Fashionwear has always been a fashion service which holds events in the Ruby Foo’s Hotel 4 times during the Fall and again in the Spring. Stock of about 2 dozen lines of female trendy clothes (and SenGence, smudge and waterproof lipstick) are shown each time.

As you try on outfits, you are aided by one of the consultants, who helps you coordinate a wardrobe. Remembering what you bought last time, they try to update your look based on what you already have at home. You can find out the dates of sales by getting on their e-mail or phone-call lists.

Location: The Ruby Foos Hotel (free parking), 7655 Decarie Blvd.   (look for sign in lobby or ask at front desk for their suite)
Corner: Pare
Phone: 514-731-7701
Dates and Times: Tues & Wed, Sept 1st and 2nd, 10-8

If you are unable to make it,you can visit their permanent shop for clothes and giftware:
Fashionwear Shop: Exit 26 off 40 West, 3100 Rte. Harwood,  Centre d’Achats Hudson
Phone: 450-218-1955cell: 514-234-4707
Hours: Tues & Wed 10-6, Thurs & Fri 10-8, Sat & Sun 10-5
www.fashionwearcanada.com

Q1:  Jeans are now part of the wardrobe of clothing for everyone from a newborn to a senior, though we think this a 20th century word, you have other information.

The singular word “jean” is short for jean fustian term for a strong twilled cotton, first noted in sixteenth century texts. Jean is the newer spelling of Jene from Middle English or Gene from Middle French, which is what they called the Italian city Genoa where the fabric hailed from.

You may already know that the word denim derives from “de Nimes”, the city in France where the fabric was made. As far back as the 17th century it was referred to as serge de Nimes, later shortened to serge denim. Denim has evolved to mean both the fabric that makes the jeans and the jeans themselves.

Q 2:  Right now families are concentrating on buying jeans for back to school, what stores would you send them to for good prices?

Superior Pantalon, 69 Boul. St Laurent est  Phone: 514-842-6969. For  85 years, this has been the best known place for Levis fashion jeans, rinse washed and Red Tab Levis (only $45). Nowadays they’ve added True Religion, Mek, Moto, Foxy, Buffalo, Guess, Jack & Jones, Parasuco, Mavi, Calvin Klein and Point Zero for men (up to 46) and women (24-35) , as well as tops and jackets. The best part, besides the great prices and help in selecting the ones that are right for your body, is that jeans can be cut, tapered and hemmed while you wait – for free!

Jeans, Jeans, Jeans, 5525 de Gaspe. Phone: 514-279-3303. Jeans, jeans and more jeans is what you’ll find, once you’ve ventured down below street level to this outlet where they just love to help you find a pair that fits and that you like. In sizes up to 58, they have all the premium denims in brand names you’ve come to know along with tops and  jackets. If you need them, there are $10 and $25 racks. As a special service, they will hem or alter them on the spot for free. Parking is also free in the #5455 underground lot.

Q3: There are kids that will only wear certain brands and the prices are budget busting, is there any help for these parents?

Surplus, 5168 boul. St-Laurent. Phone: 514-948-5005. If you are a Diesel clothing fan, head right over here for 1,000’s of clearance, seconds, samples (women it’s 28, men 32) and some regular discounted stock. Their jeans are here along with 55DSL, True Religion, Seven, Energie, and Miss Sixty. Even better are the 2 times a year when they have sample sales. Other locations: Les Factoreries St-Sauveur, 105 rue Guindon, (450-240-0555);  5249 de la Savanne (514-384-0055).

Males and females who oogle the hot brands of  Guess, Jacky Wilkens, Marciano, Bench, Firetrap, English Laundry, Mexx, Fullcircle, Peppercorn, Schott N.Y.C., Scotch, Kaporal 5, Liz Claiborne will love the 60%-90% off prices at the Premium Retail Group sales. Yes there’s denim of course but also jackets, tops, dresses, hoodies, handbags and footwear.

