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

Oooh lucky you SophieLion. I was once there in early-mid October so just a couple of weeks earlier than you. Some days were still very warm, hot even but the evenings got quite chilly and there were a couple of days when you could definitely feel winter at your shoulder.

If I was going again at that time, I'd take lots of layers and also a hat that covered my ears plus scarf and gloves that I could just stick in a bag and carry round until needed. And I'd probably be a bit of a Brit cliche and take one of my tweed jackets, plus for the worst days, a raincoat with a hood that's pretty lightweight so doesn't take up much room and that will also fit over the jacket if required. (It doesn't look brilliant that way but it does the job.) I only took comfortable shoes which for me means flats. You walk for miles.

I didn't need anything particularly smart - everywhere we went was pretty low key, although if you did feel like dressing up, no-body would turn a hair. The only place I can remember going to with any kind of dress code was the Rainbow Room, and even that was at the casual end of smart, although we went early-ish for the sunset - it might have got more glam later on. (But in any case I'm not even sure it's open any more?)

Other posters have been more recently than me and will have other suggestions I'm sure. Have fun!

Hiya Sophie, how exciting. It's tough to plan too far ahead though as end of October weather in NYC is a bit of a toss up. It's on the same latitude as Madrid (and I suspect Athens is close to that as well) so summer can last long (the famous Indian summer) and then usually somewhere in October it pretty much switches overnight and it's less autumn more winter with occasionally some awful storms with lots of wind and rain. All of those scenarios would be quite a different wardrobe and I'm not sure if a leather jacket would be useful in any of those, some humidity proof haircare might be worth obsessing over with the curls though.

General guidance I would give, it's not as dressy as people imagine, especially if you mostly do the tourist sights, but there are some places like upscale restaurants that do have dress codes that feel foreign to us. But there's a loophole if you're obviously European (well female anyhow, men might still be asked to wear a blazer that the restaurant will lend them). These are rare places though and I suspect Covid might have killed off those dress codes by now and what you'd wear here in Europe is often already considered quite dressy there anyhow. If in doubt, black, black and more black is the local dress code.

There's a list of addresses in the OP if you want some ideas of places to go, I think it was in this thread or the end of the last that someone came and went and updated on the lay of the land post Covid.

October can be lovely or wet and windy but usually it's just cooling pleasantly. You are most unlikely to get properly cold weather. Comfortable shoes and your favourite temperate outfits.

Hi Sophie I was going to say if you are a trainers wearer definitely a pair to trot around all the sights (white or whatever your favourite colour). Maybe another pair or slightly more stylish pair of shoes/boots still on the comfy side but that can be used to slightly more smart casual places (Chelsea boots type thing?) but if it is still a bit hot, not sure if open sandals might be ok? But might be wet as xing mentions.
Anyhow, might not be your style etc etc but I was coming to the thread to say I have been thinking of a colourful coat, then I saw this linked in another thread and this is the type of thing (can be a different colour) that if someone can point me to (pre-loved even better) I would be very grateful.
If it happened to be in the cool side and windy in NY , I imagine something like this might work? But tricky to say as depends on the weather (I have not been at that time of the year)

Yes, I should probably have specified winter temps by Madrid/Athens sensibilities where the hats and scarfs come out at temps where were not even wearing winter coats here. Proper New York winter starts later but it can definitely be deceptively cold at night.

Red I've seen an amazing Balenciaga pink coat secondhand but it's not cheap at all, 30% off this weekend though but you'd have to ship it to your holiday address as sending it to the UK would incur vat and import fees. Here, the only thing it has in common is that it's pink though 🤷

Hi Sophie, I was the poster who was just there in early July as a first-timer and posted a few times about it towards the end of the last thread. Of course mid summer is a different thing entirely, but might be worth scrolling back for, just in case.

Agree with comfortable shoes for walking - it’s a bit like London where you walk for miles without really intending to, and the journey is often as interesting as the destination.

I think for late October, I’d pack jeans, trousers, lots of long sleeve lightweight wool layers, plus chunky boots and something waterproof - essentially the same as I’d take to London but maybe a touch more dressy. If you’re packing light, perhaps a fancy necklace could work to bung in your day bag and throw on for dinner, especially if you’re not going home after sightseeing

Light weight thin layers are probably a good idea but I really don't think you will need many choices. October is lovely in NY mostly. Prabably one of the nicest months for a trip. May April or October November would be my preferred months.

Gosh bo don’t tempt me with balenciaga coats 😈
I would certainly want need to pay less.
Anyhow, what other ‘happy’ colour would be good for a coat? Open to inspirations.

