The 4-5 piece French wardrobe #5

[Trenchcoat]

Thank you Eva The first week went well - I'm super exhausted, however. Slept in until noon today

And yes, Betina, I'm glad I won't have to splurge on workwear. I'll probably save most of my earnings, which is not very exciting, but I bought a red winter coat. I've always wanted a red coat but I never found them to be very versatile so I couldn't justify buying one. Now I thought I'd buy it to celebrate my getting a job


zara

I saw this coat at the ZARA and the quality was very bad! Dust and hair was stuck all on it. And the quality of the wool wasn't good either.

 

[eizhowa]

^Dust and hair sticks to everything, though. Even the finest of wools. I think one of the problems with Zara is that their floors are very dusty (in my experince at least) so if a coat falls on the ground, it looks very bad...

Very difficult to evaluate the quality of Zaras wool I think, considering they don't have any pure wool items

I think it is fine to get a statement coat from Zara. I really like the lapels of the red coat.

 

[Trenchcoat]

^Dust and hair sticks to everything, though. Even the finest of wools. I think one of the problems with Zara is that their floors are very dusty (in my experince at least) so if a coat falls on the ground, it looks very bad...

Very difficult to evaluate the quality of Zaras wool I think, considering they don't have any pure wool items

I think it is fine to get a statement coat from Zara. I really like the lapels of the red coat.

That's true. But I don't know how to explain. Because I went to ZARA last week and saw these coats. And I was like, these are only 40 euros lets buy one. But the overall quality, colour and seaming, didn't appear very well in my eyes. But for 40 euros you can give it a try.

 

[barbaraaa]

I saw it too, tried it on and all, and it was very clean at my Zara! The fabric isn't very good quality, no (the seams were good on the ones I saw, however) but it is also cheap - and it won't be my everyday coat because, like I said, it is not the most practical of colours.

 

[Betinapple]

@RedandNavy: I own the short pistol boots as well and I love them and wear them constantly, and they look great even after being worn a lot during the past one and a half year - also the heel height is perfect, so I have no doubt that the tall ones would be great as well.

@Eva: where did you get them so cheap? I do not mind paying full price since I think they are definetely worth it but I would not complain if I could find them cheaper, since the full price is a lot of money in my current budget.

Congrats on getting a job - what are you doing? What handbags do you need?

@Trenchcoat: I already own the ancle boots, but since I wear those and my second pair of ancle boots almost every day during the fall and winter I really need another pair of boots, and it seems silly to buy yet another pair of short ones, now that I have both a pair that is heeled and a pair that is flat. A pair of long boots will give me some new silhouettes to work with.

@Ta-ta: How is that working out for you? The pants, that is. I do not have it pinned yet. I will post a picture once i arrives. Hopefully monday.

@Barbaraa: congrats on getting a red coat - will be perfect for your wardrobe! Perfect "congratulations on getting a job" present.

 

[Jinadaze]

I had to invest so much in shoes because I too got a job and they expect us to wear skirts only and black shoes. I couldn't change at work to ballerina (and it is called anyway) so I had to invest in very sturdy boots. Rag & Bone and ACNE do the trick so far. I prefer to save my Zanotti for better things than work !

I just sent you an email when reading this - wow, congrats! And sounds like a dream 'uniform' and that you made a nice choices with the shoes. Really interested in the coats too.

I received the black trousers on Monday and the fit is great, can't believe that they are long enough. I wore them to the interview, which went really well, but don't have the final response from them. They are not hiring for temporary though, but I feel like working 9-5 for me is not the best option for me at this moment anyway.

Regarding Zara coats - most of them are too thin for our winters, and even though they have as high as 80 percentage of wool, inappropriate for wearing (for me at least). The quality varies though, the price tells a lot in this case.
Beautiful the one that you got, barbara! It looks so you and I bet you will get plenty of wears since your climate is so mild.

Ta-ta, that's quite funny about the swimsuit. You are a great observer too.

 

[fashionista-ta]

@Ta-ta: How is that working out for you? The pants, that is. I do not have it pinned yet. I will post a picture once i arrives. Hopefully monday.

@Barbaraa: congrats on getting a red coat - will be perfect for your wardrobe! Perfect "congratulations on getting a job" present.

I like them ... the fit is a little sexy though (Dolce, go figure ). I'll have to wear them again soon.

Have been wearing my new leopard sweater ... getting creative when wearing to work as it's low cut to wear on its own. Wore my mauve silk blouse as well as a charcoal grey knit shell with satin yoke underneath (at different times!). Somehow the grey tones make the leopard print much more understated, which I kind of like.

Also wore my leopard pumps last week.

