Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: Always Have a Ball Gown at the Ready in Celebration of Your Enemy's Demise

[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

Quinze

Seize

Xing, I am sorry for you loss. I hope the admin can be sorted without much upheaval. Sending you 💐

Xing, so sorry for your loss. I know about the conflicting feelings too. ❤(Nosily, I am interested in the "leaving body for research" bit, but obv don't reply to that if you don't want to.)

I don't think anyone should worry about crassness on the thread unnecessarily, it's a S&B thread au fond but we'll have to dip in and out of real life too. (I don't think I meant Tudor now. But I have a big sleeve in mind, will see if I find it. )

Thanks Parisiennes! As I wrote, it was a sad day that we all knew was coming, and nobody could have wished her to endure any more.

Hi Bani, DMIL was an SRN who trained at a big London hospital at the beginning of the NHS, and latterly a medical secretary, so she was interested in science and medicine all her life. These days, she would probably have become a doctor but in those days with her education disrupted by war, nice gels didn't.

She was an ardent advocate for assisted dying too, so she would entirely approve of your interest.

Bodies can be donated for study via the London Anatomy Office, which is part of King's College London. There's a hefty paper contract, and bodies are not accepted if death is caused by some illnesses, including some dementias. DMIL is actually going to the Nottingham University Hospital for technical reasons, but donations are coordinated nationally through King's. We pay for her body to be transferred, and they will cremate her remains when they are done, but the ashes will be returned to us and will be interred with those of DFIL and other family in due course. Obviously, no funeral but a nice memorial service in the city where she grew up is planned, probably in spring.

💐for you Xing and well done for helping your DMIL achieve her final wish (perfect paper trails sound a nightmare at the best of times). I think donating your body to science is a great idea and can quite see why it’s so fitting that your DMIL chose this.

Fascinating Xing, I was nosy too so I'm glad Bani asked.

Bani, I know, I know, but I was jokingly talking beheadings so it seemed rather unknowingly insensitive (and now it looks like I'm passive aggressively chastising Blondes who probably just missed seeing Xing's post the way I missed Blondes' post when posting. Urgh, I'll be off to self flagellate somewhere toire suite, but will be earmarking the Netflix recommendation for after).

Are you thinking those Renaissance (I can never remember if Tudor is part of Renaissance or only overlaps) sleeves with the slits/cutouts where the chemise peeps out underneath? Here's a very fancy version (I'm keeping it regal 😎) that sort of does remind of the Sacai sleeves if you squint also very, ahum, reproductive organ like.

I've had it with autocorrect this morning. Argh, just pretend I'm a normal cohesive communicator and not whatever the above has been

And Two I’ve just watched the trailer of “She’s French” and it looks fun - thanks for flagging it up!

bo I missed THAT observation but once seen never unseen I think you are absolved of any self flagellation for raising a huge smirk on my face on such a vile day 😂😂😂

Well I wrote a post here a couple of days ago and it ended up in the black hole of nowhere… it was about thanking all for the curly hair chat etc etc.
Sometimes I make a slight attempt to leave my hair in it’s more natural state (big curls / waves) but is easier for me when starts to grow a certain length, then I become tired / forget or whatever and go back to blow drying it in a bad way (read not properly blow drying but making an attempt and just doing it badly).
anyhow, when I blow dry lightly and then let it dry and give it some shape with my fingers I end up with this sort of curl in the photo, which I quite like .
but I only achieve this the day after washing my hair. The first day is always a frizzy mess… why is that?

Have you tried Hershesons Almost Everything cream red? I use it to consolidate my curls, but my sister who has the flattest straightest hair ever also likes it for stopping her hair flying away after it's been washed.

Yeah, it's just that when you shampoo you remove all oils as part of the cleansing process, even the ones that you kind of want to keep that keep frizz down, conditioner is then supposed to make up that loss but as you wash that out that isn't necessarily enough. By day two you'll probably have produced enough sebum on your scalp and for it to travel down to get the hairs back in line again. A curl cream and/or leave in conditioner helps with this on your wash day, it depends on the person what works best (and you can also tinker with type of shampoo and conditioner but you're then opening up a world of confusing options).

The memorial service in the spring sounds lovely, Xing.

Your wavy curls look good, red. I don't know why it's better the day after, though. Mine is easier to put up the day or so after, as it has less slip.

On the hair front, thank you bo for recommending the Christophe Robin Salt scrub shampoo, it's lovely. I was using the Malibu C, but the supply issues in lockdown put the price up to £50 😳. I started to use the Poppy Seed Jean Paul Myne, which gives a kind of pewter sheen It will probably last ages, as I only use it every 2-3 weeks. Also, a very lovely deep conditioning mask I was recommended on a curly hair group - Mielle Babussu and Mint Deep Conditioner. Not expensive and a little goes a long way, even with long, thick hair.

SophieLion, melodiebance on ig has curly hair and is in Paris, she does sometimes straighten it, though.

Hi bani, no tribunal yet, I have just submitted the appeal paperwork - I have been given a date in October 2023!

