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.

---

Favoured Parisian addresses:

Second Hand Shops

Outlets

Favoured London addresses:

Charity Shops, Dress Agencies, and Outlets

Favoured NYC addresses:

Consignment shops, Vintage, and Restaurants

---

Previous threads:

Un

Deux

Trois

Quatre

Cinq

Six

Sept

Huit

Neuf

Dix

Onze

Douze

Treize

Quatorze

Quinze

Seize

So posh mail order basically 😀? But good luck Phoebe, I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

If that interview's in UK Vogue I wouldn't bother bo - it'll be deadly boring. I keep forgetting and buying it occasionally but it never fails to disappoint.

I'm kind of disappointed Metsola didn't go for the full-on New Look but I guess that might have risked overshadowing Zelensky which would never do. I don't suppose she had much notice that he was coming so my guess is an online order with same day delivery and that she tried it on and thought 'Fuck it, no-one's going to be looking at me'. Admittedly that doesn't explain the other blazer. I kind of sympathise as jackets never fit me on the shoulders either, but in my case they're always too big which is easier to get away with in current fashion.

Speaking of orders, what happened with those boots bo or have I missed them?

@botemp we were boring and just ate any pastries we saw! So croissants, a religieux, a little apple and almond tart ( normande?) , a rhubarb flan. We didn’t go anywhere especially fancy and I regret it now
i do recommend Fulgurances ( in the 11th) though always hesitate as you may hate it and then think less of me. The menu is a secret so each course is a surprise ( and in a good way), 6 are savoury and 2 are sweet. They also offer a cheeseboard which we had to decline. Im trying to work out how we can get back to Paris soon, but with an adult DD who requires 24/7 care it’s really tough. This time DS and his girlfriend offered but they can’t use up all their holiday so we can go away!

re Roberta metsola- didn’t she wear white because it’s a suffragette colour? Now it symbolises sisterhood, solidarity etc? I rather liked her jacket and didn’t realise it was Dior

Ah I’ve just seen your later posts @botemp . ( iPhone playing up). I can see Rita a bit tight on shoulders. I don’t understand why top designers don’t want their clothes to look 100% on ‘celebrity’ customers. Surely they get custom from photos worldwide? I wonder about Meghan too. Maybe because she was new to couture she didn’t push back enough ( though gossip suggests she does ask for what she wants)

Ha, I think even if Metsola had gone full capitol city in Hunger Games she'd struggle to overshadow Zelensky in his fatigues.

No, she's worn it before (I discovered while googling), it's definitely her investment piece for special occasions and the picture I posted was from her twitter account so she obviously likes the fit fine so who am I to sit here nitpicking. Wish she'd look at some McQueen instead though, maybe even a pagoda shoulder. A good set of shoulders can look amazing in a jacket but it's got to be the right fit.

I tell you this tailoring rabbit hole has set me adrift while watching the news. I was bemoaning the other day why the pitch of the sleeves on Putin's suit was so atrocious, instead of why he's so atrocious. It's clearly bespoke and super fancy Italian top of the line fabric but no self respecting tailor would make it like that, surely. Then it dawned on me he's probably wearing a bullet proof vest and that shifted the fit of the chest canvas and consequently the pitch of the sleeves. What the news anchor said, no idea

I'm not sure if the choice of white is deliberate, isn't that more of an Anglo/American thing? She was previously an EPP EMP 🤢 who aren't all that pro women/feminism, traditionally, although obviously feminism is not strictly tied to one political colour or side.

Fulgurances sounds great, but I don't know if I can handle secret menus. I like choice and all that with my picky palette although they probably would accommodate some diet things. I hope you can get to Paris again soon Sooverthemill, otherwise, Poilane does deliver with DHL and there's a Philippe Contocini in London.

Sorry, Flo, WRT boots, I'm not sure which ones you're asking about, I bought some in Paris and I ordered some from other stories. Love the ones I bought in Paris (knee high heeled boots) and I absolutely loved how the stories one looked but they were so uncomfortable I had to be sensible and send them back. I'm not sure if it's my feet (high arches) or that i need to spend more on them. I had ordered the other stories ones to have a more wearable pair than the similar ones from Mango I bought last year (I think, prob more like a year and a half ago) that despite my best efforts just don't seem to get broken in so I can only wear them for an hour of two of strolling which is a bit for flat boots, especially a pair that goes so well with everything. But they feel a little too of the now (already felt like that when I bought the Mango ones) for me to spend so much money on a designer pair.

