Tagged: victoria

• dresses: our summer dress collection from myne by ashley ann has had a phenomenal response from our victoria girls looking for perfect flirty, silk summer dresses. worn with strappy leather sandals the nicole maxi dress is perfect los angeles cool, or with heels and a drink in your hand the jamie or camilla silk party dresses will take you out for a night out this summer.
• cotton shirting & tanks: functional and wearable, drapey summer cotton shirting for both the men & women of still life is the way to beat the heat (in victoria or beyond) this summer. lines like the new unbranded freshjive, james perse, wesc, fred perry and penfield offer modern takes on classic summer shirting.
• hats: proud to be from southern california, brixton nails their styles & quality every season for us. unisex straw, felt & cotton hats finish off a summer outfit with style while keeping heads cool at the lake or in the pub.
• footwear: our footwear section expanded this season with the addition of the iconic american footwear brand bass on the ladies side. joining the ranks of fred perry and clae, all our summer footwear is easy to wear, lightweight and durable - worn all day every day from dressy to ultra casual. it also goes without saying that we are the harbour city's source for vancouver's very own native shoes in men's, women's & children's styles.
• swimwear: after a great first season last summer with swimwear at still life, we revisted the brands that performed the best and brought in one and two pieces swimsuits from adidas by stella mccartney and stockholm, sweden's design-minded wesc. styles from stella offer full functionality when swimming leisurely or competitively this summer, while the wesc styles bring more style with fun, bright stripes to the beach or camp site.
• ray-bans: we kept it really simple this summer with styles from the legendary ray-ban family limited to the original and new wayfarers and clubmasters all available in classic black or fresh tortoise.
• backpacks: get out in the sun with all your gear with colourful, functional, (nearly) indestructable fjallraven kanken backpacks. we've recently added the smaller mini-kanken to the roster, sized for smaller hiking trips or summer camp adventures for the wee ones.

and that about wraps us up! thanks for a great spring season victoria, all of us at still life appreciate seeing all the smiling faces and look forward to seeing you all throughout the summer! and remember we've got lots of killer styles from all your favourites in addition to the list above. stay safe in the sun and have a wicked summer!

the holidays are fast approaching and all of us at still life have been thrilled with the generosity shown by our friends in victoria leading up to the big days. we've just taken a huge batch of non-perishable food donations down to the mustard seed but we're not done yet - we want more! with every donation you or your friends bring in, you will enter to win a massive $1000 johnson street prize pack with goodies from still life and all of our friends on the block (enter every day, enter at every store!). the more food & money donations to the mustard seed, the better off everyone will be come the holidays.

starting this week we've got a few seasonal deliveries from vancouver friends lily & jae and ken diamond, biko jewelry from toronto, and the start of some amazing holiday promos on items in store:

• pairing up with our friends at genetic denim we are offering a very special 'buy two get one free' promo on all genetic denim styles currently in the store. this includes the twig midrise in captain black, the liam straight leg in wicked washed blue and the (amazing) aztec skinny chino in black.
• a strong selection of ladies coats have been put on sale starting at 20% off! this includes styles made for wet weather (waterproof tech jackets), cold weather (wool blend, thinsulate lined winter coats) and special evenings out during the holiday season (leather jackets and fur-trimmed wool coats). these coats include some of our classic seasonal offerings from our favorite international brands, so if you or your loved one is expecting a coat to make it through the winter, come down soon and take a look.
• designed & produced in vancouver by our dear friend judith feller, lily & jae has just completed their first ever in season holiday capsule collection for select retailers. we're extremely happy to have the collection on hand, as well as the return of our favorite lily & jae coat of all time, the olivia raincoat in british millerain. click here to read the summary of the special collection.
• and together with our friends at the lab hair salon we've partnered up to help with your gift-giving this holiday season: while supplies last we have special $20 lab gift cards to give you free with any still life gift card purchase of $100 or more - these are limited so come down before they all run out!

back in august still life friend nic vandergugten showed & sold some of his limited edition johnson street bridge linocuts at the store and this holiday season we were lucky to have nic paint our holiday window display for the second year in a row. matt & kim's vision of a rustic log cabin holiday combined with nic's painting to result in our favorite still life holiday window display yet.

come by the shop to check it all out for yourself - from the pair of 1950s vintage norwegian skis, to the canadian blankets, chairs & antlers, the window is a warm invitation into still life's holiday 2010 collection. be sure to add still life on facebook for continual updates on what's new at the store, and visit more of nic vandergugten's other works on his blog, here.

we hope to see all of our still life friends & family at the store tonight at 6:00pm for the 2010 johnson street holiday food drive.

it's that time of year again! once again still life has teamed up with our nearest & dearest in the community along the 500 & 600 blocks of johnson street for the 2010 johnson street holiday food drive!

begin the holiday season with an evening of fun & shopping when johnson street comes alive with the spirit of the season this thursday november 25th from 6pm til 9pm. featuring:

~ live music ~ lights & decorations ~ carolers ~ santa & elves ~ warm drinks and goodies inside every door ~ special discounts being offered by every location with your donation to the mustard seed ~

the holiday food drive will continue until the 29th of december with a very special contest. each time you donate to the mustard seed, you will be entered to win the coveted: JOHNSON STREET PRIZE PACK including gift certificates & goodies from each participating shop with a value of over $1000! enter every day to increase your chances!

this event is the start of still life & all our friends on johnson street's late night holiday shopping hours: we will all now be open until 8pm on thursdays & fridays until december 23rd. last year this event was a huge success, so we hope to see everyone there!

