate in a VAT invoice on top. Now that I look at it again, I do like the colour I might just put in an order and see... Otherwise Toast will probably have an overpriced yellow linen skirt too, surely? The Baltic line Etsy sellers probably will have something too.

Thank you, bo, for the very speedy answer! Now that's a dilemma... I looked, BalticLinenArt indeed has a good looking one. Have you ever bought from the shop in your link, is there a chance it's good linen?

I love this colour, I even painted the stairs yellow in my house

I feel for you micro yes covid is not recommended…
I am a sucker for yellow. Love it 😍
in fact in the shop above I tried two yellow tops, one in silk with thin yellow stripes but the neck was in the wrong place … not too low , not high … just wrong, and another more a stronger tone like the skirt Bo linked, but was way too big for me.
if you find a good yellow skirt, do let me know.
i did get a couple of second hand stuff, a pair of blue Bermudas (knee length trousers) and a thick cotton a line skirt very much in Liberty style print. Will post photos when I get the chance .

I also found this yellow skirt
www.wolfandbadger.com/uk/jemima-sunshine-yellow-skirt/

But it seems that the pleats are doing something weird. It's also shorter than others we discussed

Looking forward to your pictures, red! And will report if I decide to go for a skirt

Just placed an order with Bellamy.

I am not very good for holding out, am I? Will report on the progress of the order (haven't ordered anything from Europe since Brexit)

I think key to that Chloe skirt is that it is long and all the others I looked at are much shorter.

Hope you're feeling better now micro and I'm looking forward to seeing the skirt. Yellow does nothing for me so I tend to avoid it even away from my face, but it's a beautiful colour. The only yellow skirt I can remember seeing recently was in Zara, probably this one but it's pleated and I'm not impressed that they don't seem to know the difference between embroidered and broderie (unfair I know but there you go). Probably no use whatsoever to you although Zara is often super long so the length might work.

I don't know Armstrongs Red, but then I hardly know Edinburgh at all. I love a cluttered vintage shop though - probably my jumble sale heritage plus I always imagine there's some treasure under all the crap that's been there since 1972.

By the way, it's a least a page back now but I really like those Jil Sander boots Shang

Although to be fair, I guess 'broderie anglaise' literally means English embroidery doesn't it, so I'm just being cantankerous. In fact have we have this discussion before??

I am waiting for the report on the yellow skirt !

yes, we had (pre-covid I am sure) a discussion on broderie anglaise , but I don’t remember the conclusion…

I hardly knew Edinburgh, but before going I asked a friend who is equally as exiting as I am about vintage shops, and she recommended me that place.
what I liked about it, was that it was full of stuff but there was space to walk around and everything was organised … by type eg tops, silk tops etc and by size , so you could go to the area you wanted and avoid the rest … although I like looking at it all , luckily I did not have much time so I had to concentrate.

My 'vyshyvanka' is actually yellow linen (unfortunately when the fabric arrived it was not a very nice bright yellow as it was on screen and I thankfully managed to save it by overdyeing it to a sunnier yellow). It's nearly done, just the hems and some last minute but easy embroidery to go, I might finish it tonight, hopefully, but it's definitely one where the process is more rewarding than the end result, I think. It might just end up being a very expensive and time consuming bathrobe...

Also curious about the skirt when it arrives, I don't own anything from the shop but a friend does, she seems happy with it. I suspect it's Baltic linen and I appreciate it's all made within the EU (weirdly Italy though, Lithuania has an excellent garment industry would make more sense to me to get linen things made there but what do I know 🤷).

How exciting, vyshyvanka nearly done! Dying to see it! I admired the pic but I thought it would take years to make one

I never had the patience for this kind of thing bar one flower wreath I embroidered for my mother's birthday as a kid, it took me approximately 5 colds during which I stayed at home on my own to make it. I guess no one stays in bed with a cold anymore, certainly I don't, hence perceived absence of time for embroidery.

And thanks, flo, for the zara link. The length looks ok, but it is a bit much, isn't it, pleats and broderie anglaise? I guess that's the point, the overload

Will report when/if skirt arrives. So far it hasn't even been dispatched.

Now my mind is stuck on yellow broderie anglaise! I love broderie anglaise, specially the more modern versions with bigger, bolder patterns, in lieu of the very delicate florals that are reminiscent of baby clothes. Look forward to clothes pics and the vyshyvanka. I haven't been on much because we're having some teenage issues in casa bani 😡 so will try to read, but might not be typing.

I love the idea of yellow stairs microbius yellow, mustard and french ochre are among my favourite colours for clothes, homewares etc. Though, as an aside, also currently wildly popular with small beetles at my regular post-school run park. I look to have my very own personal infestation if I wear them there at the moment.

Clothes buying at the moment has taken an unseasonal turn as I plug gaps in the family’s cold weather wardrobe ahead of a move to Norway. We’ll be in Oslo so not too too cold but I’m in a Fjällräven parka 6 months of the year in the UK and rate a fleece lined bathrobe as my all time best purchase so I know I’ll make use of it. Cue various delighted people on Vinted, not expecting to sell snowsuits and ski gloves in June. Despite friends’ horror stories of norwegian prices I am trying to resist the urge to add too much other stuff to my wardrobe before getting a sartorial sense of the place. And because we have too too much stuff in general - as I realise every time we move. Though if anyone here has any ‘must have’ suggestion for such a move I’d feel entirely liberated in freeing the (secondhand) shopper within me…

That was fast work on the ‘vyshyvanka’ botemp, shame if you dont love it after all the work. Though having a hand embroidered bathrobe casually lighting up a hook with its sunny yellow sounds pretty good to me.

