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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That’s lovely, Whorl.

14ft ceilings..

Gorgeous house, Whorl. I do like the housing stock in much of your city.

@Whorl it looks amazing, have you moved into Chatsworth House??

Also this:
https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/schiaparelli

Thanks for the video Poppy, I'll have a watch in a bit.

Kitchen cat 😻, and I'm with Flo, Whorl, was your castle birthday debacle really so bad that you needed to buy your own family pile just so you had somewhere to host parties?

I've seen that exhibit when it was in Paris, Flo, I think it was in Arts Decoratifs, assuming it's a traveling exhibit. I really enjoyed it, especially the OG Elsa stuff, it really surprised me how impeccable it all was. I sort of assumed, that even though it was couture, because of the unusual designs and sometimes very simple graphic elements it would be a bit half-assed in the finishing department. Furthest from the truth, although the recent stuff that went down the runway was a bit slapdash in places.

Buenos días! From my travels.
i heard my name

I am always up for a London meet up Bo and Poppy
I also thought the Marie Antoinette would be a good excuse.
I am sure we can persuade micro, mm - any others?
Happy with any dates too.

Red are you on the other side of the equator again? Sorry, I probably should have asked first if you wanted to come too and be organiser again

I'd also be interested in visiting the new V&A East but I assume the two are quite far apart.

(Flo I've booked in for Paris, here's hoping my report lives up to the hype, booked an evening ticket for the Louvre which feels rather exciting somehow).

Oh no worries Bo
I am actually above the equator. For the moment anyway, later on the week will cross it.
No fashion news from me.

Although I am very quiet on this thread, I’d also be interested in the London meet-up. I have nothing to contribute in terms of content, I’ve been looking at some basics - Palome looks good but unsure of quality. No time for sewing.

The more the merrier, Volte. Speaking of Palome, the creepy stalking internet algorithm actually suggested a review of it and I ended up watching it out of curiosity. She seems fairly positive but to my eye the fabrics all look a touch piddly and the direct copying of Sezane does bother me. At least Sezane attempts to manufacture a lot in Europe where Palome is all Chinese.

Which had me pondering, as she mentions being relentlessly targeted by Palome with ads on SM, and how professional the packaging and website looked, there seems to be quite a bit of money backing this venture.

During my Paris visit in the winter I mentioned coming across a really odd brand that tried so hard to appear French (also very Sezane like) and the materials were all very off upon closer inspection. So I'm left wondering if this is similar where there's (some) Chinese money in this Palome venture. It would make sense of their ability to source so widely and somewhat consistently for a brand that's been around for just a few months. Also the lofty claims the influencer/reviewer goes through where she's more critical is a type of marketing speak that a lot of Chinese brands engage in as well.

I may be off the mark, I should probably do proper research but I don't think it's too far out there that there's desire for more inroads into the European market beyond the very race to the bottom Shein stuff.

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Thanks @botemp - the algorithm got me but I’ll do some more digging. It’s so hard to find clothes these days mainly because I refuse to shop offline.

This thread reminded me about the Marie Antoinette exhibition. I'm in London 15th, 16th and 21st September and have booked tickets for the 21st. If the meet up is open house I'd love to come if it coincided with those dates.

Re Sezanne and Palome the relentless pushing of being French puts me off. I can't stand Sezanne's styling on their website and I find British, Scandi, Low Countries and Japanese eccentricity more interesting. I have lots and lots of Lilith, which is French, but it's the original iteration which is eccentric rather than the "effortlessly stylish French look".

I do like Casey Casey but it's sort of the anti- Sezanne.

Hello again, today is a rest day for us so briefly reading the thread.
i think October was mentioned for the meet up , that will work best for me anyhow.
Castle of course you are welcome, not sure if you could come down then …
let’s see what dates are good for Bo too as she needs to travel.

I am looking at Lilith now and really like their stuff , there is a skirt specially that really caught my eye.

Just had a look. They're getting more adventurous again. Much prefer them over Sezanne.

