Montréal life: Real (mostly young) women

I'm not sure all of these women are local, but there is something about the attitude that strikes me as markedly Montréalaise. As usual when out with my camera, I look for something other than the packaged, In Style styling you see in stores—something offbeat, brave, or expressive.

Young women seem to have this more than their elders, perhaps because often they cannot afford a head-to-toe splurge on the latest look. But also, because youth is a time for expansive experimentation. (Next time, I promise to feature elders.)

Pink everywhere, and I predict it will sprint into winter,  too. 

Left: A pristine blush tracksuit, with the top tucked in. That gives a wholly different shape—she made sweats look elegant.

Centre: Travelling home from work in a cheerful pink striped skirt and cardie, with multicoloured sandals. It's a grace note when people enliven an office setting.

Left: You can just make out the pink fine-wale corduroy mini, which she wore with a royal blue vintage tee and a brown and white checked shirt. This shouldn't-work-but-does combination is more original. than a conventional composition.

And still, some do co-ordinate, like this young woman at a crosswalk in a pink plaid pleated skirt and brown-and-pink Argyle vest over a white tee. Her white socks even have pink rings at the cuff! Shades of the '70s—and notice her Jean Shrimpton hairstyle. 

Do you see a resemblance?

Behind her, an older woman crossed in dark blue jeans and black shirt. I wondered, will the lass head into darks or retain her playful colour sense?

Other women chose different palettes applied in atypical ways:

Left: She is wearing two different paisley pieces, but the colours relate and her cami unites them.  There's that pink again, this time in her hair! The cami shows her moon-phase tattoo. A lot going on and she pulled off every millimetre.

Centre: An audacious mix: fluorescent sneaker-boots (with lavender socks!), the red stripes, a lime bag, pink abstract-geometric earrings…with a bit of black to ground all that. Whew!

Right: An older woman than the others, in a quieter outfit, What drew me was the floral print on one leg of her white trousers. Her black shirt also has a bronze chrysanthemum about the size of a hand on the lower left side, so the two pieces relate. I wish I knew who made this; to me it's perfect.  

I thought she was a visitor because I heard her talking with her son, who held a guidebook. 

What can our younger sisters teach us? Relax, play, enjoy our clothes. We don't have to imitate any of this (though I would love the white trousers/black shirt), but there is not a boring, generic capitulation in this bunch.