Smoking Lily

This is the coolest little store. I’m not kidding, it is the size of a closet… I think three people in there is maximum capacity… Which I personally think adds to it’s charm.
They sell all kinds of clothing (mainly women’s clothing) that is silk screened with fun and funky images. The t-​shirts are all American Apparel shirts with silk screened images, and the rest of the clothing (dresses, pants, jackets, skirts, bags, scarves) are their own designs and creations. You can also order from their website as Squinka c. mentioned, for those of us who don’t make it to Victoria that often :-).
Definitely a place I make the time to go to when I am in Victoria!

What a great little store! The gals that run it are so friendly, and the clothing is just beautiful; well-​made stuff in nice fabrics, cut in a flattering manner, and beautifully silk-​screened. It’s not cheap stuff, but it is classically stylish and will last for years.

5… 6… 9 JOHNSON Street.
Drop the
5 and that is hands-​down one of the best addresses ever, should be my address. Why? cos I loves to smoke a good johnson.
if you know what I mean…

which has nothing to do with the lovely little alcove of a shop Smoking Lily. Ensconced in a little roomlet the size of a small newsstand is a shop on the nastily-​nomered Johnson Street. If you’re lucky, the lovely Lily (actually owner Trish Tacoma) herself will be there, perched on a high stool in the corner reading or dreaming, but ever ready to assist. Outside the store there is usually a rack of babysoft cotton t-​shirts with exquisitely whimsical silkscreen images– often layered one over the other.
You can order their silk-​screened clothing online
by going through their print archive. You could get:
Jesus and a pickup truck or maybe a wiggly jellyfish.
I’m going to pair the fan-​feathered lyre bird with the skeleton key print…
although Jesus with a gun (and maybe a squid) is tempting and somehow timely.
the lovely Lily told me that you can order almost all their tees, dresses and housewares online. AND if you have a 100% cotton t-​shirt of your own (she said American Apparel t-​shirts work great for their print process), you can ship it to them, order the prints you want and they’ll ship your shirt back all smokin hot printed up with whatever lillification you pick.
and they do more than shirts. You can even get
a Canadian Icon on your underwear!!!
(WITHOUT ALL THE SPIT N SCANDAL!) yes
Pierre Trudeau on yr tightywhities!
All their clothing is hand-​sewn, printed by hand, in soft comfy fabrics and really wearable designs. This is a great small local business with tons of in-​town, hands-​on talent.
I Love Lily
almost as much as that street she’s on.
p. s. they have a second store now open on Main street, but they call
JOHNSON THE WORLD CENTER.
damn straight. squinkety.