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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.bo if you made that from scratch - let alone the embroidery - I am seriously impressed. I had an absolutely brilliant art teacher years ago who said you have to be honest ie if you see something that’s wrong you have to change it, even if it means reconfiguring stuff that’s fantastic but will need to be changed in order to reflect the new reality. So plaudits for seeing what you have to do and deciding to go for it. i really like it, as it is (what do I know?) it looks like it feels substantial, wholesome and good quality (let alone I love the colour and what embroidery I can see in those photos!):

It sounds like you come from a really nice set-up - which is just as well, given the dodgy experiences it sounds like you have had from time to time since then.

Jil Sander dress is fabulous although I imagine hard to wear unless one is at least is 1.9m, thin as a rake Etc but (don’t tell my husband.*) I could be wrong

• I don’t want to set a precedent

About being wron 🤡

…G

No more Mumsnet after midnight for mm

No, the Jil Sander rip off dress was okay in length on my 5"4 self, admittedly more of a maxi length on me but I'm not a fan of midi anyhow. It's more of a need to like your arms type dress and it'll cover all other parts of your body you're less enthused about, plus, your significant other will probably hate it

Yes, yes, artistic process should know no compromises but that way lays the path of questionable sanity so some balance is needed.

Dodgy experiences were/are just that, I'm lucky that they're rare instances and I'm generally left more bewildered than upset.

I like your vyshyvanka, bo, I feel very enabled by looking at it. The way you designed the dress is also beautiful, and the colour. I wouldn't think there would be issues with appropriation; it chimes with recent fashion in dresses such as those done by pearl&caviar.

Completely lacking the radar for identifying who is from where, I always find it surprising not to mention shocking when issues relating to skin tone, hair colour or facial features surface up as something people note, notice and make conclusions about. I really don't know how people think up that "someone is from here" and "someone not from here". Or that it would be something to think about let along express. How tiresome.

I am forever building up courage to say I am from South London when asked where I am from, and to say I have speech defect that's why I have an accent. Never managed to do it yet, too bloody polite and raised to be kind in conversation. More rudeness needed

I love the shape and colour of the vyshvanka bo. I know what you mean about the embroidery not seeming very concentrated once you see the final thing but I think with a bold colour and shape it works. Or at least looks good to this untrained eye.

Thanks for the Norway tips. Cooking is my main love so I’ll be taking 100s of cookbooks and as many spices and hard to find ingredients as the packers and my husband (driving with the dog while the rest of us fly) allow. I’m also now the happy owner of some perfect base layers, thanks to a Vinted listing saying tip off age 13 base layers are size 8. They are a pefect fit for (being 5ft3 surely helps). Neon yellow, green and blue stripes may not be for everyone but they make me happy - vs black ones which make me feel powerful. Funny what clothes can do isn’t it.

I’ve forgotten who posted it but the £8.50 Paul Smith dress looks great, in print and floaty form.

That's such a great find mm47. I love the colours - perfect for a wedding!

bo you're a much better sewer than me but I think I get how you feel because I'm always disappointed when I make something for the first time and it doesn't match up with the picture I had in my head. I've made a couple of things - far less ambitious than vyshvanka - that I haven't even bothered mentioning on here because they were just 'nah'. But I honestly think it looks great. I actually like that the embroidery's subtle so you don't spot it at first.

That Jil Sander-ish dress. Bloody love it. I've been drifting that way for a while now: interesting shapes, difficult clothes - bugger how they look on me, life is short. Except my arms. They're staying covered.

I think it'll grow on me eventually, I quite like wearing it open over something else as well, bit like I wear a kimono.

I'm not particularly worried about cultural appropriation, it's more the rise of nationalism that I find an unknown. Through researching I discovered that Ukrainian embroidery was banned under USSR rule so they did it in secret and it mostly survived through Canadian Ukrainian practice and had a revival post independence. Considering they're once again facing the same invading force that seeks to eradicate their culture I can somewhat anticipate that Ukrainian embroidery and vyshyvankas will become a bit more sacrosanct than it is now.

I am probably massively overthinking it anyhow and don't think it's that recognisable as a traditional Ukrainian dress. The lovely Ukrainian woman who gave me some basic embroidery skills gave it the thumbs up so that's good enough for me. Also, the Zara was full of bad vyshyvanka derivatives with ugly machine embroidery which feels much more criminal than anything I managed.