I am a sucker for a bright coat red, but my hidden hearts desire would be an egg-yolk yellow wool crombie / duster

< shakes fist at bloody Joules and their jaunty bloody rainwear >

How about this red transition coat, Red, bit too warm for Ibiza in September I suspect but if you stayed for winter it would be great there too, you know, just in case Flo's cabana boy husband to be has a cute brother

I do love a proper red wool coat too but I've not seen any good ones for ages. Not quite egg yolk yellow, I did see this Valentino oversized silk shirt that's a coat that had me doing a double take as the construction is intriguing. I've been seeing a lot of very expensive silk coats (they're usually very specific rare types of silk) in bright colours. I'm tempted to make something of my own but I'm yet to actually make any coat or blazer so should probably keep away from the very expensive rare silk fabrics for now...

Thank you all for the responses.

Yes sounds like layers are probably best Floisme. Bit like when i go back to UK and you can never know what weather to expect (now I was in london during the heatwave and drove down to the coast on same day and it was raining and we couldn't go to the beach at all....!).

And interesting you say that it's all quite casual. I have Sex and the City in my head where all are totally dressed up all the time!

I had NY at the same level as London Bo so thanks for sorting out the geography! Yes was thinking a pair of black trousers wide leg, jeans, white wide leg trousers, etc etc . My main issue is with jackets/coats so pleased to hear probably a leather jacket not useful (seeing as I don't own one that fits me properly!). I'll try and have a look for shangpie's posts , thanks. We're going with friends who have been before (as has DH) so perhaps better ask them re evening plans.

I live in my white Stan Smiths redandblue so will definitely take them. But re coats, it seems perhaps I need to check the weather just before we go as clearly very changeable. The American vintage coat looks interesting (although that colour would look awful on me!) and we have an American vintage shop near us so will check it out. I think I should get an "in-between" coat really. *
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Re red coats, I have a bright red proper winter coat that I got from Massimo Dutti a few years ago and I love it (get compliments on the colour every time I wear it which is always nice )

The Balenciaga coat is gorgeous Bo. But ££££ as you say.

Did you have a lovely time in NY Shangpie? Thanks for the packing tips.

Good to know that October is a good time for NY xing. I'm quite excited about all the sight-seeing. And buying things we can't get easily in athens!

Ps sorry if post disjointed. On an island and signal/wifi keeps dropping

Yes, I'd echo that September/October is a good time of year to go, April/May would be my other pick, although May can be unexpectedly hot too (especially when you just come from Canada where it's still freezing).

I don't know about London but Amsterdam is on the same latitude as some city whose name I've forgotten in Central Northern-ish Canada which is a bit wild to me.

SATC does make it look more dressed up than it is, there is a fashion district and it's definitely a very different vibe there and similarly the financial district is going to be different but overall not overly dressed up but by American standards it is iyswim.

I think if you have a nice trench coat you'll be sorted, add a nice scarf if it's unexpectedly cold and that's already useful on the plane. Check the weather ahead of time and swap it out for something more waterproof if it's torrential rain central.

The first time I ever went to New York was either late 80s or very early 90s and I was still expecting everyone to look like Madonna in 'Desperately Seeking Susan', instead I saw daughters and mothers wearing he same clothes. But I did go to 'Love Saves the Day' (where Rosanna Arquette buys the jacket) and got a coat there.

That boho transition coat is great Bo! I might not have time to order it while I am in Europe… I have not seen in detail what I need to pay if I order from Europe but the price is ok so might be worth it?

sophie if you happen to go to American vintage, would you have a look at interesting coats and give me your views on them? I find difficult to know how oversized their clothes are sometimes.

Prices for delivery vary in Europe and also depend where you are of course but I think it's usually under €10. But it won't be much more to ship it to the UK, but you might have to pay VAT, you'll see it when you check out (just change your region to UK) so that's maybe an extra £8 or so. Which tbh is probably preferable as IME vestiaire sellers don't necessarily send things out right away which means delivery times are a week to a week and half so the added stress of that while on holiday to save a small amount in VAT charges probably isn't worth it if it can just be sent to the UK.

There did seem to be someone else interested in the comment section so if you really want it you might just want to order it and have it delivered to a pick up point near you home in the UK.

Not Sophie but American Vintage is quite oversized and can be a bit 'droopy' at that as they tend to use very fluid fabrics and sometimes things are cut on the bias.

