STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

sage · Dooney & Bourke

Brazen Canadian and Mia.

Mia · Kate Spade

Well, not to badmouth my own country or anything, but apparently we're too busy chugging maple syrup 'cause there aren't any Canadian (clothes) shopping sites that I know if. I've actually thought that someone needs to start a Canadian equivalent of Girlshop - there are a lot of good indie designers here, but it's next to impossible to actually get their stuff.

Is this the Wet Seal site? Sorry, I don't know anything about that line... http://www.wetseal.com/

luckylily · Gucci

What? You can't meet all your fashion needs at The Bay? Kidding, my MIL takes me shopping at the Bay everytime I visit them in Ontario, it kills me.

I always see stuff I like on Paper-Doll. They are based out of Toronto and carry some interesting Canadian lines that are hard to find in the US. http://www.paper-doll.com/

As for Wet Seal, they are actually based in California. I think they just make some of the clothes up there. A lot of the large US retailers make their clothes in Canada now. A lot of J.Crew stuff, for example, is made in Canada.

Edited to add: AUGH! I forgot one of my favorite stores in the world. Everytime I go to Vancouver or Victoria I have to stop at Smoking Lily. She makes the coolest t-shirts and some very cute skirts, jackets, and accessories. You can also place an order from the website...http://www.smokinglily.com/intro.html - based in Victoria.

-- Edited by luckylily at 12:34, 2005-04-13

Mia · Kate Spade

Luckylily - My sister actually knows the Smoking Lily woman! I am surprised it got a mention on here, I'll have to tell her to pass it on.

Shopping here is definitely about being in a big city, not about online. Can't miss Hudson's Bay though! I'd recommend you all come up here just for that alone...heh.

I am going to check out that paper doll site, thanks for posting it. :)

sage · Dooney & Bourke

I loved the Smoking Lily site!! I like the boatneck tee and the knuckle tee and the blazer/trench coat. Thanks for posting it!! I tried to go to the Paper Doll site and it didn't work. Anyone else have any luck??

Edit- I like that a lot of stuff is being made in Canada. We do good work

-- Edited by sage at 21:24, 2005-04-13

-- Edited by sage at 21:25, 2005-04-13

Metric · Gucci

I must concur that shopping in Canada pretty much blows. Not only is there almost no online shopping sites from Canada, alot of sites won't ship to Canada (although its getting better. More and more sites are starting to). Plus there is all the shipping, duty and taxes bullsh*t. Also, even though we have started to get alot of American chain stores (AE, Old Navy) they mark up the prices, sometimes quite significantly. For example: these BR pants are $78 on the site but in my BR were $118 CAD (which works out to be about $ 95 USD)

And most Canadian chain stores suuuuck! I can't begin to describe how wrong Reitman's is. And Smart Set, uggh... gives me chills.

That's just my rant, sorry.