Simons Says, "Be Fashionable!"

A friend who's attending grad school in Montreal told me about Simons, describing it as a department-store-like environment and a hip place for urban twenty and thirty-somethings living in Montreal to find contemporary, stylish clothing. Curious, I logged onto their website and poked around, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. My friend's description was indeed accurate.

I'd never heard of this place before, and once I read a bit more about the company, the answer was obvious. Simons is uniquely Quebecois and goes all the way back to 1840, when it was founded by Scotsman John Simons. During the 1960s, Simons branched out into fashionable young women's wear. Its in-house brand, Twik, emulated the mod street styles that Twiggy made famous during that era. Today Simons is still a homegrown Quebecois phenomenon (which explains why I've never seen one here in Van), and has built its reputation on years of providing trendy clothes.

It's been a long time since I've done a post with this much eye candy, and I thought I'd show my meagre blog audience some pictures of the pieces I loved most on their website. Enjoy!

White cardigan, $50



Gray crop pant, $65



Pinstripe flannel jacket, $175



Purple sweater, $40



Tweed bolero jacket, $160



Tweed coat, $295