Black and White and Grey for Fall

With some red for good fun!

Cotton Cardigan, Plaid Cypress Skirt, Hama Hama Top, and Striped Hester Skirt:

Vancouver Update: Cycling Mania!

If you don't generally tune in to The Early Edition on CBC Radio One, you've probably never heard High Velocity, a regular "column" on the show (Wednesdays at 7:50 a.m.) by local radio personality (and wonderful Vancouver shop regular!), Margaret Gallagher. It's a great little report on the local cycling scene and all the issues related to riding your bike in Vancouver.

This morning, Margaret was discussing the controversy surrounding B.C.'s mandatory helmet law; apparently there is a legal challenge currently underway in the name of increasing cyclist safety. I had no idea there was any ambiguity about helmets being good for cyclists' safety, but the programme had some very interesting food for thought. The main argument seems to be that getting a critical mass of riders on the street (which mandatory helmets for adults discourages) does more to increase driver awareness and, therefore, cyclist safety on the road than the benefit provided by helmets in case of a crash. Does anybody know more about these wild new ideas?

In any event, the whole thing got me thinking about hopping my bike and some of the best pieces in the shop right now for going for a ride....with a helmet, of course!

Our leather Bike Bag (on sale for $62) is a great way to travel around town with a few necessities in style. Even better, it comes with a detachable shoulder strap for when your bike is parked!

Our Simple Tees ($29--$34) are nice and long, so your backside won't be showing (no matter how low you've got your handle bars set!). Currently available in a selection of light-weight bamboo jersey and cotton, they are very soft, breathable, and good for layering.

The Garden State Dress ($108) is made of soft, breathable bamboo jersey and has a comfortable, swingy skirt with lots of room for movement. Bamboo jersey is great for getting sweaty in, as it dries out much, much faster than cotton and is naturally anti-microbial--a fancy way of saying that you wont get stinky even if you're sweaty!

Last, but not least, I absolutely love wearing my Cypress Skirt (linen on sale for $89, cotton $69) while riding around town. The high, wide waistband is super comfortable (and good for hiding tummies!), while the full skirt is roomy and long enough to avoid accidental dismount flashing--yay!

Vancouver Update: New Skirts!

You may have noticed these newest additions to a very long line of Smoking Lily skirts posted on our website this weekend. They are fantastic skirts. We love skirts! They are fun, comfortable and I feel they make for a much less traumatic change-room experience than pants (Does anyone else find that pants are overly cruel about pointing out less than desirable physical features, while skirts are happy to help out with acceptable delusions of walking about in your younger body by skimming over the difficult spots and highlighting the good stuff? Aaah skirts, you're a good friend). As any of you that have shopped in our Vancouver store will know, Erin and I are always happy to extoll the benefits of the almighty skirt... and their awesome cousin, the slip.

Here's the new Cypress skirt in men's shirting cotton plaid, paired with a red Hama Hama top and a cotton jersey Cardigan.

And here's the new Hester skirt in striped cotton canvas paired with a Simple Tee - fun!

Studio Update

Hello

The end of July and August is a weird time in the studio. It's hot, people go on vacation and we transition from making our summer line to our fall line. Today we are sewing skirts that are either left over fabrics or from bolts we never got to in our regular summer production run.

The Keith in the Donna Tunic fabric.

Grey Keith with Maple Pods printed in black and Minnesota Yellow.

Black and white plaid Cypress Skirt in cotton....(I only have three of these skirts already, but I am very excited for my fourth).

Riding Bikes and Car-Free Day!

Today is Car-Free Day in Vancouver, with simultaneous activities on The Drive, Main Street, Denman, and in Kits. Main Street looks like it's going to have a focus on music, with several stages and some good bands lined up to play outside of Neptune Records and Red Cat.

....And what better way to get to Car-Free Day than on a bike! I just wanted to share this dorky snap I took of myself after riding to work on Friday to show everyone how awesome the Cypress Skirt is for cycling: swishy, comfortable, and long enough you don't have to worry about flashing anyone while dismounting!

Happy Car-Free (and Father's) Day, everyone!

Studio Update!

Today is Steph's last day at the studio before she leaves us to have a baby and embark on

motherhood! We will miss her, and wish her and baby all the best!

Here is a photo of Steph doing some last minute drafting:

And to wish her farewell:

Nicole made some button-shaped gingerbread cookies!

And lunch from the amazing Red Fish Blue Fish:

(Scallop tacones!)