Location: 4454 Garand corner of Pomba, VSL
Hours: Wed, Sat, Sun 11-5, Thurs & Fri 11-9
Dates: starts Aug 27th until Sept 13th
www.premiumretailgroup.com

Those who must follow a gluten-free diet have to spend a lot of time reading package ingredients. What a relief to be able to shop Les Glutineries and be able to buy anything fresh frozen or canned without worry.  Get ready to chow down on cereals, rice cookies, ice cream, pate, sausages, salad dressing and ready to serve meals: veal meatballs, mac & cheese, Chinese chicken & veggies and lasagne.

Location: 7800 Boul. Tascherau (inside Le Marche Village)
Corner: boul. Rome
Phone: 450-672-2919
Hours: Mon-Wed 9-7, Thurs & Fri 9-9, Sat & Sun 9-6
www.lesglutineries.com

The liquidated stock here was chosen by golf pros from 101 golf boutiques all over Québec. For the past 5 years, at this location hiding behind Taschereau Blvd.,  their ends-of-lines have been gathered together. Expect to find: clubs, shoes and clothing by the major names: Calloway, Taylor Made, Titleist, Ping, Cobra. There’s a netted area to practice your swing and upstairs is more for clothing clearouts: jackets, shorts, shirts (to XXL), shoes. For the latest lines that might be here, you’ll pay a bit  less than the major golf chain in the city. www.entreprogolf.biz

Location:  3970 Mont-Royal, Brossard
Corner: Robillard
Phone: 514-233-8113 or 450-926-8883
Hours: Tues & Wed 10-6, Thurs & Fri 10-8:30, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5
www.entreprogolf.biz

On CJAD 800AM, you can hear me on the Tommy Schnurmacher Show. This is a call-in show for an entire hour so those of you with those important shopping questions, this is your chance to have me answer them.  I will be on Tommy’s show at least once a month. If you miss  the show, you can always write to me here at my website.

Location: CJAD 800AM
Time: 11-12 noon
Date: Mon Aug 24th

Refurbishing giant, J. Sonic is offer us a sale of guy toys.  The enormous warehouse is full of such things as: LCD TV’s from $1488.99 (55″) to only $248 ($24″), Blu-ray $148.99, hard drive camcorder $288.99, hard drive recorder $188.99, home theatre system $278.99 or wood flooring $$.99-$2.49 sq. ft.

Location: 300 Montee de Liesse
Corner: Cote de liesse
Dates Aug 21-23
Hours:  Fri 4-9   Sat & Sun 10-4
www.refurbished.ca

It’s hard in this city to find trendy plus-size clothing. Oppen’s is one of the boutiques that cater to women with larger needs (sizes 14-24) and fabulous looks. If you shop here , you get personal service with wardrobe coordination including lots of mix and match possibilities, and even jewelry and purses to finish off the look.

This Friday and Saturday, a team from Linda Lundstrom will be there with their entire winter outerwear collection. This means you can not only see the entire line but there will be samples in sizes 14-24 to try on (and ones from 6-12 too) and a team from the designer to help you choose and to measure you for correct sizing.

The store is full of well known labels such as Jones NY, Linda Lundstrom, Simon Chang, Conrad C, NYDJ – Tummy Tuck Jeans, Heteroclite, Kokomarina, Conrad C Petite, Spanner, slinky knits and their own Beverly shirts.

Location: 4828 boul. St-Laurent
Corner: Villeneuve
Phone: 514-844-9159
Trunk Sale Hours:  Fri Aug 21: 10-6, Sat Aug 22: 10-5
Regular Business Hours: Tues-Fri 10:30-5, Sat 10:30-5

Q1: With our fabulous weather and the kids enjoying jumping into the pool, it’s almost unfair to take them back-to-school shopping, but schools are opening in less than 2 weeks – do they really have to go shopping now?

A: Yes, especially this year as manufacturers are making less stock. Less stock means less or no repeat orders for the stores, so the styles or sizes you want may not be there later on.

Q2: I’m looking at 27 degrees out there today, does this include snowsuits too?
Yup, snowsuits come in now. The greatest selection is now. There may be very few to choose from if you wait till November.