I've read up on the bias cut, thanks bo. Continuous adult education. Can I ask a novice question? I just bought a raye shirt on eBay, thin poplin, dropped shoulders oversized shirt. It has one seam at the shoulders, not in the middle of the shoulder but more towards the front, and no other cuts or seams at the back, so that the back panel so-to-speak hugs your shoulder and then finishes. What is it called? Where can I read on this, please? I noticed I have this on a shirt dress, but on the dress there is a panel on the back that finishes around shoulder blades. Apologies - I realise I am missing all the core tailoring vocabulary in english. Maybe it's something very banal and I just failed to pay attention

Best I can make of your description is a dolman sleeve, potentially? It might be a combination of a dolman with a dropped shoulder. Other possibility is a raglan sleeve. There's books with these things, usually for fashion education with illustrations they probably won't differ that much between them, I'd try and find a physical bookshop to have a browse surely there must be one near the Coal Drop Yards that caters to CSM.

Thanks, bo. Best I can describe it it's like a yoke that goes over the shoulder, like in dress shirts, except in this case there is no yoke, the cloth just continues from the back panel. In any case, I got to it because it turns out that yokes, especially split ones, are sometimes cut on the bias. How fascinating

Yes anywhere where you want a bit of stretch you can cut on the bias but it's tricky.

From your description it sounds a bit like bottom right hand corner to me but a button shirt version.

I see Bo. Sounds like NY is much less dressy than I had thought. Which is good!

Yes red will definitely let you know when go to American vintage but it might be a little while (we need to go back to Athens and then I need to get to shops).

I have some vest tops from American vintage and I find they always get small holes in them. I don't think it's moths because my other T shirts in the same drawer are always fine.

Thanks, bo, for the picture. Will study.

Sophie, I don't remember if I've been to NY in October, - probably not, more like July, April, etc, but I found that NY can have a bit of an extreme weather, such as for instance very strong winds (its geographical position but also grid structure and skyscrapers are party responsible for it). It is mmm a city of contrasts with homelessness etc depending on what you want to do, whether you'd ever go on subway I wouldn't overdress but then I tend to like to explore

Can I ask les parisiennes a question, please. I have been working on translating my fashion unconscious (things I liked over the years) into the actual names for these styles/ cuts etc and realised that a bag I quite like (I am not very keen on bags, so difficult to please) is called a hobo bag. A crescent soft slouchy bag. To me, it's the bag Juliette Binoche wore in Trois Couleurs: Bleu, you know, one of those things you see and remember forever

What do you think of hobo bags? Isabel Marant has some, in suede too (those without the studs)! They are, as I understand, associated with boho style, which I am not into, except maybe sometimes in the summer. Do they "mean" something I might not be aware of?

Hi micro, are these the types of bags you mean?
I am not the person to tell you if any of it means anything or the technical names for any fashion item … I just like certain things. I am sure others a lot more educated on this topic will put some clarity to the question.
I personally like them (I have a black Mathew Williamson … with studs…) but I am not into bags really, I do not have that many. But I don’t like to go around with a tatty bag, I rather have something classic (I consider these to be quite inoffensive and good looking) or I rather go out with a canvas tote (most of the time) or a very small black cross body one for just the phone, keys and cards… or I just cross a bum bag on my shoulder (a black gym one I had for absolutely ages)
I am not sure if I have helped at all…
I suppose I like boho bags as they kind fit with my overall style (don’t ask me what that is…)

I'm no bag guru, but I think slouchy bags come around every so often. I don't really buy and sell fashion so over my 40-plus year interest in style, I have accumulated -at least one of everything.

What do I think? They are useful, because they tend to be a useful size with room for life's essentials including a bottle of water. However, now we can do almost everything with a smartphone, I take mine out less frequently, and that may be influenced by age. At 66, I don't want to carry a heavy bag that will affect my posture.

Thanks, red and xing! Red, yes, like those you posted, but could also be simpler - I attach Isabel Marant bag and also a Joseph bag for reference. I hear you, xing, in my mind, about the impact on the back. In my mind, this is the winter bag. One that once I get on the tube/train, can accommodate hat, gloves and scarf I'd need to wear to get to said tube/train - so not necessarily heavy but bulky. But I wouldn't wear a laptop in a shoulder bag, or my lunch etc

Red, about studs, what do they mean? I have a bag with studs all over, which I bought decades ago and wear very rarely - it's very heavy - but it puzzles me. Do they signify something western, cowboy or heavy metal? Am I completely off here? Apparently western-like boots are in fashion this autumn...