And... a few more new things from the studio!

The bike print on the Periwinkle Garden State,

now available in size Extra Small.

New Cypress Skirt colour and print!

Cornflower Blue with our branch and blossoms print.

New Rowan Dowans in the works!

This one is a lovely gold with bees and peony.

Giant Bugs make me Happy!

It finally stopped raining this morning, but burrrrr it is chilly. To cheer myself up today I am wearing the Cyress skirt in 100% natural linen. I've received 4 compliments on my way to work, it is a keeper! The new skirt should hit the shops next week.

Cheers, Trish

Another Rainy Day!

Just a heads up, if you are trying to contact Milkman's Daughter, our phones and internet are down. Acorn Electric (I like those guys) are on the way down to fix the problem.

Dominique if you are reading this and wondering why Steph hasn't called you back, it is because we can't find your number anywhere. Give us a shout back at the studio.

We sampled the Cypress skirt this weekend in 100% natural linen and it is beautiful.

Joanne and Harmony sewed some of the Japan Love wallets. They will finally be in the shops today and tomorrow. 100% of the money raised goes to the Red Cross Japan.

Vancouver Update: Colours, prints, and David Suzuki!

Despite the fact it isn't supposed to last, we have been enjoying some seriously glorious sunshine here at the Vancouver shop--all the better to show off the fabulous David Suzuki fundraiser dress in the window! Today's box from the studio also brought us a roll of kraft paper covered with Mr. Suzuki, so I have a feeling we'll be posting some photos soon of more window display madness (happy birthday tomorrow, David!).

Along with conspicuous amounts of sunshine, we've also been enjoying an amazing amount of colour in the shop of late--yay, Spring! Here are some quick snaps of what's been brightening my day:

Beautiful tomato red and and an olive-y, army-ish green in the Luv Affair Dress. (You can't really tell in this photo, but the green is printed with coils of barbed wire; how lady-like!)

A cheerful range of teal, kelly green, and very bright periwinkle Garden State Dresses. These new Spring colours are all also a bamboo blend fiber, which makes them wondrously soft!

We now have the Cypress Skirt available in three lovely linens (magenta, teal, and pistachio), and are soon to have the über-comfy Wonton Love in a bright grape-y purple to go along with the "Moroccain" blue and "atomic" red pictured above (and my apologies for the rather crummy cell phone photo colour reproduction going on here. I highly recommend coming in to check them all out in person, of course;p).

Last, but not least, we received our first of the new printed Hester Skirt! Made from durable black cotton twill, these little (but not too little!) guys will go with just about everything. Glenda and I are famous for telling people that the Hester is the most useful skirt you'll ever own, and we're not kidding. I have two and Glenda has six--six!--and counting...

Victoria Store Update: So many cute little things!

Happy Monday everyone! It's not a fantastic day weather-wise here in Victoria, but at least this weekend was quite nice. I was in the store this slightly rainy Saturday and I thought I'd snap a few photos of all the sweet little wallets and cases we have for sale now in the store. Wouldn't it be lovely to pick one of these items up as an add on to a birthday gift, or as a pick me up for that friend of yours who could use a little surprise cheer up? I've also admittedly included a gratuitous shot of what the mannequin was wearing Saturday. I may be coveting the new Bamboo/Rayon blend scarves we just got in, or perhaps the new Cypress pleated skirt... and yes, I do own two of the Cardigans. I may have to do some shopping of my own!

The newest of our little wallets collection, the "Easy Daisy." Only $18. Perfect for cards and change!

I took this shot in the studio a few weeks back. A run of our "Hearts for Haiti" pins. Only $6 each and we donate all of it to the red cross.

Eyeglasses case. New Prints and linings! $22

The Spanish Banks, made of recycled leather patches! Including the world's cutest 3'' zipper. $18

More Spotlight!

It's been a few years since we made a fuller skirt, so we decided it was time. The Cypress Skirt is a linen/cotton blend, all-over printed, with a wide fitted waist band and pleated skirt. Nicole and Jo-Anne are modeling our current prints: pistachio with teeth and leaves print, and teal with tea flower and bees. It is widely rumored that there is a brilliant fuschia color on the verge of surfacing next! $128.
We also have a new shirt, the Ribbon Tee. Cute, simple cotton lycra jersey tee, completely reversible with ribbon tie rouching on one shoulder. Currently available in florescent seafoam green, black and navy. $42.