Q3: You always seem to have secret warehouse stores to score good deals, are there any for kid’s clothing?

Factory Outlet for Children, 8955 boul. St-Laurent at Legendre. Phone:   514-270-1477. Hours: Thurs & Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5. In this huge warehouse space, you can scoop up deals from rows and rows of kids’ (newborn to 16) clothing in full size ranges in lines by Levi’s, absorba, Harley-Davidson, Classic Pooh, Jordan, Dickie’s and Disney, all at 75% off. If you walk towards the right and left walls, you can find clearance sections at even better prices. In the rear, there’s stuff for the parents – Dockers for the guys (shirts, pants, outerwear in S-XL) and HKR casual wear for the girls.

Les Textiles Goldtex,  8875 Salley, Lasalle at boul. Dollard. Phone: 514-365-9699. Hours:  Mon-Wed 10-5, Thurs & Fri 10-6, Sat 9-5. You have to go out of your way to find this superb outlet hidden amongst the factories, but it’s worth it. The multitude of brands found are: Gusti, Krickets, Cora, Deux par Deux and Perry Ellis in sizes from newborn to 18. You can pick up hooded bath towels for only $3 and sleepers 4/$12. The upper mezzanine has fancy party dresses, even for flower girls, suits, tuxedos, outfits for communion and baptism and a school color (navy) code section. There’s Perlimpinpin and Bananafish bedding and lots of bottles, hats and shoes at the front. Baby accessories are by Safety First, Graco, Avent, Dr. Brown and Medela and cribs and strollers by Graco, Safety First, Baby Cam and Perego. Have a look at their dance wear, which includes ballet and tap and jazz shoes, all by Mondor and Leo’s Dancewear.

Q4: What if we prefer to shop in a regular store, can we still save money anywhere?

Bratpack, 1283 Van Horne, at Outremont Ave. Phone: 514-270-7060. Hours: Mon-Wed 10-6, Thurs 10-8, Fri 10-7, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 (no Sun in July). This shop is full of all the latest styles with a European look for children, from underwear to snowsuits. In sizes newborn to 16, you’ll find famous name brands (Deux par Deux, Petit Lem, Gusti, Alphabet, Point Zero, Name It, Elle, Jupa, Girandola, Mexx, Mayoral and Petit Bateau) of domestic lines and European imports, all nicely discounted.  www.bratpack.ca

The Children’s Place, Finally, one of the best fair-priced, fashionable children’s (0-14) clothing chains from the U.S. has landed on our doorstep. Look for the specialty marked racks and then the % off that sales. Timed right, you can often scoop stuff up for under $10 – or even under $5. Locations: Fairview Pointe Claire (514-426-1039) ;Mail Champlain (450-466-9511); Carefour Laval (450-682-1745); Les Galeries d’Anjou (514-351-9109); Place Versailles (514-352-2069); Carrefour Angrignon (514-595-4613). www.childrensplace.com

Oberson is one of the biggest ski stores in Quebec, it stands to reason that they buy a lot of ski equipment. If it all doesn’t get sold by the end of the winter, they gather it together and in August they hold a huge clearance sale. The sale has already started and will go on for a couple of weeks more.

There’s snowboard packages as low as $199.95, and ski & bindings packages can be $329.95. Many brands of ski wear (Descente, Karbon, Bonfire, Orage, Phenix, Spyder) from last year’s collections and ends-of-lines are here too. The right side of the store offers this season’s goods at this season’s prices, including streetwear and bathing suits (Roxy, Quiksilver, Rusty). In the spring, all this changes to in-line skates (Rollerblade, K2, Reebok, as low as $59.99), soccer (Adidas, Lotto, Umbro, Puma) and bikes. They offer snowboard tune-ups and 5 minute ski tune-ups on a new super duper machine.

Location: 1355 boul. des Laurentides, Laval
Phone: 450-669-5123
Hours: Regular plus Sun 12-5
Other location (deals mixed in with new): Brossard,  8025 boul. Taschereau o. (450-462-4040).
www.oberson.com