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.

---

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]]

---

Previous thread

Yours, poppy, I insist!

Ouch, I must be a rotten egg, I have no idea who this Minnie person is

It was lovely seeing old and new faces in London and it made for an enjoyable trip. Unfortunately I had a bit of a health scare thanks to the plane ride back which was less enjoyable and had me missing my trip to Antwerp today for the Dries van Noten fabric sample sale so I ordered myself some Bottega boots during the endless waiting to hear that I'm probably fine. Extra 30% off on BV at Glamood until tomorrow for anyone else interested, although not sure whether they ship to the UK DDP.

The day before the meetup I visited the Design museum for the Rebel fashion exhibition, but was a bit tepid about that exhibition, it felt a bit too much like they were retroactively rewriting narratives to make it fit into the theme. It was a guest curator (a Vogue editor) as opposed to a professional curator and it kind of showed. But seeing McQueen's first show pieces was quite special, and Suzi Menkes was there getting a private tour (from the guest curator) so I guess I did get my money's worth. Oh and the exhibition gift shop was amazing, they had some fab sewing supplies which I sadly could not take back.

With Elle I saw the Crown to Couture show at Kensington palace on Saturday which was really enjoyable, interesting and well put together and I would thoroughly recommend except it was the last weekend. Soz.

@Gingerwarthog , I think I replied about this to you already on a separate thread you put up asking about handbags as investments. I'm still of the opinion of probably not, and since that thread it's becoming pretty obvious that luxury purchases are trending downwards, enough to get the big conglomerates quite nervous anyhow and that will inevitably have an effect on the secondhand market. If you want a Chanel bag for personal use with the option of selling it later, just buy it on that basis, it isn't a bad investment in that sense, but purely as a financial enterprise, no, wouldn't consider it.

---

I still can't PM for some reason so everyone else can ignore this very off topic forbidden Christmas chat. @ToEllewithIt , as far as English speaking Italians go I find Pasta Grammar's recipes very good, authentic and reliable (although quantities can be a bit up in the air in true Italian style but for this recipe that's not an issue), she recently put up this adapted recipe for a more doable domestic version:

although if you go back a year or so, they've also done an elaborate barbecue spit roast version that'll feed an orphanage.

And I'd consider making these panuozzo the next time you're firing up the pizza oven, stick them in the freezer once cool and you can then do the second bake in a conventional oven to have the porchetta leftovers with for the lazy days after (not shown in the video but traditionally they'd use the roasting juices to baste the inside of the bread for extra flavour, although for the very poor just the bread with roasting juices was a very special treat, long time ago, thankfully).

Oh, forgot to mention, in case anyone is interested, Antwerp sample sales are on from November 13-19th.

Sorry, @botemp - you may be a bit too freshly hatched to have come across her! Hope this link works for you.

https://spotify.link/NGti50HW6Db

Sorry about your Antwerp trip - I’m sure the boots will be consolation.

Ah lovin' you, of course I know that song, alas I'm not that freshly hatched then 🤔. And the internet tells me she's Maya Rudolph's mum who I do know (and that she sadly died young of breast cancer )

Minnie Riperton’s “loving you” is - for me - the summer term of my first year at (secondary) school. I absolutely loved the film that TOTP played with this song.

It was great to meet everyone, what a lovely bunch you all are!

Gosh Botemp, that sounds scary on the way back and I’m sorry that you missed the fabric sale? Was it the knee-high lug boots you got? What a great price, I reach for mine lots. Thanks also for the Porchetta recipe suggestions. I’ve never even heard of panuozzo but those are going on the list too now!

I really enjoyed both exhibits. I thought the crowns to couture was arguably better done. They managed to work within a space that wasn’t designed for exhibitions and make it feel cohesive. I also enjoyed the more informal tone of the descriptions and the music. The mannequins were more successful too as they varied in shape and height. It had the feel of an invisible hand of Vogue about it and I could have done with a little less Billy Porter (he’s fine, but 3 outfits from one person was overkill). There was nothing from modern royals either bar a boring pair of Catherine’s shoes. I’d had loved to see one of her red carpet dresses or something from Diana / the queen.

That sounds scary bo, hope you're ok.

On the exhibition front, the Fashion and Textile Museum are putting on one about Biba next year. It's one of my lifelong regrets that I never saw the store so I'll have to at least make sure I get to this.

And thanks for the Patrick Grant on Desert Island Discs heads up Crkd, I'll check it out on Iplayer. I read somewhere - can't remember where now - that it's quite emotional in parts.

