Les Parisiennes des Mamanset: A Sin of Pride

[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:

[[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FdQbdNEUpGqOyH2oqBQZBVsKISieRgxW_F67mgRLSrw/edit?usp=sharing Consignment shops, Vintage, an
d Restaurants]]

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Previous thread

Knitting with dog hair 😳
no thank you.
love my shedding lab but I cannot think of anything worse.
leave his hairs for birds to make nests.

Bonjour.
I wonder if the Parisiennes can give me some advice?
I have the chance to buy a Chanel skirt dating from the 91/92 collection.
Purple, wool, size 40 - a thing of beauty.
Not sure what this size would be as compared with today's sizes though? I am a 2023 size 10 (tall).

Ouff I'm not a Chanel expert Ginger, in fact I don't own a single thing of hers! However sizing was on the whole smaller in the early 90s - I'd normally expect be at least a size larger if I was buying something from that era.

Also do you know the country of origin as a French size 40 can be different from an Italian 40 and so forth?

If you're buying it online can you ask for waist and hip measurements?

I think all Chanel sizing has always been French but I'm no expert either. I'd expect it to fit small, about two sizes smaller than a modern eu 40 but you might get away with one size smaller (assuming you're a designer UK10, if you're a high street UK 10 I'm afraid it would be unlikely to fit).

But it is wool so it probably has some give from wear over time, there might even be room for alterations. I think it would come down to how fitted it is and how curvy or not you are. I'd definitely not proceed without measurements or a return option. Don't forget to ask the length of the skirt too, since you're tall and Chanel is a favourite among petite women it may very well have been taken up.

Thank you very much for the advice botemp and Floisme.
Yes, I am a UK designer size 10 and fairly straight up and down so I may well risk it...if it doesn't fit I could just stare at it or frame it...I am in love.
The length aspect is something I hadn't considered though.

I don't own any Chanel but I have a Laura Ashley silk skirt from the early 1990s and Laura Ashley long milk maid dress from the mid 80s, out which are so beautiful I can't bear to get rid of them but they'll never fit me again. The labels say they are 10- by today's standards they are a 6 or possibly even a 4. I doubt Chanel was as generous as Laura Ashley in its sizing.

Thanks @NatashaDancing.
I had a milk maid Laura Ashley dress too - they were so beautiful.

@Gingerwarthog , I had a quick browse at Resee as they sell a lot Chanel and date everything. The 90s stuff tends to be one size down for modern sizing in most things but for anything very fitted to the body it's two sizes for modern equivalent.

Many thanks botemp. I think I shall risk it.
It's so beautiful (to me, I appreciate Chanel is not everyone's cup of tea).

I've still got a size 10 Laura Ashley dress I saved up for in 1973 when I was in the sixth form. Technically I'm still a 10 but I can't zip it up beyond my waist. But like you say, I can't bring myself to let it go.

Talking of Laura Ashley, this silk top is a recent charity shop acquisition (I decided I wanted more patterned tops and remembered how much I used to like dark florals). It looks a bit boxy, but is actually very thin silk, so is more floaty if partly tucked and I've tried to show the fluted sleeves.

The sleeves are cute, @quirkychick, but do you not feel the cold? I’d be afraid of buying something like that now because it would spend all A/W under a jacket.

That said - I should stop trying to help people find clothes on the Internet. Have just spent a good couple of hours persuading myself I Do Not Need random bits of Margaret Howell temptingly reduced in places I rarely look.

Although - yesterday someone half my age ‘loved’ (their word!) something I suggested, so I rule. At least until the next Please help me find thread.

@CrkdLttrCrkdLttr thank you, the sleeves sold it to me. It is a summer buy and will probably be put away come autumn for next year. I have worn it quite a few times, so far.

Yes, looking for things makes it tempting! My suggestions for boots on the Dark Academia thread have been popular, but they are based on some I already had and a pair I used to have (trying not to rebuy, as I already have similar).

Be careful Crkd you're well on the way to becoming a Mumsnet treasure

Under a jacket is exactly how I'd wear quirky's top - I really like to see a wisp of something pretty and silky peeping out from under the tweed or the pinstripe.

I've been enjoying the Dark Academia thread quirky. I've still no idea what it is but it seems to involve a lot of my favourite things!

Not a chance, @Floisme - it’s 99% pitchforks where my advice is concerned! I never learn … But it’s so much easier and more immediately engaging than any of my legitimate occupations.

Oh dear - was that the sort of ‘treasure’ you meant? Constant source of brutal mockery?

<Owns it.>

Yes it was And I want you to know Crkd that I'm still contemplating those green Community Clothing joggers for autumn - the ones that went down like a cup of cold sick when you suggested them!

God that was awful! I had to keep reminding myself that none of those posters would know me if they passed me in the street.

Before these threads I had kind of stopped interacting with any style/fashion threads on here, I was rather scarred from the experience of suggesting shoes that cost more than £20. And the other end of the spectrum, the Vogue threads weren't my thing either. I still stay away from suggest me X threads because I'm still puzzled how the OP's brief is completely detached from the thing they actually want in the end and the suggestions tend to be all over the place too, a lot of people are just suggesting whatever they've got in their closet or would like.

I haven't looked at the Dark Academia thread, not my thing aesthetically, but I kinda <soz> thought that it's over now, youngsters aren't into it anymore, seems to have phased out with cottagecore and the like.

suggesting shoes that cost more than £20

You utter beast.

How were you not banned for life??

I dunno either, I must have a guardian angel at MNHQ, especially considering my previous transgression of suggesting someone look at Comptoir des Cotonniers for their teenager. The OP at least was grateful for that suggestion, other posters thought it was mad to spend that kind of money on yourself but it was absolutely insane to spend it on your teenager.

It mostly makes me feel sad though, I remember a junior doctor asking about whether if you were her patients' parents whether her linked shoes were appropriate for the job. They weren't very expensive (like £35, maybe) and someone commented something along the lines that she must be a doctor as she'd never be able to afford that. It makes it tricky when someone on here says they're on a low budget because my idea of low budget can be wildly different from the next person.

I meant to respond previously, @Gingerwarthog do let us know how you get on with your Channel skirt and our pieced together advice 🤞

*Chanel, damn autocorrect should know me better than that 🧐

I must admit, I never spent more than H&M prices on my teenager (when he was one). But he recently bought himself some Joseph Cheaney shoes so I must have been doing something right.

Yeah, I can sort of see if your teenager wears a uniform most days spending lots of money on their weekend clothes which they grow out of quickly doesn't make a lot of sense. But that seems to all get thrown out when it comes to you lot and Christmas, that's when I am with what gets spent on gifts for that, and the wide circle of people you're gifting to, it's madness, I tell ya.