I have a less expensive coat I got at Anthropologie ... the arms are narrow though so it's not appropriate for wearing with everything. You really pay for it in the cut I think ... at least that's been my experience. Has anyone here had a Max Mara coat? They are known for them & have beautiful wools. I have a skirt from them, charcoal grey wool that I pulled out last week and wore. The prices are in the mid-range, I think reasonable for the quality.

 

[Trenchcoat]

This is what what I'm going to order:



ZARA - 100 % silk blouse H&M - Cardigan WE - Coat ZARA - Dr Denim skinny- 100 % leather ballerina ZARA - 100 % Merinowool navy sweater COS - ZARA day dress - tees River Island- H&M top

 

[Betinapple]

I like them ... the fit is a little sexy though (Dolce, go figure ). I'll have to wear them again soon.

Have been wearing my new leopard sweater ... getting creative when wearing to work as it's low cut to wear on its own. Wore my mauve silk blouse as well as a charcoal grey knit shell with satin yoke underneath (at different times!). Somehow the grey tones make the leopard print much more understated, which I kind of like.

Also wore my leopard pumps last week.

The combination of your leopard sweater and the mauve blouse sounds divine!

Just wanted to show you guys two of the purchases I made during the past week.

G-Star dress from a thrift shop and skirt from Dixie Grey.

Pics mine and via dixiegrey.dk

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Thanks, I did like that combination. The silk is really

Like your new pieces

Trenchcoat, have you thought about bumping up the quality of one of your pieces? You could try the sales, yoox, consignment ... I got the mauve blouse on yoox, btw.

 

[Trenchcoat]

^ Thanks, I did like that combination. The silk is really

Like your new pieces

Trenchcoat, have you thought about bumping up the quality of one of your pieces? You could try the sales, yoox, consignment ... I got the mauve blouse on yoox, btw.

I really want to buy better quality clothes. But leather ballerinas from APC are sooo expensive. While zaras are more affordable and 100 % leather. COS has good quality clothes (sweater is of Merino wool) and H&M's blouse is of 100 % silk, and Dr. Denim jeans are the best!

Only the black zara blouse and the River Island tees are cheap.

I still want to buy something that is more expensive and of very good quality. But it has to be absolutely worth it. Tips? What kind of piece would you advice. I would like to invest in good leather boots, designer bag and kasjmier scarf.

 

[Betinapple]

I really want to buy better quality clothes. But leather ballerinas from APC are sooo expensive. While zaras are more affordable and 100 % leather. COS has good quality clothes (sweater is of Merino wool) and H&M's blouse is of 100 % silk, and Dr. Denim jeans are the best!

Only the black zara blouse and the River Island tees are cheap.

I still want to buy something that is more expensive and of very good quality. But it has to be absolutely worth it. Tips? What kind of piece would you advice. I would like to invest in good leather boots, designer bag and kasjmier scarf.

Silk is not just silk, and I really find that silk items are worth investing in instead of buying highstreet versions. I owned a silk blouse from H&M that I had to return due to the poor quality.

You do not neccesarily need to spend more money than you would do on a highstreet item, but try to look elsewhere, use the sales and check out the mid-range priced brands. If you really watch the sales you can easily get something for the same price as a highstreet item but in a better quality.

 

[eizhowa]

Trenchcoat: If you want to invest in something, let it be a bag. That said, I cannot reccomend Porselli ballet flats enough. I have owned a lot of ballet flats in the past, all of them leather, and nothing has compared. Not for my feet at least. All others have given me blemishes when I first wore them. I hope that if I care for them well, and get them resoled often, they will last for a long time.

If you do not get the Zara flats and one of the tops, you could probably afford them. You can buy a lot more expensive things if you cut back on the number of items you get (which is the point of this thread really).

I can't rule out the possibility that I'll buy a pair in Damson, Black and grey if they have any left when I visit London in january... They will cost me 180 GBP a pair (I am deliberately not adding up the total cost here...), but for shoes that look that good and does not hurt my feet, I can justify that price, even as a full time student ( I LOVE ballet flats, in case you hadn't noticed)

Now, if I can only track down some cashmere sweaters I will love as much...

 

[Trenchcoat]

Trenchcoat: If you want to invest in something, let it be a bag. That said, I cannot reccomend Porselli ballet flats enough. I have owned a lot of ballet flats in the past, all of them leather, and nothing has compared. Not for my feet at least. All others have given me blemishes when I first wore them. I hope that if I care for them well, and get them resoled often, they will last for a long time.

I can't rule out the possibility that I'll buy a pair in Damson, Black and grey if they have any left when I visit London in january... They will coat me 180 GBP a pair (I am deliberately not adding up the total cost here...), but for shoes that look that good and does not hurt my feet, I can justify that price, even as a full time student ( I LOVE ballet flats, in case you hadn't noticed)

Now, if I can only track down some cashmere sweaters I will love as much...

You are right maybe this gorguette mulberry silk blouse from massimo dutti is better.



What do you think?