It didn't happen on the plane, thankfully, that would have been really awful (side note, remind me never to fly with BA again next time I plan a trip to the UK). I was woken up by what I thought was a leg cramp but when I stood up trying to shake it out I had a really sharp shooting pain through one leg which was really debilitating until I found a very odd position to lay in that made it go away. I somehow managed to sleep after that but when I woke up my middle toes were feeling really numb. I've recently been put on a medication that makes you more prone to blood clots so in combination with flying I did call up the out of hours GP service at the hospital and they told me to come in. I'd kind of been hoping they'd just brush it off on the phone as I wasn't really showing any signs of DVT. In the end they did brush it off a bit, it may still have been blood clot related but if it was, nothing dangerous and I need to cycle every day for 30mins and it'll sort itself. It has put me off flying though, thankfully there was only a trip to see friends in Tel Aviv in November planned which was already cancelled for obvious reasons.

I did get knee length lug boots Elle, but not the flat ones as they don't seem to work with my instep. I got the last heeled pair instead for indeed an amazing price. I'm hoping the heel will make them more suited to my feet, tends to be the case with ankle boots anyhow and with the platform it really isn't that high of a heel so hopefully they're good for walking and the shaft doesn't end too high at the knees on me.

(Panuozzo are delicious, there's a shop in Rotterdam specialising in them which I'll always make a detour for when I'm there. The owner is the one who told me about meat juice bread, he'd get one as a special treat once a month after going to the cinema as a child).

So sorry to hear that Bo! But at least you are on the mend.
And that crowns to couture exhibit looks good, well presented.
I might not be very active again as quite busy few weeks for me.

Bo sorry had managed to miss the health scare you had while you were travelling home- I’m sure it’s a huge relief that all is well (and I cannot imagine a better way of spending the interminable wait than by finding the last pair of boots you wanted at a fabulous price - some compensation for all your worry and a lovely thing to look forward to arriving in the post).

Good morning, all. Was lovely to meet some of you at the weekend. I loved the exhibition. The more I think about it, the more I want to learn about how to fit armholes (scyes?) like Chanel. The slightly oversized but still fitted look - could be very flattering for my flabby upper arms.

Thinking about trying to fit in Crown to Couture after work on Thursday. Will I regret not going?

Ah, sorry, I seem to be spreading misinformation, this weekend is the last weekend for Crown to Couture.

I thought it was really enjoyable, it's pitched to a far wider audience and felt very well put together in that. If you can make it, I'd definitely recommend going but if you miss it, it's not the exhibition of the century either. I think we were in and out in about an hour and it was quite busy as it was the weekend.

For Chanel arm scyes and sleeves (as those are quite unique to the brand too) I'd recommend the cloning couture blog, it's really good for this kind of thing, either to draft yourself or adjust existing patterns.

The couture chat has reminded me to ask, did anyone ever sign up for one of those V&A 'Make a Dress in Quarter Scale' sessions? I decided it was too much money for something that wasn't quite what I wanted, but I'm still curious!

I think an intermittent poster on here (based in Ireland?) did and recommended them but thought the courses she offered on her own site were a better deal and more useful?

Thanks @botemp!

Agree with volte regarding the fit of the arms. I enjoyed many things, but particularly this olympics dress from early Chanel (cannot remember the year). The fit of the armholes is great.
Also love the buttons and panel at the front, a nod to a more utilitarian way in an otherwise very elegant dress. Or at least that is how I saw it.

God, catchup - Mme Poppy, I liked your delicate shoes. I find for me it waxes and wanes and at the moment I feel like wearing things that aren't so dainty.

Flo, I absolutely agree with having to watch charity shop purchases. I recently bought a sort of unlined felted wool blazer from Massimo Dutti in Beyond Retro (not charity shop, but second hand) in an uncertain FOMO moment. It's a great petrol blue/teal colour but it's been hanging so far while I ponder what to wear it with. So that's a possible dud, and I also agree with the false environmentally friendly label. I think a lot of people try to sell their own stuff now for sure instead of donating.

Actually I read somewhere or heard somewhere that Queen Margarethe is off the fags now, since her health scare. She's keeping that quiet! I have Opinions on the royals in a shallow way, sadly the royal style thread is too focussed on gossip and mostly the UK royals for me to vent these opinions (which is fair enough, not criticising).

Micro - your MH dress sounded just like a type of dress I find so difficult, super blousey on top! Did you decide to let it go? I struggle a lot with wanting to buy better or loving a brand/designer and their stuff not suiting my body shape.

glad you all had a good time and the V&A! Too bad about your return being rubbish, Bo. Sounds very Dutch to have you "cycle it off" ;) Hope you're better.

Right, have skimmed the lot now and will return to give opinion on my boots later.

