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

Flo agree, the denim trousers look great. Want to see a photo of you in them!
I must remember CC next time I want to get some basics. Making mental note of them now

I keep forgetting about CC and they deserve to be supported.

Yeah I always try and check them out now whenever I want something specific. They're not ostentatious, high fashion clothes but they're contemporary, well made basics in natural fibres, not the cheapest but good value. And furthermore you can buy without worrying whether they came from a sweat shop. What everyone on S&B says they want in other words!

I'll post a photo next time I go out in them (the light in the room with a full length mirror is very poor) - probably this weekend.

Oh wow, I’ve just seen my coat on Vestiaire … Not actually mine, but the exact same mustard coloured cord Margiela coat that I’ve been looking at in slight despair for a few days.

I love that the seller shows it hanging on a drying rack, as mine has been home laundered possibly too often over the past decade and is consequently not in quite such good condition as the one for sale. I doubt I’d get the £400 they’re asking for theirs, and it’s much too faded to be respectable any more.

But I had been hoping to find a way to revivify it for my upcoming Belgian trip. I was imagining dying it a deep dark brown, but Dylon only seem to do an ‘espresso’ which is essentially beige. Wouldn’t do that to the poor coat. Will have to think again.

(Photos of Vestiaire coat, not mine. The perspective is not quite true, it doesn’t actually have such enormous shoulders.)

I've used the Dylon Espresso and been quite pleased with the results but I agree it's nothing like as dark as the name suggests. I think they used to call it 'Woodland Brown' which was more accurate. Rit Dyes do a couple of brown shades but I've never tried them.

I love the coat Crkd , specially the detail at the back, that in-pleat like folded bit; and also really like the line of the collar and the buttons the way it is positioned and cut looks very well proportioned.
I cannot advise on dying anything, I am too much of a chicken to do that sort of thing I wish I wasn’t .

That back detail is a tailoring thing, but usually done in the lining to allow for movement. Margiela often references the lining in the outer facing fabric. I'm not sure to what meaning beyond the general theme of deconstruction but I'm sure there's more to it.

It would be good if there was a clothes rehab thread. I've been amazed at how you can transform clothing with a bit of TLC but I'm also a scaredy cat when it comes to dyeing. I really want to try some of the Japanese Boro techniques to patch up a beloved pair of jeans that's getting awfully thin in the fabric at one spot.

Trying to catch up, yes, it's always weird when presented with the thing everyone says they want (like community clothing) turns out not to be what they want. I think it might be something with how they present the clothes, maybe, not sure? I've seen the latest Ines de la Fressange Uniqlo stuff in the flesh, it doesn't start out looking good either. They do try with some bits but really it's just cheaper versions of her own pricey brand and has none of the Jil Sander collab effort to get quality in. People seem to be more into that IdlF aesthetic though, I think it's what a lot of people think quality looks like, perhaps that's the thing missing with CC's messaging?

I've just had the MN telling off for daring to suggest in a thread where no budget was stated, options for a dress at £800, one £300 and one for £120.

Don't worry Natasha, usually S&B threads on here, outside of us obviously, don't want to know about much that costs more than £30 -- unless it's a wedding.

Tbf, £300-800 dresses are out of reach for probably 90% of posters on here. Even £120 will exclude a good chunk of posters. When no budget is mentioned it's usually safe to assume it's mid high street with a possibility to stretch to upper end of the high street if it's a special occasion. And realistically, I could spend £300-800 on a dress but if I'd be asking for a specific occasion dress on MN because nothing already in my wardrobe would suit it's highly unlikely I'd want to spend that kind of money for a one off event either.

I hardly ever make suggestions on 'What can I wear to...?' threads any more. It wasn't a conscious decision to stop, and I guess it's largely because weddings have never been my forte and work events (the other occasion that comes up a lot) aren't my world any more. But it's also because, unless I'm in a fighty mood, I can't be arsed. It just feels like too much grief. (Also is it bad that I want to see the £800 dress now?)

I like the idea of a clothes rehab thread. Dyeing doesn't worry me as I only ever pick things that are either on their last legs or that I found in a charity shop. Plus once it's in the washing machine, it's out of your control (slightly less so with hand dyeing as you can add extra / new colours as you go along). I quite enjoy never knowing quite how it's going to come out. But anything that involves actual skill or a bit of imagination and I struggle. I'm trying to teach myself darning - something else I refused to learn because I was 14 and knew it all - and once again I'm acquiring new respect for my parents' generation.

Yes, Flo, you are a terrible person now 😉 I don't bother with those threads either, you're only ever useful to the OP on those threads if they're looking for something specific that happens to be your bit of S&B interest.

Ah, I remember my mother trying to teach me some sort of craft involving a wooden mushroom with a hole in the middle and some sort of crochet (no idea what it's called in English), I'm sure I'll regret being completely uninterested soon enough.

Do you never find that the dyeing process takes a toll on the fabric? That's usually my main concern as opposed to the colour not being quite it. Also, dye is expensive so it always feels like an expensive mistake as well as being out the original item.