 

[Melisande]

My love of streamlining has backfired on me. My winter wardrobe has been growing blacker and blacker these past few years since coming to Paris, which was great for a while, but now I'm like Morticia every day and completely bored. I've also been wearing the same deep red shade of lipstick and nails every day for many years . I have a few sweaters in other colors, but don't know where to start adding colour (or what colour for that matter...) and I don't want to do any sudden overhaul that I'll regret. I think I will change my lipstick and nails first, and see where that leads...:S

 

[fashionista-ta]

My love of streamlining has backfired on me. My winter wardrobe has been growing blacker and blacker these past few years since coming to Paris, which was great for a while, but now I'm like Morticia every day and completely bored. I've also been wearing the same deep red shade of lipstick and nails every day for many years . I have a few sweaters in other colors, but don't know where to start adding colour (or what colour for that matter...) and I don't want to do any sudden overhaul that I'll regret. I think I will change my lipstick and nails first, and see where that leads...:S

I think changing the lipstick and nails is a good idea. Pink can be lots of fun ...

I think shoes are a great place to add color to a neutral wardrobe. Do you wear scarves?

Trenchcoat, as far as investment, I would start off with shoes. Bags are good too, but as eizhowa noted, the quality of your shoes directly impacts your feet, and you only get one pair of those to last a lifetime

betina makes a great point that leather is not just leather, silk is not just silk, etc. There are grades of everything. It's something you need to experience for yourself to really understand, and thrifting can be a great way to do that. You get an opportunity to observe and buy all levels of quality for a reasonable price, and typically there are no intimidating SAs at Goodwill or Oxfam!

 

[Trenchcoat]

My love of streamlining has backfired on me. My winter wardrobe has been growing blacker and blacker these past few years since coming to Paris, which was great for a while, but now I'm like Morticia every day and completely bored. I've also been wearing the same deep red shade of lipstick and nails every day for many years . I have a few sweaters in other colors, but don't know where to start adding colour (or what colour for that matter...) and I don't want to do any sudden overhaul that I'll regret. I think I will change my lipstick and nails first, and see where that leads...:S

I understand what you mean. I also had a period in life where I bought only black. Now I also buy navy, cream, grey and sometimes a colour like pink.

Eizhowa, I agree with you that ballerinas need to be good. But 180 pound is way to expensive for me to invest in summer shoes. I saw ballerinas from Fred de la Bonietterre and those are 100 euros and I will buy them when they will be in sale.

Stuff like jeans, cardigans, tees etc. aren't worth to invest in a lot of money in my opinion because you always have to change the basics. Every brand I've owned wasn't of super quality. Thats why I buy my tees at River Island

Which brands are worth the investment? Benneton? Marco Polo? Ralph Lauren? etc. or really the designer brands?

 

[Betinapple]

@Melisande: I think I would start with some cheap(er) accesories, like a new lipstick, nailpolish or a scarf, if you wear those. Bags and shoes are great for adding colour as well, but more expensive - would be a shame if you did not get to wear them anyway. Coloured tights could be an idea too.

@Trenchcoat: I do not think that basics needs to be changed often if you buy the right quality. Most of my basic tops are 3 years old and they are still going strong. They did not even cost a lot, the most expensive one I payed perhaps 55 dollars for. I really think it pays of just paying a little more for your items.

For ballet flats I can recommend Bloch and Stylesnob. Both should be within your price range.

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Wearing my new dress today while I am home writing my sociologi/politics exam. Super comfy!

 

[eizhowa]

Trenchcoat: I think see why we differ on ballerinas. I wear them April through october, and not just during the summer. I think having protective soles put on your new Fred flats will be a good investment, especially if you are on a budget. I did so on my Porsellis, and the original sole is still unharmed

I don't know much about marco Polo or Benneton, but I know that when you buy Ralph Lauren you are paying 70% just for the name... Thats not a good investment in my opinion. I think buying second hand or vintage will give you your moneys worth, but that is not for everyone...

About the silk shirt, I do not think it is as classic as I think you want it. Is it a cut you love? I am still looking for my perfect white silk shirt. These things can take a while...

 

[Betinapple]

Trenchcoat: I think see why we differ on ballerinas. I wear them April through october, and not just during the summer. I think having protective soles put on your new Fred flats will be a good investment, especially if you are on a budget. I did so on my Porsellis, and the original sole is still unharmed

I don't know much about marco Polo or Benneton, but I know that when you buy Ralph Lauren you are paying 70% just for the name... Thats not a good investment in my opinion. I think buying second hand or vintage will give you your moneys worth, but that is not for everyone...

About the silk shirt, I do not think it is as classic as I think you want it. Is it a cut you love? I am still looking for my perfect white silk shirt. These things can take a while...

I think this is a really good point: wait until you find the excact right item and can afford it