Les Parisiennes des Mamansnet: It's French charm, you know, beheaded people, red wine and blood all over the place - it's romantic, it's normal.

[botemp]

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

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Yes, I have some time on my hands … hence my insistence on little comments … just waiting to departure. A last minute weekend away.

That sounds fun Red, enjoy. I agree with you wrt to the art/fashion collabs, it's not really a true collab or even crossover, creatively speaking. It's all about the money but I found the article interesting with cr y pto (MN auto removes posts with that word, hence the odd format) millionaires angle. Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere.

Ah my dislike of RJ is all her own doing, nothing to do with her brother. Ironically that makeover is a fail for something she shares with her brother. It's that performative joviality while saying horrendously insensitive things that does her in in the after photos and exposes that learned inauthenticity, the technicality of the clothes wouldn't have changed that. Since they share that as siblings I assume it's rooted in childhood experience, and probably not a fun one, so it's not fair to pull someone up on but her issue is a form of imposter syndrome, a good tailor and stylist can't overcome that.

Anyhow, it's a pretty good article to demonstrate that the most overused advice of, just find a celebrity you like and dress like them, is terrible blanket advice.

@Redandblue11 , I do double denim too but try to have different tones. I think both RJ and have ample but not enormous busts and neither the white shirt or the patch pockets on the denim suited. If you belt something, you need to have a small waist; if you are without much of a waist but ample everywhere else then it highlights it.

If you are going to Paris (or France in general), please report back on the stylish street looks. Bon voyage!

Am I only the only one to think she looks ok in the new pics and imho better than the one "before" pic enclosed? Although I agree that severe tailoring would probably work better

I think she looks ok in the before and better in the after. Not terrific, but OK. I suspect that her innate elegance is about the same as her brother Al's.

I generally dislike all lifestyle journalists's articles but still read some of them if their articles come my way. There are plenty who are more annoying than her.
Some may be on here, so I won't go into detail.

Ay ay.

Marina Abramović and Ulay.

They've been around for a long time. (Ulay is dead now).

They were interesting in the 70s, Marina has been by herself for years. I'm always conflicted about her work. I guess that's what she wants though. She's very provocative.

I'm not sure why I managed to post a happy birthday gift there.

Please ignore.

@Tatare I thought the Happy Birthday was for me 😄! (It's my birthday today)

I don't think RJ looks great in either photo, tbh. I agree that blanket "looks" don't translate well. Most of us need to adapt or modify trends/styles somewhat for them to work well.

Well then, it is!

Happy birthday to ya @quirkychick. May it be exceptionally splendid.

Thank you!

Happy Birthday 🎉 quirky, hope you've had a nice day of it so far.

Yeah, I'm equally conflicted Tatare, it probably doesn't help that all the performative artists I've ever met seem to be a combination of the worst stereotypes of artists and actors. My mother once described her as impenetrable, even at her most emotional there's this underlying control that never slips.

Yes @botemp, impenetrable is probably the right description.

I admire her, I'm not sure I admire her work.

I missed the birthday party here!
hope you had a great weekend quirky

I was in Portugal, lovely and sunny. Glad to have missed the storm here!
from a fashion perspective, the obvious thing and most noticeable is that there is no sparkly, shiny or velvet fabrics on the window displays like here in the uk 😁
I was wondering why is that, and initially I thought it might be because the lovely blue winter skies over there don’t lend themselves to that search for light, like in grey British winters , but Northern Europe is also grey … and I believe/ from what I saw previous years not that bothered with sparkly tops…

There was a Christian bank holiday, so the place was full of Spanish. The fashion was noticeably, the quilted type jackets that Spanish ladies and gentlemen love, and polo necks, scarves. Tan, browns, blacks, moccasins. They all looked a lot more cosy than British tourists, which were very much in the minority.

I kept my wardrobe, in ecru, tans, Bordeaux colours. Snips of the my colour palette below. You needed something on the neck as it was so windy, but my warm scarf was too warm, and I always carry a silk scarf, so opted for that, initially I wasn’t too sure about the top and it but I decided I didn’t have much option.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Dp and I went to a lovely, Italian restaurant in a gorgeous Medieval building. The food was delicious. You know it's good when the bread and olives are delicious. This is my Zuppa di Pesce.

Those photos look lovely @Redandblue11. I love the colours and fabrics. I'm sure the partywear in the shops at Christmas is on a par with holiday clothes.

Sorry I missed your birthday quirky, glad you had a good time, the food looks fab.