I'm not sure about it taking a toll on the fabric. I tend to dye things that are already a bit old and worn, and then if it works I go on to wear it a lot so, while I can see what you mean, there are always other reasons why it might have happened.

What I won't dispute is that the dye doesn't always last that well. That's fine if say I'm just trying to extend the life of some navy blue trousers - I keep on redyeing them the same colour maybe once a year. But if I've ended up (whether deliberately or by chance) with a different colour or shade that I like, then my chances of recreating it the second time around are next to zero.

Have to say I find the idea of buying a dress (unless your wedding dress, obvs) that you specifically intend to wear only once, really odd. For me a huge part of my willingness to spend money on clothes is the thought of all the years to come when those carefully chosen items will keep me company.

And what MN has taught me is that if you become too old or infirm to do your own clothes shopping, your family will put you in Damart, or some of those other 1970s classified adds outlets. I don’t actually think mine would - but I’m insuring against the possibility of being dressed by strangers by consciously building up a wardrobe of things I’ll want to wear when I’m 90.

As to forum-acceptable expense - I guess it depends which newspapers one assumes other posters might read. The Times certainly assumes that their readers want to know about options at every price point - but even The Daily Mirror was showing a £225 jumpsuit a couple of days ago.

Anyhow … If I’m lucky, at 90 I’ll be pottering around some ancient university city dressed like this. Ridiculously in love with the new Sofie D’Hoore collection - and can hardly wait for the things to make their way to Vestiaire, or wherever, in a couple of years.

Antwerp isn’t on the official agenda for my work-ish trip, but I’ll cry if I can’t manage even a couple of hours’ pilgrimage.

Still cogitating over dyeing prospects …

I would always be interested to see the £800 dress, but not to buy it. Hiring it is more sustainable and wouldn't guilt me.

I'm with Flo on dyeing stuff but generally stick to navy and black to refresh the colour.

Ha, a wedding dress is probably something I'd be the least likely to spend big on but that says more about my attitude to marriage than my willingness to pay for special occasion dresses.

It's not a usual occurrence for me either to need a one off item but occasionally a weird dress code comes up and it's not always clear how much you're able to disregard that, I think the most recent one I had was a beach party with Aqua as the dress code where are the ecowarriors when you need them. (Speaking of ecowarriors, Flo, have you ever dared look into the environmental impact of at home dyes, I've only researched so far as natural dyes are really not all that feasible at home beyond dyeing some knitting yarn).

I don't think the paper argument holds, for one I'm a bit of an oddball for my generation in that I still regularly read newspapers, what fashion editors consider normal prices are skewed to say the least. In the days I still read fashion magazines 99% of the items were beyond my reach, I wasn't reading it like a catalogue but rather an insight to a fantasy world, so it didn't matter.

A forum setting does to some extend an assumption of being among peers but that's kind of the problem as well as it's more diverse than people assume so anyone that sits at the outer edges stands out. S&B probably has a higher concentration of posters with lots of disposable income but they're certainly not the norm, and it's a bit weird to pretend that my spending is just about average to justify the actual spending (or not spending and decrying everyone fools for spending more at the opposite end).

I think Sofie d'Hoore is Brussels based, not sure she has a shop in Antwerp, but Princess probably carries it or Renaissance next door. And Graanmarkt 13 definitely sells it, and is a must visit shop anyhow.

Sofie d'Hoore is stocked in Pauw in the Netherlands. I used to buy lots of tailored skirts and jackets from Pauw's own range but have a Sofie d'Hoore skirt bought from Pauw in Amsterdam.

I currently have no top, shirt or blouse which I can wear with the skirt.

Yup, you’re not wrong! I was actually getting excited this morning about S D’H finally being within reach. Was distracted by other Antwerp excitements. Graanmarkt 13 has been top of my pilgrimage list for a good few years now.

Woke up to this rather nice Antwerp-based American Vintage thing yesterday:

https://www.americanvintage-store.com/gb/en/fall-winter-2023-lookbook.html

Last year, in France, all the coolest people I met seemed to be head to toe American Vintage. I went into the local store and tried ‘everything’ on, and looked a fool in all of it. But I’m hopeful …

One of the problems for newspaper fashion (property/travel etc) editors seems to be that so few have a budget for photographers and models, so the possibility for illustration is limited to selecting stuff they like from PR packs for publication with affiliate links. The Times travel section is full of hotels that cost per night what I would consider expensive for a long weekend, even before you eat dinner.

I nearly missed the Sofie D’Hoore pic. Love that outfit. I'm definitely going to wear skirts more although I may give the slippers and socks a miss and wait till it's cold enough for boots.

I've been mulling over things I'd like to try out this autumn / winter and I think what I would like most is a hat. Not a hat for rain or cold (got those already). I mean a hat for showing off in.

This one? 😍

https://mollygoddard.com/collections/accessories/products/scarly-hat-pink

(Also in more sober black or grey.)

Or this?

https://www.muehlbauer.at/en/shop/products/S22782-de

I like their crazier inventions, but still haven’t had much wear out of the Winter hats I’ve acquired over the past five years, so it would be sheer greed to get another.

Thank you although I think I'd like something with a bit more gravitas Crkd Something imposing...