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removed the usual links to recommended shops and other places guides from the OP because I suspect they're getting very out of date at this point)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 think maybe that's why I've taken such a liking to the Roksanda collab - it's so unapologetically dressed up. It's reminded me how much I miss all that - not just doing it myself but watching other people out in their best and wackiest.

Thanks for the Sargent reports, I'm definitely hoping to get there before it closes although I'll have to get a move on. Same with the Biba exhibition.

I don't see this mentioned anywhere, but apologies if I've missed it. The Vampire's Wife has gone bust.

Oh goodness - I missed that too.

No big surprise, I suppose. I imagine anyone who wanted to be ‘seen’ in a Vampire’s Wife dress already has been, and so much of the original and copycat stock became available at sale prices - so the brand was devalued in terms of desirability. (At least, that’s my probably woefully superficial interpretation as a vaguely interested non-buyer!)

What with the royal patronage and the limited variety it seems to have become a cliché really quickly too. I’ve never had the least need for such a frock - but if I had I’d have wanted something less recognisable.

It’s a shame yet another brand has folded - but I don’t get the impression it ever really developed beyond the initial idea.

I must admit I'm quite shocked to hear about Vampire's Wife. But I guess it's a similar story to Bombshell: if your main (only?) product is the big event dress, and when, as CrkdLttr says, it's also so distinctive that, rightly or wrongly, it's virtually rendered a one-off wear, then that would be a pretty limited market even at the best of times. And these are not the best of times. Which I guess takes us back to bo's point about the Roksanda collab.

Oh I missed that Bombshell had gone. Nancy Mac was compulsory struck off at Companies House a few months ago too.

I never understood the hype around Vampire's Wife. I always assumed it was down to being well connected in famous circles, UK famous circles at that.

I wonder if the demise of Matches had anything to do with it. I think they were the main e-tailer pushing the brand and with the initial social media attention having cooled down it might just have been the thing to have finished it off.

Denise of Matches might have paid a small part but it was unpaid tax which sunk it.

Fall of Vampire's Wife

The Vampire’s Wife dresses used to give me a feeling that they were ‘distinctive-familiar’ I am not sure how to put it, but they were a yeah, meh, nice enough dress that everyone knew what brand it was, but on the other hand it has a dress that it was so familiar and with no added anything imo, that I didn’t really know why it was so distinctive anymore.
maybe because at that price point and fabrics they were the only ones who (pushed) that dress? Yes, having a bunch in well connected circles might have something to do with it.

Hello all, I was on the last thread (or perhaps one previous to that) largely talking about the Chanel exhibition and latterly scarves 🙂

I haven't posted much as my 'style' (for want of a better word 😀 ) is probably quite different to the rest of you, and I don't keep up with designers and you do, but I have a query that I think you may be able to help with (especially @botemp I suspect 🙂) if you don't mind me dropping it here.

I'll be in Paris in July and wondered if anyone can suggest places to buy clothing/accessories that would probably be best described as predictable with a hint of Sloane 😀 I tend to wear a lot of navy and white, pretty much always a strand of pearls, I like a gold button, I love a fitted or cocoon dress, I live in simple plain white dresses in the summer. I'm 48 but clothing-wise probably resemble a 70 year old woman living in the 16th Arr in 1985. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Oh - that is the best ‘I’m X age but …’ that I’ve seen in a decade! (@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle will know what I mean.)

I have no useful suggestions@Mitsouko1919, but will loiter in avid fascination.

Classic French somewhat Mitsuoko? For vintage Chanel, Old Fashioned Club and Valois Vintage are the places to marvel at pretty things but, unfortunately, prices to match. There are a few nice shops/stalls in Les Puces in Saint Ouen if you're there on the right days and you can occasionally walk away with a bargain, or at least some nice vintage buttons.

For new clothes you're best off looking on the right bank around rue Bonaparte. The 16th tend to be a lot flashier these days but Crimson and By Marie are still good there. Shops like Pablo and Gerard Darel spring to mind for mid range prices, Bobbies for shoes, Le Tanneur for bags.

Chercheminippes is a consignment store with several shops on the rue du Cherche Midi, the main one will have a lot of the classic staples. La Marelle in Gallerie Vivienne is another good consignment shop which will have plenty of classic pieces, do go upstairs where the more premium pieces are hidden, Elle found a lovely vintage Chanel dress there.

Ugh, sorry, not right bank, left bank 🤦

I was really disappointed when I returned to Paris for the first time in years, a couple of years ago, at how unspecial (if that's a word) the choice of clothing was in the department stores.

There was almost nothing I couldn't find in London.

I didn't make it to Bon Marché, but went into all the Grands Magasins on Boulevard Haussmann. There will be some smaller specialist shops, I'm sure, though quite how to find them I don't know. I did a search for

"modes classiques paris haute qualite"

and found this:

www.timeout.fr/paris/shopping/notre-guide-de-boutiques-mode-femmes

Which may or may not be helpful.

