Consistency. It’s something that Vancouver designers battle with on a daily basis. Some switch shops more times than they have hot meals, some switch styles faster than superman changes clothes. So it’s nice to know that somewhere up Main Street, the ladies behind Smoking Lilly are holding down the fort.

If I was a girl, I’d spend all my money at Smoking Lilly. Organic fabrics and delicate modern asymmetrical cuts make their dresses to die for. I’m also a total mark for the look of their wool vests and remember, I’m a guy.

Buzz from the Melvins is not a girl, but as you can see, he knows that Vancouver holds it down.

I’m prone to dropping stupid amounts of money on their men’s t-shirts, not only for the quality of the shirt but the mystery of their print designs. I’ve got swans and mystic marking. They do skulls, bunnies, guns, a little of everything and the designs are so distinct that you can guarantee you’ll get stopped in the street at least a half dozen times over them.

Unlike so many of their local brethren who lock themselves into strictly tops, dresses or skirts, Smoking Lilly make a mean scarf, a meaner obi and some astonishing pillow cases. Alongside stores like Eugene Choo and Spank, Smoking Lilly strikes a revolutionary pose, one fist in the air for style and awesome and you don’t have to try and get on Canada’s Next top Runway Project to be into it.

It’s a beautiful sight to see, and all of it avoiding the downtown entanglements of the Cordova fashion corridor. While so many folks feel the need to lock themselves into Gastown’s fashion ghetto, the Lillies remain rooted quietly in their main street home, blowing minds one Hira Hira dress at a time.