Going to Montreal with my husband's boss and wife for the wekeend. Spending a day shopping and going out for a couple of dinners - one casual, one more upscale. I don't have a lot of "dress-up" clothes as I'm a stay at home mom. Please help me with my wardrobe choices for the weekend! I'm desperate to make a good impression on my hubby's boss's wife!

Hi Stephanie - Just for fun we stayed at the Ritz last time in Montreal - and some people were quite casual. I say stick to basic simple, non-wrinkle wool- you CAN'T go wrong with a pair of great fabric black pants or skirt and change the top - a big turtle neck would be fine for casual, or white blouse and blazer- whatever your style is - the shopping is FABULOUS so you could always pick up something there- I think classic styles, like Eileen Fisher travel well and always look classy.The younger Montreal is very trendy, and black is always in fashion.Hope this helps (where are you eating?) have a great trip

Stephanie, I agree with Donna. Basic black wardrobe - with cream or camel accents. Black dress slacks,dkirt and turtleneck or twin sweater set. A string of pearls (good fakes are fine, or borrow), earring, a sophisticated silk scarf and some nice shoes - heels for evening, loafers for day shopping. You can't go wrong with basic black regardless of where you go.

FYI, since Stephanie didn't get any responses here quickly, she moved the discussion to the US board. It would be interesting to see how many Montrealers think the advice given (based on NYC rather than Montreal) seems "on target"

I checked out the post on the US board and stephanie sure got a lot of responses. One thing is obvious-the people over there were a lot more concerned with trendy clothes -more so than the people here (although only a few!). I think dressing for big cities is vastly over-rated. Nothing wrong with a nice pair of wool pants and loafers-on the US board this was a total no-no. It must be hiphugging, flares with boots! nothing else will do! I was in New York earlier this year and saw lots of people on the streets in jeans!

While browsing this site and the US and Europe forums, I find this one to move slowly all the time. There just aren't as many posters. I don't think it has anything to do with clothing, you will notice most of the posts on here have few replies compared to all of the posts on those forums.<BR>

I also looked at the US discussion of this and I guess I'm just out of the loop--I don't get it! I understand wanting to dress for the city if you're from a suburban or rural area, but I certainly wouldn't go out to buy a whole new bunch of clothes I wouldn't otherwise wear. There are always things that can be adapted for travel to different places and still usable "back home". <BR>Every time I've been in Montreal,like most big cities I've been to, I've noticed people to be dressed in a wide range of styles--that's the beauty of a big city! Stephanie, get a nice dressy outfit that you can wear again, but for the daytime excursions, stick to black or camel or navy pants, a sweter and a simple jacket. You can always get an updated look with some interesting ethnic jewelry. Buy boots if you think you'll wear them (again, black low heel boots are always in style) but if all you have is black loafers, wear those.

I agree with other posters that basic black is always good. Since she is going with her husband's boss and his wife, she should want to dress "smart" but not trendy and in clothing she will be comfortable in and wear again. On our trips to Montreal, it seems like 90% of the women are in black and not too many trendy outfits. At least not wear we go. A nice black outfit can be dressed up or down and will be in style for more than a season.

Stephanie, I read your post and all the replies on the U.S. board. You mentioned owning and hoping to wear a pea coat while out shopping in Montreal. I just spent three days in Toronto and pea coats seemed to be worn by a lot of people and I certainly saw a lot of them in store windows. Maybe you don't need to run out and a buy a new coat after all!