I feel I should pipe up with suggestions for Oslo but apart from wildly agreeing with PRICES I don’t think I have anything new …

Ugh I just lost my long post that was basically a therapy session of why I don't love my 'vyshyvanka'. I don't hate it, really.

The TL;DR version basically comes down to having to work somewhat blindly and figuring things out as I go and that made the end result very unpredictable as it just wasn't clear how things (especially the embroidery) would look in the end. Also there's skeevy men who spend too much time on questionable forums ranking women by nationality already asking me if I'm Ukrainian and I automatically don't respond well to that. Partially because they're skeevy men but also on the back of high anti immigrant rhetoric here about a decade ago so insinuating I'm not actually Dutch or 'true' Dutch.

I don't think actual Ukrainians would be upset by me wearing it, despite feeling somewhat self conscious about that too, IME they seem really appreciative of anyone taking interest in their culture but that might change as it has with some other cultures.

that wasn't that short either [embarrassed], so let's leave it at it's complicated and the thing itself was a difficult labour so I'm finding it hard to appreciate the end result as knowing what I know now I would've done it all very differently and I am now much better able to appreciate the €€€€ price tags that Vita Kin charges.

wrt Norway, I'd stock up on some Asian/Middle East/ South American spices and ingredients if you cook with those regularly. Supermarkets are a bit bland in Scandinavia IME. In Norway you're usually looking at the other Scandi countries for online orders as the rest of the EU charges high shipping rates so it can be a bit monotonous food wise.

German children always have very nice snow play suits but I suspect the Scandis might consider them a bit excessive.

Norway, how exciting! I love Norrona, it is Norwegian hiking gear brand but they do city coats, too. The first time I bought their coat I was blown away by how light a very warm, windproof and waterproof parka can be. I bought mine from an Austrian outlet but I hear Norrona has outlets in Norway and one in the airport?

Overall scandi/north knowledge is thus:
-homes are very well insulated and better built and always hot. You will not need your fleece lined bathrobe
-buses and trains are also very warm so the main challenge is quick successive moves from warm to cold to warm etc. I would take leggings from under the trousers at uni and then put them back on before leaving the building. Very annoying.
-something I had to say to my Argentinian friend in Finland is that you buy one very expensive winter coat and wear it for 6-7 months a year. She wanted variety and sadly it's very monotonously cold.

Also echoing bo, when it's cold and dark for a very long time, life feels a bit bland. Takes spices, high heels (perhaps anti-intuitively but you will get sick of warm sport-ish clothes for months on end). I would take dressing up clothes to fight societal seasonal depressive moods. And do take up all winter sports you can, to fight them

bo, please still do post a pic

bani, commiserations, teenagers are hard hard work

Bo I’d absolutely love to see your Vyshyvanka even if it’s not perfect-perfect (a) it’s your first go, you’re not a professional Vyshyvanka creator (b) even if it doesn’t reach your very high standards it’s already streets ahead of anything we’ve tried because as far as I can see none of us have actually had a go at doing this at all! Also sending you 💐 I’m horrified that you’ve been subjected to skeevy men insinuating you’re not true Dutch etcetc pretty horrific stuff and obviously it still jangles on a nerve.

microbe the yellow staircase sounds amazing and imitation being the sincerest form of flattery I might’ve ordered a yellow skirt from the place Bo suggested as it’s a super flattering colour for me.

french the suggestions for surviving and indeed enjoying a Norwegian winter (spices and snowsuits) sound very sensible. I would add lots of saunas and snow bathing as well - an incredible feel-good activity.

Bani sorry teenagers are kicking up because I really enjoy your comments!

And Flo as a fellow treasure seeker I’m posting a photo of today’s loot, a silk dress from Paul Smith with the most fabulous print for the princely sun of £8.50 (that’s my outfit for an incredibly glamorous wedding in two weeks time sorted out!!)

Ah the skeevy men and the othering sort are two separate groups of people. The latter are definitely more of a nuisance especially since I grew up in very progressive circles where my parents' mixed relationship was always viewed as very positive and we, the offspring, were this great promising future that was celebrated so it was a bit of a rude awakening when the politics flipped and people felt more emboldened to insinuate you don't belong. But that's the rest of the world for you, it's not always rosey. Thankfully things have flipped again, I can't really say what changed aside from the populist politicians plateauing to some extent. The only people who now ask me where I'm really from tend to be recent migrants themselves and they're always disappointed I actually am Dutch as they're always hoping to meet a fellow countryman or from a close neighbouring country for some shared culture.

Ok, pics, I'll spare you all a long list of things (I lie, I rambled on anyway ) I'd wish were different but my main gripe is that the embroidery on the sleeves isn't all that noticeable, I guess it needed to be a denser design but I probably would have needed months more to do it. When I was working on it as individuals pieces it looked like it had great contrast (I'll attach another picture if I can in a next post) but it's different as a garment. I had intended to do more embroidery but it felt too busy, hence my new appreciation for Vita Kin there's a lot of added complexity with the embroidery design.

I also changed the sleeve design from the traditional way because it just felt too poofy so I actually need to remove a row of embroidery at the bottom. I know it'll look better for it but knowing the time that went into getting it as perfect as I could get, I just can't bring myself to do it yet.. <Sigh>

Great find on the Paul Smith dress btw.

Extra pic of the embroidery close up while it was still in pieces and some dresses I tried on at Zara. I bought the egg yolk yellow one, I like the white one as well that's very much a The Row rip off but I'll wait until it goes on sale (the yellow dress will go on sale too but it was already very affordable) and I'll probably try a size up so it's a bit more relaxed fitting on the body.

Also tried on this Jil Sander/Khaite esque dress but my phone got so confused by it went all whacky trying to take a picture in the cramped changing room. The model is wearing it very oversized though, might have to try that in a size or two up as well.