attend the 2010 johnson street holiday food drive on facebook
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become a fan of johnson street victoria on facebook

still life boutique has had a home at 551 johnson street since 1984 (26 years). over the past quarter-century we have had christmas light displays, naked bike rides, summer street festivals, sidewalk sales and countless friendly neighbours come and go - and through the years one main staple of johnson street has been the bridge across the harbour bringing our friends & family safely into and out of old town victoria.

this saturday, on november 20th, 2010 the city will vote to borrow money to replace the johnson street bridge. as much as we love the bridge the way it is now, we see it a necessary measure to replace the blue bridge in order to better serve the thriving downtown core of locally owned & operated merchants. we see the repairing of the johnson street bridge as a non-option as it would result in months, even years of closure to a vital artery to our friends & neighbours not only on lower johnson street, but all of downtown victoria.

we urge all of our still life friends & family to get informed and head to the polls on saturday, november 20th and vote. here are some links to help you get the details you may need on how & where to vote, and information from both sides of the debate.

GET INFORMED from the city of victoria
HOW TO VOTE on november 20, 2010

information on VOTING YES for a new bridge
information on VOTING NO for a new bridge

thank you, and we'll see you soon.
-still life

hot on the heels of the ultra-successful inaugural johnson street festival comes another reason to love the end of summer: RIFFLANDIA 3!!!

the best $65 you can spend in september (back to school textbooks puhleeease) will get you an all access wristband to the 157 artists performing at the third annual rifflandia festival in victoria. still life boutique is proud to once again sponsor one of the only victoria music festivals with any staying power, and this year looks to be the best yet. the rifflandia crew covers all their bases by offering a stunning rifflandia festival guide (available for free at still life!), a once-a-year rifflandabrau from phillips brewery, their wristband connect program (that gets you killer discounts at all participating stores, including still life!) and most of all, the music!

we're happy to help make this event happen for the third year in a row, we can already feel the excitement building as artists start to pop into victoria to check out their venues and plan their concert circuit. last year we had hot hot heat, jets overhead, k-os, tegan & sara and heaps of other local musicians stop through the shop to say hi, so don't be a stranger come the third week of september when downtown transforms itself into rifflandia, bc.

we've got a huge event for victoria coming up this saturday! for the first time ever, the 500 & 600 blocks of johnson street will be closed off to vehicles creating a giant community block party: the first ever johnson st fest!

join us all day as we move our sale to the street and our community offers tons of fun events ranging from dunk tanks and skate ramps to b-boy contests, fitness bootcamps and heaps of food vendors! the zone 91.3 will be here as well as lucky bar and our favorite dj touchbass. this is going to be lots of fun, bring the whole family, we'll be set to have a wicked day at johnson st fest!

follow the event & read more info at the johnson st fest facebook page.

jordan grew up with his good friend nic vandergugten in and around victoria, bc. as they worked together and graduated together they went through it all (including broken ankles, tables & hearts and a burger joint mass exodus) through it all was nic's dedication to his creativity and more specifically his arts.

this weekend at still life we are proud to have on display one of nic vandergugten's most recent works. his labour of love this summer was a series of linocuts capturing the structure, beauty & resonance of the johnson street bridge (visable from the front steps of still life). already having been featured around town at the fort street cafe, buon amici and bean around the world, we're happy to have one of the beautiful limited edition prints behind the counter at still life.

while you're downtown over the holiday weekend, stop by and see what nic's produced and have a fantastic bc day long weekend!

you can see more of nic's work here and contact him at nicvandergugten@hotmail.com

almost every night in the summer cruise ships unleash thousands of tourists onto victoria streets for a late afternoon checkpoint ontheir way to/from alaska/san francisco. with sleepy garden city shops closing at 6pm most nights, these visiting fashion hounds end up only able to peek through closed store windows before heading back to their boats and sailing home.

thankfully we've all come together as one and we'll be keeping the lower johnson, yates & pandora shops open until 8pm on both thursday and friday nights through the rest of the summer - and the best way to let all our local friends & family know about this is to have another fashion's night out block party!

kick-starting our summer evening hours will be a block party june 17th to welcome you and yours to our shops for beverages, snacks, special promotions and a great cause. each of the 25+ stores involved will be offering special promotions all evening with your dontation to the mustard seed food bank.

visit the fashion's night out blog for a full list of participating shops and be sure to mark your calendars for fashion's night out!

remind yourself on facebook.
and follow still life on facebook too.

rain, wind or snow, a day at still life rarely begins without a quick jaunt through market square to habit coffee & culture (552 pandora ave).

habit was founded on the idea that coffee can be better – not just in terms of a drinkable product, but in terms of every step that coffee takes – from seed to cup. before building a location, or making a menu, habit founder shane devreaux worked to find partners that shared his vision of ethical, responsible, and community-based business practices with a focus on quality in every detail. the habit crew works closely with their roasters at hines public market coffee to source the best beans from all over the world. shane devreaux has regularly made trips “to the source”, to visit the communities and regions that produce their beans and even welcomed a half dozen african baristas to the shop last summer for a special weekend meet & greet.

habit coffee & culture believes that coffee isn’t simply about getting a buzz, or enjoying a flavor, they believe it’s about a culture of optimism, exploration, and communication, and we at still life very much enjoy the fruit of their collective effort. with a second habit coffee set to open this summer at the corner of pandora & blanshard we're excited to watch the family grow and see what habit does next in developing the local coffee culture.