Yeah, I was really surprised to find that Jil Sander -like dress at Zara, well the colour is very JS but it resembles this Khaite dress which I also really like with the back detail (I'm also intrigued about the construction of that) but even at 50% off it's still stupidly expensive.

Micro, I find it a useful sorting method, people who are overly occupied with differences tend to be for a reason. In all my interactions the ones that seek to other were never mentally entirely well and often were ostracized themselves (bit of a chicken and the egg situation but whatever the starting point it just perpetuates into a viscous cycle of acting out internal hurt onto others). This is probably why I'm generally unbothered by it as I tend to pity them more than anything but when it became a sort of general accepted thing as populist politicians made it 'ok' it becomes far more sinister somehow.

I am going to admire the beautiful yellows from afar, as like flo it makes me look ill. I do remember a butter yellow skirt I had as a teenager in the 80s, though. Beautiful vyshyvanka, bo.

I love the Khaite dress and the Jil-Sander ish dress too. I'm with flo on the love of clothes with interesting shapes, even if they are hard to wear.

I always get a bit shocked by racial othering, too. My parents were Londoners and very tolerant, I also lived and worked in London in very mixed areas. Every so often I come across it and it still surprises me.

Apparently, yellow is the generation Z colour
www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-gen-z-yellow-became-the-color-of-a-generation-251759

I'll leave it there.

The yellow skirt is due to arrive today!

I am with flo on the interesting shapes! Tried finding the Khaite-esque dress on Zara website but couldn't. Does it only exist in this very dark colour? And yes, discovered so many embroidered pieces, which are so temptingly looking online. Maybe I should go to the zara shop. Or maybe that is exactly the reason not to go?

I'll attempt a link for the Jil Sander/Khaite esque dress but sometimes region settings mess it up, but generally it does work if you click through to your own market. The reference code is 4437/078 but I don't think that's the full one as it doesn't show up for me. I need to go into town to see if they have it in store as it was sold out online.

I'm not sure I'm buying the gen Z yellow colour, it just seems like more internet nonsense like millenial pink. I should probably fess up my sins and admit I went to the Dries van Noten fabric samples sales yesterday and bought more fabric but Antwerp is always an interesting microcosm as everyone dresses very much according to their age group.

It's all very conformist and the gen z-ers wore not a scrap of yellow. Instead they all disturbingly looked like me when I was a teenager, baggy jeans (on the hottest day of the year so far) with a crop top or baby tee, no makeup (or lots and lots of mascara only) and hair worn long and loose but quite a plain cut iykwim. Short length nuisance shoulder bags, oh, and lots of lots of push up bras, that was the most interesting return to observe (but understandable with the baby tee crop top thing, they kind of go together) but the whole blast from the past was probably the most bizarre. And their jeans were not baggy enough, and where were the cargo trousers and skate shoes...

Hope the Bellamy skirt comes good, I actually have a yellow skirt. It's actually quite nice from Kenzo, but I'm not a huge fan of the colour as it's a little greenish in undertone, since I'm over my fear of dyeing things now maybe I should attempt that with that skirt. It's semi sheer fabric though with a light grey lining underneath, I'll have to check if that lining can be dyed.

I hadn't registered that the dress was Zara. I really should pay them more attention. The local dress agency often has their tailoring which I tend to ignore because I don't need any more stuff like that, but it does look surprisingly good for the price. But then I go on their website and there's so much other shit to wade through that I lose the will to live.

Sorry cross post with you bo. Thanks, that link works for me - it's now reduced but sold out online. Have I got the energy to make the trek there for a real life rummage for a sleeveless dress? Nah. But if anyone else does, I'd love to hear more about it - and the same goes for your fabric buys, bo!

Thanks for the link, Bo! Very much like the hem, but I am not buying dark things for summer. I have such thirst for colour after the long winter slog and I anyway have stocked up on lots of very dark MH and Studio Nicholson.

