Les Parisiennes des Mamanset: On the Advent of Newness

[botemp]

Lovers of Parisian style and fashion with a conscious mindset and lots of chatter in between.

Previous thread

(I've removed the usual links to recommended shops and other places guides from the OP because I suspect they're getting very out of date at this point)

I have wavy/ curly hair. When I used shampoo, I used Faith in nature. I now wash in conditioner which I make myself. Silicone free of course and very easy to make with some basic ingredients you can get online ( basically emulsifiers, plus any veg oil of your choice). I realise this is quite niche though and not everyone’s cup of tea. For me, being silicone free has really improved matters, my hair looked like wire wool before.

Thanks everyone! It seems I will need to understand my hair better ... It's not like wire wool, doesn't have build up issues and Aussie doesn't quite work. I guess it's quite fine and silicone helped with giving it more thickness. I'll explore silicon options bo mentioned otherwise I feel I have to get a degree in chemistry! The contemporary turn in hair products is giving me anxiety :\0

It's on the expensive side but not quite £28, I think, but Redken's acidic bonding line might work for you as well, people with fine hair that like a silicone like it despite it being silicone free. You can find little trial sets, I might have seen those at Tkmaxx too at some point but that was probably the post Christmas glut so a few months back.

Moany post alert.

I've had my comeuppance for prioritising style over substance: one of my new Monki T shirts already has a small hole. Needless to say it's the one I liked best. They don't do that colour combo any more so I can't exchange it. Plus I got it for a tenner (it was end of line) so, if I return it I'll barely get half of that back once I've paid postage. I really don't think I can be arsed (although I know I should) so I think I'll just bad mouth them on social media instead.

I'd expect them to reimburse my return postage as well as the garment cost if it goes into holes that quickly, Flo. But what a shame!

I know I should do that Poppy, but there's something about returning something I've bought online that I find exhausting and slightly depressing, especially when I know there's going to be an argument involved. So much easier just to complain on here!

So a second moan: I found a Toast cardigan in a charity shop - mannish shape and size in a fine merino wool, nice summery colour - but didn't realise till I'd got it home that it reeks of some kind of fabric conditioner or possibly one of those highly perfumed clothes sprays. Makes my eyes water and gives me a headache. How I didn't notice in the shop I have no idea but I guess I'm more focussed on checking for mildew or cigarette smells. Anyway I washed it and left it hanging outside all day and I can still smell it. What is this stuff??

Oh that is seriously disappointing from monki. I only have a pair of jeans from them, they are about 5 years old and still going strong, at the time I remember ordering some tees and tops too but I returned them all as the fit wasn’t good for me.

Oh … I remember, and you may, @Floisme, the unfortunate poster whose glorious dress from Plümo was rendered completely unusable by whatever fabric conditioner or spray the manufacturers / shop had applied to it. I think she’d tried washing it at least twice before the thread urged her to send it back. There was a satisfactory outcome - though only after some resistance from the shop.

From what I’m seeing online people seem to have the same problem with Vinted clothes. And it took about two years of dry cleaning, hanging outside, and general wear and tear to rid my beloved Gembalies jacket of the eye wateringingly artificial aroma it arrived swathed in from Vestiaire. Someone must be making a fortune from producing this noxious fragrance …

Hope your cardigan’s aroma calms down soon.

Would this method help Flo?

Full article

1. Laundry Stripping MethodThis helps with the more stubborn odours, but isn’t fail-safe. You can Google “Laundry Stripping” and get all sorts of laundry magic/horror stories (the colour of water after doing this is pretty gross, sometimes it is set grime, sometimes it’s just dyes from the fabric). Here’s how I do it:
2. Add the clothes and the following to a laundry sink:

• 1/4 cups baking soda (or washing soda)
• 1/4 cup borax
• 1/2c laundry soap or 1/4c liquid castile soap

I'd try soaking the cardigan in vinegar, probably try diluted at first.

Annoying about Monki. I was in H&M looking at the Rokh collab, was mostly disappointed as they were Rokh designs executed in poorer fabrics and workmanship so it wasn't the best of both worlds type of situation that some H&M collabs can be. The t-shirts were really nice though, beautiful thick quality, why they can't make those on the regular, I don't know. Maybe price too high for normal H&M, €39? But not crazy at Cos or Arket. I didn't really want another white t-shirt with black print on it otherwise I'd probably have gotten it.

I did look at those tees online Bo, good to hear they are nice, might be tempted.

I preferred the men's version over the women's, Red, but they were essentially the same t-shirt. Just different designs.

Strangely enough there were only men coming in to view the collection and they were giving me the side eye for looking at the men's stuff. One even mansplaining I was looking at the men's clothes. I told him to stop being so gendernormative which left him suitably chastised 😂

Thanks to everyone for the tips. Yes I remember that thread with the Plumo dress @CrkdLttrCrkdLttr and I've seen people complaining about it on Vinted threads too. It's such a vile smell that seems to have penetrated deep behind my eyeballs and I can't understand how I didn't notice it in the shop when one of the reasons I avoid buying second hand online is so I can sniff it first!

I always keep some white vinegar in the cupboard for bad cases of mildew so I'll try spraying it with that first then, if that fails, try your recipe Red - thanks!