I like the look of Lilith, but it’s one of those brands I know would look absolutely terrible on my body.

Volte, thinking about your basics quest, I'm wondering if anyone ever ended up ordering with Rise & Fall? It at least gives the impression of offering a bit more quality for your money than Palome, though I assume a fair amount comes from China there too. They seem to be having a sale atm but I can't see the markdown prices without giving my email address but they look to have some useful basics among them.

The Fold's sale must also be reaching the end by now, so the occasional nice piece at 60-70% could be almost normally priced.

I have a couple of leather backpacks that I got from Rise & Fall, an off white one that I liked so much I got a black one for work. £160 each, and they are very good quality and a good design, so excellent value.

But I recently ordered a silk and cotton cardigan and tank set, plus a t shirt, and none of them were that special, let alone good value, so back they went.

I've bought a few bits from Rise & Fall (two poplin shirts and a pair of poplin trousers) which were made in Portugal, but mostly I buy their bedlinens -- which are excellent quality and decent value. I think they've stopped doing their leather goods, but I have a tiny cross body bag that's been very useful.

Just bought a pair of Arche laced gladiator sandals, in snakeskin, which give a boost to very plain summer dresses and trousers. Not cheap, even in the sale, but so comfortable.

Rise and Fall sounds like a mixed bag, what a shame, would be nice if it was consistently good enough. Ah, Arche remind me of my mother, she always had some on the go.

Marni has appointed Merryl Rogge as designer. She's from Antwerp and I think she'll be a good fit there. I nearly bought a few things from her several times but the fabric choice wasn't great, which is common with young brands, so I'm hoping with Marni budgets that'll get elevated.

I've come across an oppo-Sezane, Nami which is designed in Paris and inspired by Scotland. Though must confess, aside from the odd bit of check pattern it doesn't exactly scream Scotland to me. Some of it is made there though. A bit too basic for my tastes to warrant the price tags.

One of my favourite Antwerp stores started carrying a young designer, Nadav Perlman which has been kind of intriguing, but I'm also a bit as the inspiration seems to be lifted from all over the place, doesn't quite feel like something original quite yet. The presentation on the Graanmarkt 13 shop seems a lot better anyhow. Bit of a one to watch situation.

Anyone else feel this summer is dragging? Mentally I feel like we're in late August for some reason. Red are you still equator hopping?

I have been hopping around for a while now, this is an extended leave and trip to celebrate a few anniversaries that have coincided.
I am in the last leg of the trip.
I have loved it all so far but I must confess that now I am missing my mattress and own pillow.
No fashion to report though, this last bit has been quite outdoorsy and first bit mainly beach.

I’ve just spent part of a cold and rainy day of holiday watching this, updating myself on Gucci’s doings, and improving my French. I’m not that interested in the big brands’ actual products, because they seem so commercially-driven, and this film towards the end is interesting on that aspect: https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/122186-000-A/gucci/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=122186-000-A

Breaking news: I have bought not one but two pairs of boots!

First up, Grensons Ella. I hung on for so long, hoping for a further reduction, that I nearly missed out on my size:
https://www.grenson.com/ella-womens-tan-boots-with-leather-sole

Second, some ankle high cowboy-ish boots. Not sure if they’re totally authentic as they have rubber sole and heel but I wanted flat or as flat as possible which has been hard to find as most that I looked at had a low heel. I’ll put a pic on a different post in case HQ spend all day vetting it.

It’s not exactly a huge style change. They’re just slightly less clumpy and stompy than my usual footwear. I want them mainly to wear with skirts. I now have no money left to buy any skirts but that’s ok as I already have several that I’ve not been wearing.

Boots.

Ooh, get you ! I've been eyeing up Grensen Ella for ages but I don't think I can justify new boots as they're so similar to the 2 Joseph Cheaney and 1 Lanx I have. But on the other hand 1 of the reasons they are still in such good nick is they're worn in rotation. Beatiful boots.