Canadian Fashion Scene

I am continuing my virtual trip around the world showing everyone my favourite stores, labels and stuff from the countries I have live in or visited or shopped at.
I lived in Montreal for a long time because I went to school and trained there. And I shopped a lot too. Living in Montreal was probably the happiest time in my life.

Montreal has some of the best shopping, especially for larger sizes anywhere in the world.
My favorite store was l'Addition-Elle on Ste. Catherine's Street right across the street from Eaton Centre which is part of the huge underground mall connected by the Metro. Here are a couple of their things from this season.

They have Addition-Elle all across Canada, but the selection in this store is special, since they have an upstairs floor with an upscale selection of designer and higher end clothing.
I got the best suit I have even owned there. It looks and wears and feels exactly like either Helmut Lang or Dolce& Gabanna, which as far as suits go, are really the best. It is made by a Canadian label called Louben. I do not know if anyone in the US carries it, but they damn well ought to. It is pricey. I paid about 500 CAD for the suit but it was worth every penny. It still looks brand new and fits like perfection. I think I have worn it to every single job interview I have had. Addition Elle also has a younger label called MXM which has cute things.

Another one of my favourite stores in Les Ailes de La Mode also on Ste. Catherine's.
They have a great selection of stuff including a stellar plus-size selection that had Ferre Forma by Gianfranco Ferre. They also had a couple of great spots to eat at the store including a sushi bar and one of the best cosmetic floors in the history of mankind.
You can check them out at:
http://www.lesailes.com/en/vivre_les_ailes/nos_services/information.htm

I also loved Holt Renfrew on Rue de la Montagne. They are a very upscale store like Saks or Barney's. They carry a lot of exclusive high-end labels including Canadian designer Lida Baday.
Another awesome one is Ogilvie's also further up on Ste. Catherine's close to McGill University.
I love Ogilvie's because it has a lovely atmosphere of luxury and it is very beautiful inside. They also had the only Comptoir Sud Pacifique boutique in Montreal. It has gorgeous chandeliers and a great cafe.

Montreal has a great fashion scene and Canada has spawned some amazing designers like Lida Baday and the amazing Dsquared twins who nowadays show in Milan.

No place in the world with may be London as the notable exception, has better thrift and vintage shopping than Montreal.
Mostly this is due to their incredible network of thrift shops called Value Village/Village des Valeurs.
The very best one was on Rue Jean Talon close to the Metro and the Walmart.
A lot of outlet stores are in that area including one for l'Addition-Elle.
I scored the most amazing stuff there including a beautiful pink silk jacquard vintage Laura Biaggioti dress from the '80s, an off-the runway black Paco Rabanne trench coat, a beautiful Armani jacket, countless Pringles sweaters, a treaure trove of kilts, a Claude Montana jacket, a suede vintage Pierre Cardin jacket, the most beautiful Escada blouse and a gorgeous brand new Ralph Lauren blazer. I used to find lots of stuff from european stores like Marks and Spencer and Next.
The store is amazing. I used to shop there for other people including my asshole ex for whom I found his first and probably only Armani.
I also found amazing concert-t-shirts. Really people have NO CLUE what they toss away.
I used to go there armed with the latest copy of Vogue or Elle or InStyle and be able to reproduce any editorial or runway look with stuff I found there exclusively.

My opera evening gown is also by a Canadian design house, Sunny Choi.
The photos really do not do the dress justice because the ruching detail on the bodice is amazing it is chocolate silk and silk velvet and it and it has a small train. And yes, they do plus-sizes.

There is a new Canadian designer out of Montreal that I am really liking quite a lot. His name is Zoran Dobric and by the name I am thinking he might be of Croatian origin... (Croatians are sexy...).
His stuff is really lovely...
All these would work beautifully in women of all sizes? N'est-ce-pas?

A couple of Canadian companies in the fashion industry have my undying love because of their commitment to the cause of raising funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS and people living with this condition.

One is MAC cosmetics through creating and their continual commitment to the MAC AIDS fund and the Viva Glam Program ( you can click on RuPaul's photo on my profile page for donations to the MAC AIDS fund). For more info or to get Viva Glam lipsticks which are one one my trademarks please visit:
http://www.maccosmetics.com/

Another awesome Canadian company raising funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS is ALDO shoes which is also Montreal-based.
They are amazing people!
They sell the awareness tags at all of there stores and the funds benefit YOUTHAIDS around the world.

To find out more about the Aldo fights AIDS campaign and to get some awesome ALDO shoes, you can check out:
http://www.youthaids-aldo.org/index.cfm?lang=en
and
http://www.aldoshoes.com/

And those are some of the reasons why I love MY Canada.