My sidebar's now full of adverts for Monki

Flo, I got a shirt once with that smell (MH through Vinted). After much researching I realised it is some kind of spray people use (and think it is a better smell than second hand clothes smell). The shirt was white so it spent 48 hrs in diluted bleach. That helped. No washing was getting rid of that smell. Made me very beware of Vinted

Sorry about Monki, so annoying

Rumors are flying that Hedi Slimane is exiting Celine. I'm petrified he's heading to Givenchy to turn another brand into emaciated rock chic😱

Also, this showed up in my inbox and now I'm obsessing over the Acne Studios dress. But it looks a little too long on the tall model so I suspect it'll be worse on me and I'm not sure how well cropping the print would go. And that's not even factoring in the skin tone match thing. Harumph.

The Khaite crane dress also caught my eye, but weirdly, despite showcasing it in their newsletter and accompanying article, Harrods doesn't actually stock it Only ones with stock seem to be in the US. Did see My Theresa have skirts and a shirt in the same pattern but royal blue background with white cranes.

Is it just me or is the latest Phoebe Philo drop decidedly more interesting? Not so much signature PP but it feels like it's pushing the boat out more than what came before it.

The Mango and Victoria Beckham Collab also came out today and I only just remembered. I'm going to see if there's any left in store later this week, pictures look really promising but with Mango I always want to see it in the flesh.

I don’t know about ‘interesting’ - it’s certainly more approachable (the Phoebe Philo drop). Did they sit round a table and decide that not everything had to have a four figure price tag? Or … ?

Certainly some of the cream / ivory short sleeved or sleeveless tops are things that might slot easily into my wardrobe - but I’d have to see them in the flesh to know whether a rush of love would make them worth five or ten times the price of inferior versions. (What has happened to me?! In truth I don’t currently have much need for that level of excellence in my wardrobe, so …)

It must be a while since I last noticed Givenchy - but I vaguely remember it all being long and sharp and hard and not dissimilar to Celine. Will have to take another look.

If that Acne dress is only intended for a specific skin tone I’ll have to pass! Like the shape but maybe not the print. I’m more taken with this one - but not chopping the print in half would probably mean sweeping the floor with it on my not tall frame. But it would be wondrously cool on the One Hot Day we’ll probably get.

https://www.acnestudios.com/uk/en/sleeveless-dress-blurred-print-purple-yellow/A20673-CAI.html?g=woman

At first glance, I thought Acne Studio were ripping off Schiaparelli's skeleton dress. I can see now there's more to the print than that but I think I still prefer Crkd's purple and yellow one. And I do like the way the shape of that crane dress echoes the shape of a bird taking flight - I'm sure there's a word for that kind of thing but it's lodged itself somewhere down the back of my brain, just out of reach.

I also quite like that Victoria Beckham / Mango cropped linen trenchcoat (although isn't a cropped coat just a jacket??) not enough to send for it but it's the kind of thing I'd have enjoyed trying once upon a time while out at the shops.

Must confess I deleted the Phoebe Philo email without even opening it this time as there didn't seem any point. But maybe I'll retrieve it and take a look.

https://shop.mango.com/gb/women/coats-trench-coats/100-linen-cropped-trench-coat_67098656.html

I also completely ignored the PP email.
And I like a couple of the Mango x VB, these ones are not groundbreaking, but potentially stuff I would wear.

I also like the acne studio dresses, the blue and yellow would me my favourite mainly due to the colours.

Oh! Have you seen that part of Vivienne Westwood wadrobe will be auctioned at Christie’s? Need to have a good peak at that (and dream)

Ooh, if there's open days I hope someone will go and report back with lots of pictures.

I was mostly intrigued by PP's new trousers, the strap jeans in chalk had me looking extra long. But some of it, like the BMX trousers and the bomber jacket (I do like the bomber) and some of the more basic tees feel quite Balenciaga (current not original). Prices definitely seem to be more affable, but I think she mentioned that in the NYT article. On the whole, interesting, but still wondering where this is all going.

When is the Vivienne Westwood auction? I have just got to go.

Went back and looked at Phoebe Philo, yes there do seem to be more things that, if not exactly affordable, look no more eye watering than the average high end designer. I like the cut collar T shirt quite a lot - bet that won't get a hole in after one wash - and the bucket hat in berry leather.

I'm getting a bit jaded with internet browsing though - after a while everything starts to look the same to me on a screen, whether it's PP or Mango. I think it might be time I travelled to some proper shops.

The exhibition for the VW auction is 14-24 June (I checked previously, I can't go )

I saw the VB x Mango in person and for the most part it looked as on pictures, so quite a bit better quality than the usual Mango. The cropped trench you linked was great but a weird colour, like a pastel lime masquerading as off white The lifestyle aspect of it was a bit confusing though, all these borderline evening dresses? I guess for graduations, maybe?

I'm with you about all the online shopping, I bought something not S&B related that was an expensive mistake (can't be returned, private sale) and I'm very annoyed about it. It's one of those situations where I haven't been scammed but I really should have known better and now I'm retroactively kicking myself. Argh.

I assume it's a larger trend through, I haven't really online shopped in a while, but not with any intention. I was also very miffed that I didn't have time to see at least one shop in Milan (work trip), I just want nice novel shopping experiences already...

I did pick up a bit of fabric at the DvN fabric sample sale in Antwerp and nosed around the shops there. It's like this dress but a slightly different colourway, mine is a sort of greyish olive green for the solid with a bright almost yellowish acid green bow/fabric drapery print.

My phone is making a mess of the colours otherwise I'd share a picture of the actual fabric. I think I bookmarked a top version on Vinted in the colourway of my fabric that display the colours right but I'll have to dig if it's still saved there.

The PP black dropped waist coat is rather nice and at £3,200 isn't outrageous.

I like this top as well, but not enough to buy it.