There was also this, which chimed with my experiences.

www.doitinparis.com/fr/galeries-lafayette-champs-elysees-marques-mode-25352

I used to really like Lilith which had 2 shops in Paris but most of which I bought from a local independent boutique (Arkangel). Lilith wasn't at all the MN idea of what constitutes stylish French dressing in those threads banging on about how much more stylish anyone who isn't British is. It was far more quirky than that ( more Belgian and Dutch) and involved interesting shapes and layers and pleats and bubble hems and assymetric hems. And quite often tulle and net.

The last thing I bought was in 2018, the last time I was in Paris. it's a navy , crushed velvet, long sleeved smock type of dress, with buttons down the back, fully lined in cotton . I love it to bits. I have a red wool cocoon coat with a princess style double breasted fastening which is at least 15 years old, and a long fitted black wool coat with raw edged seams. And net and tulle skirts which no longer fit. And a skirt with a bustle which came with a jacket with a bustle.

Lilith went out of business but was reinvented as online only. The new Lilith has some pretty stuff but it's very conventional compared to old Lilith.

Lilith

By the way Mitsouko I am not particularly fashionable and prefer classical clothes, albeit interesting ones ( I hope). I like Agnès B, Max Mara Margaret Howell and similar and also buy from Uniqlo, Cos etc. the last time I was in Paris I bought some Repetto patent Oxfords- dainty so not fashionable but I love them and am glad I bought them in person as the sizes come up small.

Lilith sounds like it was fab.

I miss Lilith too, Ihaveneverlivedinthecastle. I might wear my bubble hem skirt today... the weather's perfect for it! I bought several pieces from the posh frock shop that look as interesting now as when they were acquired, though more lived in. I also have a corduroy coat from their on-line offer, which I like but not as much as I expected, ever since DS said it looked like a dressing gown.

Children's comments... I was very pleased with a new dress until DS said it looked like a nighty. And of course when I looked again he was right.

Article about Margaret Howell in today's Times:

Why Margaret Howell is the designer in every fashion editor’s wardrobe.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6ec3e90d-3a92-4a56-8214-eb72a71425ac?shareToken=c2d29090fd0a3d3b6598387a1a79402ee_

Sorry for not contributing Mitsouko but the last time I was in Paris, I was still taller than my son, so I had nothing even remotely up to date to share I'm afraid.

Thanks for the Margaret Howell article, Poppy, I enjoyed it hugely. She really is the muse for that 'If Monty Don were a woman' thread, isn't she! I can't say I share her love of nature but I like how she has a whole other life away from the fashion business. It's a shame they couldn't get any more Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton stories out of her but then that's MH.

It also prompted me to check out her website which I hadn't done for a while and ouff, the prices haven't half gone up. We all know the reasons why so I'm not really complaining but I think she's completely out of my league now, even the end of her sales.

I think I've been booted from MH's newsletter. She must be considering her transfer as well at some point. Although she does seem tje type to shutter it all at some point rather than let it live on without her there.

There's an interesting article on Bof on the independent brands near to or dropping like flies. I'll post the archive link in a separate post to see if it gets auto censored again.

Paywall version

archive version

Thanks bo for posting the archive version as well - I couldn’t get round the paywall of the first link. Interesting article and I wonder where it’s all heading? I notice more and more companies seem to be working on the pre order limited edition direct to consumer model. Maybe things the safest way forward?

flo thank goodness MH is still affordable on eBay because the brand new stuff is out of my league (plus I can have a lot of fun in charity shops and on eBay for the cost of one full-priced item from MH). I make mistakes no matter how hard I try, Sod’s Law if I were limited to one very well chosen thing I’d be bound to pick the wrong one!

Oh making mistakes is part of the fun for me @mm47! also unavoidable I think, unless the aim (and mine isn't) is to find the one perfect style and stick with it your whole life.

Yikes at that BoF article (thanks for the link bo)! I'm always sorry to see an independent business go under, even when they're not to my taste or budget. I really don't want a world where the only clothes you can buy are from Hennes and Mauritz, Inditex or LVMH.

Hmm, well there's mistakes and there's mistakes. I feel the silent killers that slowly reveal their wrongness are definitely teachable moments that help you along. Secondhand (or otherwise non returnable) bargains that feel oh so wrong moments after purchase or when they arrive on their doorstep, not so much. I mean, those are informative too, but more about your emotional state of mind.

If anyone's interested I'll search out the link but there was a more hopeful article on the new Dover Street Market store opening in Paris that's going heavy on the independent brands (alongside a few high end but as DSM is owned by Comme des Garçons it'll be mostly brands from that stable). I agree I don't want the choice of big conglomerates with samey brands but I feel we're already there...

Bof article

Archive link

Ohh mistakes. I make many. But it goes in cycles, sometimes I am quite measured and others I derail a bit.

I don’t think I updated you but the Dries dress I got is not one of my mistakes and it fits me 😀

What I am a lot more measured with is buying new clothes, this year I probably only bought a woollen jumper, a couple of basic tops and a rain jacket (I don’t count underwear).
But I have just put an order for a couple of sezane items from their Momoni collab. A shirt and a dress.

Btw - is anyone else freezing?? The weather has gone bonkers.
I have always done tentatively shoes and socks but I am going all for it at the
moment as I am so tired of the weather.