Thank you for the hair recommendations. That is why I love this thread, one stop for all you all pretty much cover everything one could want!

oct 2023!? I knew the system was stretched, but that is way beyond what I imagined. Sorry that you and your DD have to wait so long Quirky.

grammar alert goes and hides in embarrassment…

I haven't got time to post properly plus I need to catch up on the thread but I just wanted to say I'm very sorry Xing It's hard and complicated when it comes as a relief but I remember you saying she'd basically had enough and it struck a chord.

I'll be back later or tomorrow I hope.

Totally agree bani, I am done with listening to those bossy dress-for-your-shape puritans. If I was forced to pick a side, I'd rather have the fashion police - at least they mostly don't talk like it's all peer reviewed science.

That said, I've just sent for these loafers to wear with wide legs and save them from puddles. I've tried them on and I think they'll work but they didn't have my size. Looking at the pics again I'm slightly anxious I might have ordered the wrong ones - the heel is higher than I remember and I thought there was more platform. But we'll see.

I was away for a day and sneaked in a couple of hours city centre shopping and man it was great to be in well stocked stores where you could see clothes for real instead of peering at a screen, and try stuff on and just put it back if it wasn't right. I only bought socks - still avoiding new buys (ahem - shoes aside) till I know what retirement is like - but it was such fun. I miss shops.

Sorry to hear about tribunal woes Quirky, are you just left rudderless until October

Yes, the Christophe Robin seasalt scrub is great, I must get back to it once I've finished my current clarifying shampoo. How much coverage does the Pepper shampoo give? My grey hair journey is an odd one in that it comes in with a few hairs in spring and then come autumn it all drops out again but I now have a small contingent on one temple, but they're not grey. It's blonde and I assumed over time they'd grey but they're stubbornly remaining blonde. Getting my hair dyed for such a small amount of hairs seems ridiculous but I had been thinking of a toner or similar to take down the blondeness of it all. Would the shampoo do the trick of camouflaging it in with the rest of my hair? I've had that Mielle deep conditioner on my list of things to try for forever but I'm not making much of a dent in my current stock so it'll be a while...

Those are higher heels than I'm used to with you Flo.

It's interesting on the prescriptive front, I'm hearing, "I've worn it for years, before it became popular. Ugh." putdown a lot lately. It's like we've mentally reverted back to 90s/00s fashion attitudes along with the clothes. However the most prescriptive and overly serious of fashion fronts, Streetwear (especially the high end luxury houses stuff), seems to be on the outs and decline. Maybe it's the economy, maybe just fatigue, probably a bit of both. I suspect the prescriptive dress for your body type will cling on a little longer though, I mean the whole what's your season/colours refuses to die down too...

Oh, and since it's Armistice Day, this made me laugh, not a Sainsbury Baguette as per our thread mascot but I suppose Tesco's is close enough of a disappointingly not French baguette.

They are aren't they bo! They didn't feel that high when I tried them on because the sole was so chunky. I've probably ordered the wrong ones

I googled your photo bo and on Indy100 they had it with some good puns Eg
“Lest we baguette”
”Army cuts starting to bite”
“If you try to get past these guys they’re going to lead you into a whole world of pain.”

I hope the shoes’ platform to heel ratio make
them comfortable Flo, they look really nice.

I love those baguettes, bo - very funny.

The black poppy seed shampoo leaves a kind of pewter ombre which is darker at the ends - probably because I tend to (use other) shampoo at my roots rather than my dry ends. I'm not sure how well it would cover the odd white hair, though. Recently, I've been told I have Pre-Raphaelite curls several times, because I think I tend to go for a less coated version of curls than a lot of the curly girl pics and my hair is long.

Thanks quirky, I think a toner probably is the better way to go for me then. Yes, your hair is lovely as is, I've never been a fan of the perfected curly girl method look, it's too perm-like for my tastes but I'm very much in the minority about that.

Forgot to mention, I attempted to watch The Crown last night but could not get into it (I hate the new cast. I'm always a bit tepid when the new batch of actors come in but this time it was way more off putting than I remember, everyone feels miscast and overacting, especially the mannerisms) and ended up watching She's French instead which was very interesting.

It did get me thinking, a couple of them sort of got riled up but then sort of calmed down and said they wouldn't say any more as it angered them too much. This felt so out of character to me (the French people I know love a good rant), I couldn't decide whether it was because they were being filmed or whether it was an adopted thing as they were all French women who moved to the UK.

Happy to join you in the minority, bo, with the not perfected curls! I like your wavy, tousled look too. I could only manage that pre-teens hormones and when pg with dd1. I do think wavy hair is much easier than curls.

I've only watched the first episode of The Crown but, considering these were the years that gave us 3 divorces, 2 BBC interviews, Squidgygate, Tampongate, Fergie's toesucker and Diana's Fuck You dress, it was all a bit well... dignified. I assume they'll get round to some of it I get the feeling they're nervous.

The wholesale change of actors doesn't help, but then they've managed that before. At the moment they feel more like impersonators than actors, although I will make an exception for the children, especially Senan West's anxious, watchful William. (And I had no idea until I saw the credits that he was any relation to Dominic.) But let's face it, this series we're watching Diana, no? And while Elizabeth Debicki has the mannerisms off to a T, I don't get the sense she's inside her head, like I had with Emma Corrin. I'll give it more time but I'm not sure Mr Flo will, and it won't be half as much fun watching on my own.