Sounds like a lovely trip Red and interesting that Christmas sparkliness doesn't have quite the same hold in mainland Europe as here. I've no theories as to why that might be but I know - and I'm sure I've said before - that I try and ban myself (usually unsuccessfully) from buying clothes in the run up to Christmas. Things that I think look understated and timeless in December have a bad habit of turning into shiny trash in January.

Glad to see you had a fantastic birthday dinner quirky, I can see they're truly Italian by not skimping on the pesce.

Red, I assumed it would be the same in Argentina, that Christmas is more about midnight mass and then the next morning, mass again, and then sometime later in the day, or something (IANAC, quite obviously) so it's all about dressing for church in southern Europe. 'New clothes for Christmas' would be therefore be church appropriate ones. The sequins and glitters then come out for NYE.

Velvet I do mostly associate with the UK but it is popular for party wear here too, but not to the level of obsession as the UK. See also, corduroy.

Dries van Noten news, as I predicted they've appointed someone from within to be creative director. Although I had assumed it would be a woman, but it's a man, former head of womenswear. Apparently he pushed for a bit more maximalist daring in the past few years so I feel it's in safe hands with him.

Oh interesting about DVN.

Yes, it is true is the same in Argentina, but as is quite warm there for Xmas the dressing up comes out differently in that sense.

Yes, @botemp it most certainly is a proper Italian.

I do like velvet, but a lot of mine is old vintage. A jacket of my mum's, 60s or 70s, a couple of pairs of 90s trousers and a slightly newer 00s coat. The coat and one of the pairs of trousers, I don't even wear as "partywear" and just mix in with other clothes.

I agree quirky - old school cotton velvet is far less 'party' than the current high street stuff. It's not as shiny or as soft or as fluid. I've got an old velvet jacket/blazer that probably counts as vintage now and it feels quite rigid in comparison, and I say that as someone who doesn't like modern velvet very much.

This keeps popping up. Old school cotton velvet dress. I much prefer cotton velvet to silk velvet.
Monsoon velvet dress **

I had a black cotton velvet suit from Wallis which I loved to bits. The jacket was a neat little riding jacket style. Also a Laura Ashley black velvet suit and a burgundy velvet suit.

Best of all was a Wallis, floor length, double breasted highwayman coat which I held on to for years after it no longer fitted (and then gave to son's girlfriend 2 years ago- they've now broken up)

Still holding on to an Orla Kiely knee length black velvet A line dress- it's just wonderful- black velvet bodice with a bow , then a gauzy silk and wool body hemmed with a deep band of black velvet.

** Edit - I see from the reviews of the Monsoon dress that it's fine corduroy, not velvet.

That's a cautionary tale about your coat and your son's ex, Castle. If a woman broke my son's heart and then kept 'my' clothes I think I'd hunt her down.

I'm slightly resentful that synthetic velvet, which I don't even like, has nevertheless changed my perception of the cotton stuff. I have a cotton velvet skirt where the fabric works cos it's a structured shape, and I still like my velvet flares that I bought around 1999, but my jacket, which I used to love, now feels stiff and boxy. So far I've held off buying a synthetic one cos I know I'll regret it but I can feel myself weakening.

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle I'm upset on your behalf! My mum's jacket is Viyella, I think. It came with a skirt, but my mum's very petite, so the jacket's fine but the skirt is a no way. @Floisme the old school velvet is definitely less shiny and stiffer. Both the jacket and a pair of 90s gap trousers are less fluid.

You can still buy the old school velvet but I don't think I ever see it in finished garments, maybe on a lapel on men's blazers now and then. Velvet does seem to be a bit of a high street staple.

And then you see these type of polyamide velvet at more than £400.. why and who would pay that
uk.sandro-paris.com/en/p/short-velvet-dress/3607172039738.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=blk-uk-shopping-femme&utm_term=&utm_group=156716120595&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADkAivxVD3NweDybLVOdRJLHrhe5d&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsOq6BhDuARIsAGQ4-zg6VdoaDVVUx6kQJaW3acCDKw4fCT6wnmyVr8hRebY-GyzyJADr4aMaAuLJEALw_wcB

Ugh. I do not like polyester velvet.

I once worked in a dying velvet mill in Bradford, noting down the very old machinery that they had scattered around the place, from the days when velvet was embossed. They still made a bit of velvet - for furnishings. It was made by making loops between two fabric backs then cutting between them to create the pile. It was made in natural cream cotton, then dyed, and going into the dying room was glorious, with all the colours.