Delayed post meet-up post! bo, do you wear compression socks (long socks) for the flights? You need to put them on on the day of the flight just after you wake up, lying on your back and pointing your feet at the ceiling (you probably know this).

In terms of things we discussed, and I promised to post, is the link to the person who has commissioned couple of dozens suits from various houses - Poppy you might find this useful for your DC. It is this one that has a good guide on shirting fabrics etc but I am underwhelmed at how nearly all the suits look on him. I think they are too tight!
guide to tailor styles

I know this is not gardening, but we discussed the Olympic park and the Dutch-British book collaboration
sorry for the amazon link
piet oudolf and noel kingsbury Planting - A New Perspective

Bani - the dress is still hanging on my door. I like the "power dress" vibe of it and I have a number of other duds acquired from Vinted to move onto better hands first. I think dresses are possibly the most difficult item to buy, at least for me. I have pretty wide shoulders - commensurate with being very tall - but then a skinny top half which means things can be simultaneously too voluminous and tight across the back! Paradoxes, paradoxes..

That was the main reason I gave up on dresses - the chances of finding a single item that would fit my shoulders, bust and hips and also have the waist in the right place and be the right length were just too low to be worth it. I did wear knitted and those jersey dresses for a while but, once I got bored with them, that was it.

Tbh I've not really seen much fitted dresses anymore, I think Kate Middleton is probably the person I associate most with it and even she seems to be leaning into power suits. Yeah, they do tend to be a fitting challenge for most so I guess that explains their slow disappearance.

Bani well I got the option of swimming or cycling. I do have a nice public pool nearby but trying to figure out what hours are available is a headache so I can't be bothered with that. I think it's just exercise that gets legs moving without putting weight on it, although my leg really doesn't hurt that much so 🤷

Margarathe off the fags, I'm 😱, I'm trying to imagine her with a vape as a compromise but I just can't imagine it. I'll just imagine her with a man servant wafting some smoke in her general vicinity instead...

I've lots of articles for anyone interested.

I stole the weekend mag from the NY times from my hotel, there was an interesting long form profile on Miucca Prada (supposed to be an interview but can't really call it that). I'm also sharing because I had no idea the weekend mag stuff isn't paywalled so that's a nice addition to my weekend reading (you need to click on the Miucca Prada pic to get the article) my favourite bit of it was this:

The two were out to dinner one night when Hirst, who grew up working class, ordered caviar for the table. Prada sighed. “I really struggle to eat caviar,” she said. “Why would you struggle with that?” he recalls saying. “And she was like, ‘Oh, I was a communist.’”

You can’t keep teaching people to dream’: why Britain’s young designers are struggling, somewhat ties into the Rebel exhibition and features the curator briefly.

If anyone happens to be in Paris for this craft event it looks really interesting.

And a nice profile on Dries van Noten who's WWD's designer of the year.

Oh and this exhibition in London on beauty looks really intriguing.

Hope everyone's well?

I was ridiculously excited this morning to get a seasonal mailshot from Toast, not a catalogue exactly, more one of those large folded up sheets of paper with photos. I've not had one in years. There was nothing to tempt me, especially as, like every other retailer, they seem to have succumbed to that shiny faux velvet. But it was an enjoyable five minutes.

Is the Phoebe Philo launch still set for Monday? I'm not even dreaming of buying anything but I'm still looking forward to seeing it.

Thank you Microbius that site is very interesting and perfect for him.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new Piet Oudolf borders at Wisley:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/articles/oudolf-landscape

which they are about to start work on, having re-housed the (protected) Roman snails:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/articles/roman-snails

I have never really liked the old PO borders because they were so straight and the planting seemed formulaic, but the new ones will be quite different. They may also keep them up better - the old borders always seemed a bit neglected hence, perhaps, stronger plants choking out weaker ones, leading to the "sameiness" of the planting,

And well spotted Bo - the exhibition on beauty especially sounds interesting.

Well, this is the time of the year were all windows get full of that shiny stuff. I haven’t received any toast catalogue … and I bought from them last year … so you have special treatment Flo?

I am also looking forward to being nosey in the PP launch tomorrow.

I will definitely pay a visit to Wisley when the new borders are done. There is always a fine balance and I personally like a ‘naturalistic’ balanced look but edited. Otherwise you are right the stronger specimens win over the rest. There have been many studies and letting pieces of ‘garden’ unmanaged ends up resulting in less biodiversity.
of course I am not talking about true wild places, but about gardens.

I might have a day in Madrid in a couple of weeks. I have not been there in absolutely ages so looking forward to it, but I will not have tons of time.