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.

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

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Separates can certainly be special, but I have to say I nearly always wear dresses when going out.

137 😍

No I hadn't. The home page looked very odd for what seems to be content similar to Envoy of Belfast or Dover Street Market.

137 pairs of shoes and a love of pulls marinieres 🤩 I feel compelled to declare your mum an honorary Parisienne, Papyrophile. La pomme ne tombe jamais loin de l'arbre.

!37 pairs of shoes was a life's collation. Some are lovely, but they are all a size too small for me. There are some very nice, barely worn ones in the wardrobe. Not for nothing was her nickname Imelda! We haven't looked at handbags yet. There are quite a few of those too. I think I want to delegate selling her archive to my niece. But I have an eye on two hats....... Flo will understand when I say Madame Marie hats from Division St. They are so glamorous and flattering.

Bloody hell I have the same!

Beautiful pink suede Charles Jordan

Ferragamos out the yazoo

Rayne

Magli

Chanel

The works. Loads of them. Perfect condition. Too SMALL.

By a half size.

Big could work with insoles but too small is unworkable.

And to add to my take of woe her jackets are too big…

😁😁😁

@Papyrophile, shit about your Mum, but not the worst exit. 89 in one's sleep, it's the ideal. 137 pairs of shoes is excellent. Did she wear them all?

My DD often says, 'can I have all your. clothes when you die?'.

And I say 'If you grow six inches taller and wider, sure'.

We do have the same shoe size though. I let her wear a pair of Chloè boots for a dinner out. She asked me if she could take them to a festival.

That would be a no!

@Papyrophile, did you ever borrow your Mum's clothes?

In the 80s I super-hankered after a YSL blazer my mother had, she let me borrow another, inferior jacket. She was away for the weekend and I was off to a party so obviously wore the YSL, got thrown in a swimming pool and stuck it in the tumble dryer so she would Never Know.

That didn't end well for me.

@Tatare Thanks for your kind words! It was the exit script DM would have written for herself.

We lent and borrowed clothes and bags quite regularly. As I am a little smaller than her (and also because latterly she lived in jeans and marinieres) I haven't done so as much recently. Her MaxMara overcoat was handed over a couple of years ago, and a few other bits and bobs, but I inherited more clothes from my late great aunt, who I resemble more closely.

And yes, she wore a lot of her shoes until the last few years when she began to slow down and show her age.

Make sure you keep the hats @Papyrophile - there are no more, Madame Marie's is probably a kebab shop now.

I've haven't got many clothes of my mum's, mostly jewellery which is too fragile to risk wearing now. There are clothes I can remember her in though, or that I've seen in photos and that I wish she'd kept.

It's been a while since I bought anything interesting enough to post but I've just bagged a vintage Droopy and Browns suit. Bought it mostly for the jacket and because I'm a sucker for a bit of faux Edwardian. It's in a woven silk that I thought was cotton/linen at first in a kind of steel grey/blue.

Not 100% convinced by the collarless, military neckline but there was someone watching me try it on so I knew I'd probly lose out if I dithered. I might try and do something to alter it but I'm hesitant about messing too too much when it's getting to be quite an iconic brand that I hardly ever see (though I guess there might be more online). I'll start by wearing it unfastened and see how I get on.

I love the shape at the back. Not taken a pic of the skirt - it fits but it's knee length, pencil shape, very 80s.

Ohh, that is a beautiful jacket @Floisme. I'm a bit jel.

What a fantastic jacket Flo

It's gorgeous. The collar is perfect as it is.

Smashing jacket Flo. Well spotted and snapped up. You can't dither in these situations!

I shall definitely be keeping the hats. I also think I have my sister's wedding hat in my hat box, but I think she wants it back!

Bonjour! Can I join you? I am currently in Normandy, on my way to Italy and in need of style inspiration!

Great jacket, Flo!

Did anyone see today's Telegraph with Lisa Armstrong in the Dior outfit she wore to her daughter's wedding:

www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/shopping/lisa-armstrong-how-to-dress-everyone-for-the-family-wedding/

Such a lovely jacket and the shape of yours looks similar.

I enjoyed that article poppy. And a pink Bar jacket is always going to be versatile.

I wouldn't fuck-about with the neckline @Floisme. You can always do that with layers.

What is it that's not quite right?

In more personal news, I've realised a 20-year ambition and finally coaxed the husband to a Harris tweed suit. Oh my!