Very interesting about your Gen Z observations. I always get confused which is which. I guess DS is one

Anyhow. La jupe est arrive. It is a good colour, more orangey than I expected, but rich and vibrant. It has pockets! Pics didn't show that. Long on me, which is good and I am sure it will fill an important role in my wardrobe. The delivery was painless, very quick and the shop has an online sample sale if anyone is interested. Delivery to GB only 7 euro. One downside is that the fabric is a little bit see-through. Well, it's not a high end skirt, but I think it goes well with my Studio N voluminous shirt. I tried, really tried to make a good pic to show it but it proved quite difficult and all photos were crap. I attach one least crap. Thank you, Bo, for the skirt!

One thing I gained from joining this thread is respect for fashion photographers. It is actually so hard to show a garment well

That is a lovely yellow microbius.Yellow/mustard are very much favourite colours in my extended family - it is not unknown for 50% of us to be wearing it on meetups but we are all either too young or too old to be gen z. That said I’m unconvinced yellow has taken off with gen z here (uk, midlands) though I’ll be in the lookout now. Crop-tops, leggings and cycle shorts abound here, baggy jeans seem slow to catch on. Even my wide leg jeans stick out in a sea of skinnies and athleisure.

Good to know I estimated well with the length of that skirt and saved myself a needless order and hurray for unexpected pockets. I like the punchy colour but I think it's a bit harsh with the black, I'd personally go for off white or another bright.

I think gen z is roughly turn of the century upwards, I don't think the next generation after that has been named yet. My vote's for generation zero.

Flo I braved Zara yesterday but they only had the dress in XS, I'm in Paris next week where there seems to be a Zara on every corner so surely one of them will have it...

I did strike luck in tkmaxx with my usual catnip of wide leg trousers that I can't resist. The brand is Ellery which did not ring a bell, I thought it was a bag brand but that's Elleme. Seems to be an Australian brand based in Paris but it has UK sizing . New prices are insanely high so it ended up being quite the bargain. It's quite an unusual colour, charcoal grey but it also has some navy colour to it.

The Escada top I tried on with it was also nice but it's very evening and despite being in the sale it was still expensive for something I'm unlikely to get much wear out of. I also liked it better when I initially wore it the wrong way round...

My fabric purchases probably aren't that interesting to share but I'll attempt a picture later.

Wow, gorgeous skirt, microbius, the colour is stunning. Yes, to trying to photograph the shape of clothes, it can be hard. I love the wide-legged trousers, bo, I need to think about getting some more summer trousers, now the warmer weather is here.

I've not read everyone's posts properly yet but gorgeous skirt and great trousers!

Thanks for feedback, everyone. Bo, the shirt is dark blue so maybe it would work, otherwise I don't know what to wear with the shirt

I am awaiting mm's report on the same skirt. I wonder if they sent me an orange one instead of the yellow one

Lovely trousers, bo. You completely infected me with those, and I am not even completely sure that they suit me. I now have 5 pairs

My next question is Morrocan slippers. Anyone had any experience with them? I have this idea that they would be good for the English summer, when standing on kitchen tiles etc (I wear pollen boots in the winter 😎) But I have never actually seen them except 20 years ago in someone's house. And, if they could be good, any hints on where to get a pair? Many thanks

Not that I put any special effort into finding the colour. They don't have to be yellow😍

I want to comment on so many things that you have been up to!
From the beautiful vyshyvanka, it is truly dreamy Bo. I know the embroidery doesn’t stand out as much as you want but from where I sit it looks truly beautiful and really suits you.

10 points for mm’s dress! It must suit you really well. Yes it is perfect for weddings etc, but I honestly would wear it in any occasion… any lunch or dinner, or visiting somewhere that dress would come out.
(that is another thing now I am trying to do if I see something I like, I ask myself how many times I am going to wear it)

what else … oh your skirt micro how great and punchy it is! If the shirt is blue I think it will work, difficult to see in photos sometimes.

leather slippers, I have not had morrocan ones but Indian and for me worked very well in the summer to wear in the house.
I think I have seen morrocan ones either in Etsy or Not on the High Street. I saw these ones too in this shop but the shape is different from the ones you showed.

microbius, I had some morrocan slippers in the late 90s/early 00s that were more round toes like red's with embroidery and were pinky red. I bought them from Greenwich Market and wore them loads. They aren' R very durable irrc, as they are nice and soft. A bit like real ballet shoes.

aren't, my keyboard is being weird.