Oh and on the Vogue interview, it's US Vogue but probably just as dull, Demna Gvasalia just repeats whatever a crisis manager told him to repeat. I had anticipated it would just blow over with little damage to the brand but it has definitely lost some popularity (dropping out of the top ten most searched brands/items on Lyst since the inception of that list) but the Vogue interview is definitely a rehabilitation piece and I assume the glowing reviews of the shows will resume as before soon enough.

Ah soz I must be thinking of the Paris boots, I had it in my head they were an online order.

Might take a sneaky peek at the Balenciaga interview if only to see how Vogue have spun it as I assume they featured the adverts?

It's here, Flo, but reading it is really as dull as watching paint dry. Granted, the internet did go a bit satanic panic about it, I doubt it'll appease those loons.

I'm finding the jacket conversation interesting. I love them and have lots, but sometimes find I'm struggling with the fit. If I size up I find it can make my shoulders look more square than they are. I don't have strong shoulders visually (or physically for that matter). I'm petite framed hourglass. Average height but long limbs/short body so I don't buy petite ranges of clothes. These square-ish shoulders make my small head look like a pea on a drum. If I size down though, it can be a little too snug like those photos, especially if I've put on a few pounds (fluctuate between 8st 7lbs and 8st 10lbs). Perhaps I'm not a jacket person?

Your description of yourself is giving me the image of those chestnut with cocktail sticks figurines 🙈 I do know what you mean though, I have a touch of it as well, not fully petitie, not really standard size either. I have quite long orangutan arms but the length seems to be mostly in the hands and forearm so my bicep sits high comparatively and then a sleeve can fit far too narrow in some brands and the whole top moves upwards as well.

Mine aren't that far out either, I suspect we're a bit the same but they don't slope much so they have more presence without actually being very wide proportionally (maybe it's an hourglass thing?) so they can go a bit robot shoulders in the wrong jacket.

I think the thought with women with broad shoulders is often that they need to soften them up or tone them down, make them less obvious. Very similar to Roberta Metsola's body shape, Kate Middleton's tailors do tend to get it right (or maybe she herself is suitably nitpicky enough, she was right about those bridesmaid dresses after all...) by making more of a feature of them (even taking on a pagoda sleeve here and there) and adding more fabric in the crown of the sleeve without it looking very voluminous (something you won't find much in ready to wear). And in a softer tailored suit the little bit of extra fabric in the crown by giving it a pleat also solves the issue. In the first pic you can see it's just within the margins, a thick jumper wouldn't work underneath.

I recognise a lot of that BlueSummerBaby. I'm bigger now but the bony bits - wrists, ankles, fingers and of course shoulders - are still very narrow. Sizing down doesn't work cos I prefer too big to too tight - it's why I like the oversize trend. I also find 1940s/50s jackets often fit better, as long as I don't fasten them as they're invariably too big around the bust. But if I'm buying new I often just live with it, which isn't very Parisienne but I haven't got the patience or tenacity to keep looking, although if I were paying Dior prices it would be another matter. Vive l'oversize!

Btw BlueSummerBaby, if your shoulders also sit higher with less slope than others like mine, I've found that you mostly need to avoid thick shoulder pads, could even remove and replace them with a thinner pair in some cases. Pagoda works well as well, but it's a very outspoken look.

I have one shoulder that is higher and/or wider than the other (i still haven't worked out which) so I have to be careful about the fit of jacket shoulders.

Usually, it shows with cheaper brands, not not with more expensive ones. Funny that.

I've just bought myself a lovely long black fine fabric skirt (96% wool, 4% elastane) from Cos.

It fits really well, albeit it's a size 12 while I'm usually an 8. The material passes the crush test well too. It was £89, and looks much more expensive. I've not bought much from there but occasionally their stuff seems to be exceptionally good value. It has an extra long zip, and I can't work out why.

It looks like long skirts are coming back into the shops; something I fully support.

