Toronto Shopping & Style
Three Toronto style setters take us on a tour of their top stops for fabulous finds.
Some stores are so stunning that you wish you could move in – so chock full of fabulous finds you return again and again (and again). Which ones? Glad you asked. We’ve found three experts (in beauty, artisanal work and home décor) to reveal the stores that are sure to intrigue, excite and delight.
By Sara Cation
Beauty Bests
As Body Care editor of Canada’s first digital beauty magazine, The Kit, Deborah Fulsang has her perfectly manicured finger on the pulse of Toronto’s best beauty boutiques. With 20 years in the biz under her belt, Fulsang admits, “my cupboards runneth over. I’ve even overheard my six-year-old daughter whisper to her friends, ‘Mommy has a whole closet of makeup!’” And those closets will attest: Fulsang knows where to find the city’s best in beauty.
“I love the breadth and depth of the fragrance section at Shoppers Drug Mart,” says Fulsang. The titan drug chain is also a veritable Candyland of cosmetics, including the colourful Canadian brand, