Paris shopping: Huguette's style
Jetlagged, writing at 4 am., only too happy to proffer a shopping report for the first of four Paris-related posts this week and next.
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| Huguette |
She's funny, talks a mile a minute, and is the firm possessor of a certain, confident style.
We met for lunch in the 6th, with shopping to follow. She wore a strict black skirt, a pink/red/green floral Ventilo chiffon blouse, a dove grey fine cashmere cardi and a khaki cotton topper in that nothing-coordinates-but-everything-works French way.
Influenced by her skirt, I led her to a temple of strict, Anne Willi, certain that the discreet yet graceful styles would enthrall her. She would not cross the doorstep, murmuring only, "I see belts are back again". Well, you can't out-Parisienne Huguette, so I fell in beside her, asking to be taken to her favourite places.
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| Anne Willi dress |
She trotted briskly into Cotélac. I cast a look; my Mutton Alarm blared, and I hissed "Huguette! There is nothing here for us!" But H. was engrossed, purring "Marrant!", which means funny, as in odd or amusing.
Where I've grown simpler and more conventional (and yes, heavier) than when we were hanging out in the '80s, Huguette has embraced the flirty and dares to dress young. And I say, with some envy, she can carry it off.
She bought the blue print skirt you can just make out on my blurry phone photo and a cobwebby navy mohair pull, a piece that looked like many stitches had been dropped, on purpose... or not. Marrant.
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| Little flippy skirt, blue mohair sweater |
She bought the blue print skirt you can just make out on my blurry phone photo and a cobwebby navy mohair pull, a piece that looked like many stitches had been dropped, on purpose... or not. Marrant.
She would have bought this dress (at left) to wear over slim pants, but it wasn't there in her size. (My mind shrieked, This is way too young, but that's my taste.)
She eyed Clergerie platform loafers, tagged for the next paycheque. But all is not milk and honey, chiffon and flower-prints for 60+ Parisiennes.
When I told her I'd given up finding clothes in Paris to fit my size, she said, "Same for my friends! We cannot find dresses long enough, and we can't get tops with long sleeves. We want to cover our arms and everything is cap sleeves or sleeveless. We are desperate."
When I told her I'd given up finding clothes in Paris to fit my size, she said, "Same for my friends! We cannot find dresses long enough, and we can't get tops with long sleeves. We want to cover our arms and everything is cap sleeves or sleeveless. We are desperate."
On another day, I had a delightful, sympatico lunch with lovely blogger Tish Jett of A Femme d'un Certain Age, who is tall like me, and she said she orders pants from the US. You have to, if you are not built with the short French rise.
On other days, without Huguette teasing me about my "comfortable-Canadian choices", I made several purchases:
1. An ingeniously-cut chartreuse boiled-wool jacket by Oska, the German brand that sizes from 2 to at least 18. Shown in coral; mine is chartreuse. (You can't really see the side peplum, which gives it shape.) I wore this most days, since my trusty padded black nylon jacket proved impossibly non-breathable after ten minutes' brisk walking in unexpected 19C/66F temperatures.
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| Boiled wool jacket |
2. A pair of Accessoire oxfords. Tish and I, the same shoe size (separated at birth?) rejoiced that a new generation of French women have pushed the size range up to 41.
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| Strict oxfords |
3. A bag I'll show Thursday.
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| Crea Concept skirt |
Huguette and I traded appraising comments, the kind of things only old friends can venture. I wondered if she was trying to hang onto a youth that will become increasingly distant. She said I should try more daring pieces, reminding me of the Mugler and Kenzo I once wore. I'm certain a few choices I made after our outing were a little more audacious because of her.
Thursday, the style choices of another French friend, Daniele.
Comments
Your friend sounds like a fun person to be with, good for her embracing flirty if she can pull it off.
By the way, I read the two previous posts that showed up in my reader but somehow didn't show up on your actual blog. Thank you for sharing what happened with Paris Address. I'm glad you were able to transfer to a better apartment.
Frugal: Key is being happy with a leisurely visit to a few places, not trying to go everywhere.