Oh no bo I'm not a chestnut and a cocktail stick 😂 unless I'm imagining it wrong 🤔. I'm an hourglass 34-27-37 but my body is short so eg I can't wear high waisted things or the waistband is on my ribs and I look like boobs on hips/legs as if my torso is somehow missing 🤣. My shoulders aren't broad, they're narrow I think (although the outside of them lines up with the outside of my hips, so not weirdly narrow, I'm just petite) and slope down and are a little rounded (born that way). It's as though I don't always have enough shoulders to put in a jacket? Depending on the jacket in question. It looks totally wrong, with the shoulders of the jacket sticking out more than my shoulders do and my head doing the pea-on-a-drum thing. So I size down which looks better, allowing my head to match my body like it naturally does, but then the jacket is maybe a bit too snug and looks like those pics of Roberta and restricts my movement in my arms a bit.

I've got a coat like Kate's blue one that fits fine. I could just about wear that red one too, I can't really do loose puffy sleeves, it somehow swallows up my waist. I don't have that gap between arms and waist that Kate has, my arms are right in there and hang just in front of my hips (now I do sound like an orangutan, but I swear my limbs are not so long that my knuckles skim the ground much 😆). Kate's white jacket wouldn't look right on me, it's too shoulder-y and I'd definitely have the pea/drum thing going on. Maybe shoulder pads is the issue. I'll have to go check if the ones that seem to fit properly maybe don't have them. I never thought of that.

Maybe I should try vintage jackets then Flo. I'm a C/D cup depending on where my weight is at, so I don't think it'd gape round the bust. Yes I have the small wrists, ankles etc too.

Or I might just stick to jumpers and cardigans that happily drape themselves around my body in a way jackets don't always seem to want to. I do like a smart jacket though.

I love long skirts too Poppy. The one you've got sounds great

I name changed recently but am an occassionalvisitor.

I LOVE a good jacket.I have twothat are amazing BUT years ago I had a friock coat. The fabric was a crepe, it was light,it was just above my knee, really well cut so an appearence of loads of fabric. It was by an Irish designer called John Rocha. I lived in it until it disappeared from the resturant cloakroom one night.

If any of you have a frock coat tip I am all ears!

Yes, ik fairly confident you don't look like a chestnut dolly either. It's just my weird mind 🤦

Yes, Kate Middleton's body shape is very different, I was more showing it as a comparison to Roberta Metsola.

Your shoulders sound a little lower and rounder to mine but I do have the same thing of having no space between arms and ribs so some extra seams around the waist always seem necessary, unless it's an intentional oversized look.

My guess is cheap shoulder pads at the lower price point are probably just a bit of stiff foam where higher end will use some better foam or maybe something with several layers that isn't just a fat lump of foam?

The hound, you really don't see frock coats much these days. Maybe they're still a thing for horsey people though, so try some equestrian shops? Alexander McQueen still does them sometimes but even on Vestiaire those are ££££. Desmond has also occasionally linked to a site with traditional jackets but in interesting fabrics. Can't remember what it was called though.

Quickly stopping to mention to hound that Karen miller sometimes has dress coats (never owned any KM, not sure if they’re quality).
Also, might be pricey but Holland Cooper I think is called? Not sure if that is the ones Desmond mentioned in the past (probably not).
I am away atm, but occasionally lurking.

Autocorrect-
**not sure of their quality …

If you were a man, and if they were currently taking orders, you could maybe get yourself something from here:

www.thedarkangel.com/collections/jackets-coats

No it wasn't Holland and Cooper, something vaguely Japanese sounding like Shibori but that's a dying technique. Shiboumi?

Some historical clothing suppliers probably might have some too. Isn't Karen Millen under the Boohoo umbrella these days, no idea how quality is either.

Shibumi?

www.shibumistyle.com/collections/full-length-coats/products/devi-coat-in-eggshell

Yy, that's the one. I do wish my weird memory would know how to spell 🧐

4plusthehound, Hi! I have linked to Shibumi here... DS got one at sale price about five years ago, in payment for editing several hundred hours of home video!

The other place I would look is at a company called Moloh, who have shops in Tetbury and in London, somewhere like Pimlico IIRC. They have frockcoat styles and military jackets in some astonishing fabrics, at rather lower prices than Alexander McQueen. I keep hoping to stumble across one on Vinted or Vestiaire, but no luck yet.

And there's Cabbages & Roses, which is in the same ball park as Moloh:

www.cabbagesandroses.com/clothes/outerwear.html

Quick fly by post, new Uniqlo U collection is dropping tomorrow. (Do we still care about these 🤷)