I did stand there and say 'I told you' as he admired his splendour.

The next plan is to get him in a utility kilt with the jacket and waistcoat. He is a Celt, he wants it really.

I love dandy men. I've spent a lot of time gently dandyfying him.

(If a man said any of this about a woman it would be Not OK, would it?)

I think it's playful though, I have so many different looks, they must be ok, the teens come to me for fashion advice, and love doing 'looks', my 16 year old daughter plays with preppy, cowgirl, Westworld, cyborg cowgirl. My 17 yo son prefers 90's grunge, Japanese street, dark academia.

I love that that they play with clothes.

And my husband is a very handsome man, he just didn't come from a background that messed about with clothes. He's always needed (wanted) a bit of a push. I LOVE it when he finds a vibe.

👋 @Birdsaremyfriends , feel free to join us, we've chatted France and Italy style recently so hopefully it'll be of use to you. (Might be on the end of the last thread).

Hmm, Flo, yeah that collar is probably why it's still in great condition, isn't it? I don't know, maybe a sort of shawl collar in a drapey material underneath (or just a scarf) was the original intention? It looks really impressive but I'd also be a bit stumped with how to wear it. I'd be tempted to wear it back to front but that is probably not possible as it's very tailored to the body but it reads a bit like the back to me 🤷

Yeah it's a very 80s look. I remember Princess Diana (pre divorce) wearing collarless coats and was never a fan. I'm not sure why I'm not keen but I think it's the combination of the high neckline and the huge buttons - and so many of them too. It's both plain and busy at the same time. Anyway I'll have enormous fun trying to figure it out and the rest of the shape more than makes up for any misgivings. I'm not sure about wearing it back to front but I'll give it a go!

Thanks for that article Poppy, I really enjoyed it, especially the part about getting Dior to make her a skirt and blouse to match the jacket I guess that's the fun of being fashion editor!

Love the sound of your husband's suit Tatare. MrFlo likes Harris tweed but won't wear it cos he finds it uncomfortable so I'm never going to have a moment like that.

And welcome Birdsaremyfriends

I meant to post this yesterday but got distracted - Hadley Freeman on Diane Keaton in the Sunday Times:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/157e5d35-1025-4c8e-96de-750f9f0ded51?shareToken=cc22f9b85b3f18c8d9d0f5881628e9ed

I don't like everything Keaton wears but what I absolutely love is the way she uses clothes to express herself and that she clearly has a blast getting dressed every day. And never regrets her mistakes.

I'm afraid I don't have a share token but there's no paywall if you read it via Hadley's Twitter page or, if you don't use Twitter, this archive link should work:
[[https://archive.ph/0wVMv

It felt like happenstance coming across it as I've just finally found some Arket chinos to replace my threadbare Armani Annie Hall tributes - not quite as prestigious but a good dupe.

Thanks for the link Flo, while I like Keaton's unapologetic embrace of her style I'm not sure I want a book of it. But I'll definitely have a look in the local bookshop to see if they have a copy to browse. Btw, I saw the author of Ma'am Darling has now released one about the Queen. I've lined it up as an audiobook (the Ma'am Darling audiobook was also very good) but not sure when I'll get to it.

Has the font changed on here, it looks the same in bold but the standard text looks thinner to me?

Also spotted, Zara has made some very obvious copies of Phoebe Philo, down to the photoshoot styling and photography presets. Even the model vaguely looks like her 🧐 Curious as I was, had a look in the local Zara, it was abysmally made in terrible fabrics so definitely not fishing in the same pool. It did leave me wondering who does want to buy it, it really looked crap in the flesh.

(In more positive news, Arket was full of Bani's favourite red as predicted by moi)

Immediately checked Arket. Not that much red? Daren’t get hopes up.

Hmm, just checked too, not much on the site yet and what's there is photographing brown I'd suggest a trip to Stockholm but I know how you feel about those...

Ha yes agree, about not paying £40 for Keaton's book although, irrationally, I might pay £40 to go shopping with her.

You've reminded me that the V&A are doing a Zoom interview with Craig Brown about his new book and I think it's this week. I meant to book it - some of their online interviews are good and some are so sycophantic I bail out before the end, but they normally cost about £6 so I don't mind taking a punt.

Welp, for personal reasons I do not wish to get into on public forum I do have more reasons to go into Stockholm these days, so who knows!