Pseu: I looked like a tourist! (But maybe a German tourist?) The locals are all in camel, navy, black. But back home it will be fine.
kathy: When it would warm up to wear that skirt here, would not look like spring or summer. Really, it is tissue thin. One can freeze here in most "winter" clothes shown in Paris.
Susan Tiner: Published those by mistake, they were not ready... wish I could recall. The final versions will follow soon.
How interesting that your friend is hanging onto her youth through clothing.
I do like the fact that she tried to get you to experiment with other options that you would not normally gravitate to, only a great friend can get away with that, if it comes from the sales clerks one really does dismiss them quite promptly.
Can't wait for more....and a new bag!
I did notice, however, in a recent shopping recon at an upscale mall, that there were actually a good number of dresses with sleeves! Yikes! And the new Talbots catalog also had several dresses with sleeves (although I know many of us have had issues with their quality lately.) So maybe designers are getting a hint!
Don't you think one's marital status is a big determinant when choosing clothes? A single woman of almost any age might instinctively go for a flirtier look--especially if she's in love. It's probably not a bad thing, then, for us married women to get a nudge in that direction once in a while!
That's a beautiful jacket you found.
C.
Love the jacket though, I would imagine it will look stunning with your coloring. I have a friend who lives in Oska; there is a boutique that carries it not far from here. The skirt is fabulous though even if it wouldn't work for you. By spring it will look all wrong. I can perfectly understand that Paris winter clothing would not stand up to the harsher Canadian winters you must endure.
You might note of the dress I posted (the one that might be "too much" fun) that it has the long sleeves and the appropriate knee length that we women of a certain age have been looking for. I'm starting to find more and more of these dresses out there, thank goodness.
Can't wait for your other upcoming Paris posts. Take care with the jet lag.
Glad you had fun and used boldness in your shopping.
JillAnn: She says her French friends in her age bracket put thin tees under sleeveless dresses. She thinks Talbots is low quality. (H. visits new York often, familiar with our brands.) Living in Paris is to have access to another world, and she knows it- and tartly expresses her opinion with the deep superiority of the discriminating Parisienne.
C.: Do you mean "in love" or perhaps you mean, more accurately "trying to attract a man"? But do not let me put words in your mouth!
I *am* in love, and dress to please my love, but would not wear the clothes in that boutique- nor would he like them.
Le Duc thinks Huguette dresses far too young, and prefers the style of the friend I will profile Thurs. - but he adores luxurious, sexy lingerie, decolletage, etc.
Toby: The clothes I saw in Paris, (and many here in Montreal) are not boring or badly made. (Hang in for my windowshopping posts next week.)
But there are more lacklustre pieces in North America than there used to be, and the department store level is a minefield of lumpy hems, cheap buttons. We have to go up more in price in any market to get the ahhh effect of well-made.
Also in Paris I passed some exquisite couture shops, not the hyped big names, but the ateliers of expert dressmakers; here a woman who does not have your talents can be fitted. Now I am trying to find such a place here.
Mardel: Those little flower-sprigs are too twee for me, but I would take the platform loafers too!
materfamilias: That dress is *so* not Huguette, but *is* "you", so- enjoy! I too have seen sleeved dresses here, but a long enough skirt (just to the knee, for god's sake would be nice) is still a huge problem for me.
Rubi: It is great b/c not too heavy to wear indoors in this cold climate.
I love the oxfords!
I suppose if you tried wearing the draped skirt over skinny pants with ankle boots it would look too bulky?
I think that Huguette's style suits her well. She looks charming, and not at all as though she is trying to appear younger than she is.
She's delightful and so are you, though I wish you'd not referred to women as meat, even metaphorically. It disturbed me.
I think it's great that you have someone to shop with who'll push you out of your comfort zone a little bit, too. We all need that, as well as a friend who'll let us know when a style's not working.
"Mutton Alarm" is shorthand for the well-known phrase "Mutton dressed as lamb", sometimes abbreviated MDAL.
Murphy: Debated b/t oxfords and boots but given the snow here, many fine boots would just get wrecked.
Paris has huge choice in clothes but I've seen the internet shopping make the world flat, too. Certain things I could only get in Paris 20 years ago, like Bompard sweaters, certain fragrances, are now easy to get online.