parkdale is my new home. i've been here for about two weeks now, but i can barely recall my old digs in the village. here there's a real neighbourhood feel and a true sense of community that i didn't quite catch at church 'n' wells. oh, and there are wonderful shops and cafés left, right and centre.
here are some of my faves:
the future of frances watson. their spring look book incorporated pj harvey lyrics: "look at these my work strong arms/look at these my ruby red lips." what else can i say?!
(
thefutureoffranceswatson.blogspot.com)
the boreal gelato company. i wrote about them for
torontolife.com. lovely owner who's oh-so-keen on the 'hood and the environment. oh, and there's scrumptious gelato! (
borealgelato.ca)
capital espresso. this uber-popular joint has huge windows overlooking the main strip, and had delectable muffins that are quickly wolfed down by patrons. go early. (
twitter.com/#!/capitalspro)
the public butter. vintage (and other) shop with tons of stuff to work your way through. huge sunglasses selection. good fun. (
thepublicbutter.com)
the mascot. great staff who'll offer you delicious chocolate samples when the mood strikes. quirky furniture and curiosities. good magazine selection. jeremy laing spotting.
yup. this is where i'll be on july 26th. the site carries a bunch of up-and-coming canuck designers, a number of whom i saw at FAT alternative fashion week. labels i'm most excited about include breeyn mccarney (breeyn.com), caitlin power (caitlinpower.com), OR by angela chen (orangenyc.com), and, heart's pumping faster now, heidi ackerman, a true fashion maverick (heidiackerman.com).
while up at yonge and eg scouting a store, i stopped into a shoe place and these puppies caught my eye. vibrant cobalt blue wedges made from seamless plastic with a peep toe and an ankle strap? yes please. wedges are perfect for stomping around town in - or biking in - and these ones are padded inside for extra comfort. i do wonder how they would wear in the sun though... pain or not, they're a refreshing take on a summer wedge.
i popped into upc boutique in yorkville yesterday to check out biddell's new (and more affordable) collection, brethren, which saw its debut the night before. much of it had already been snapped up by hogtown's resident biddellites; the remnants included two trains of thought which didn't seem to be particularly connected. slouchy, gothy, urban pieces with shredding and sheer panels were spotted next to far more polite dresses that gave off a 50s vibe. to me they seemed to belong to two different collections; both however were equally as seductive. grey racerback dresses with sheer black edging had an alexander wangish feel, while tops which saw sheer bits extend into a skirt made me long to throw on some high-waisted panties and hit the town. a bronze crinkly dress with a nipped-in waist and an oh-so-high hem would bring a bit of edge to an afternoon cocktail fling. i was slightly put off by the finishing on one garment (a bit of a wobbly stitch), but overall i quite liked what biddell had to offer.
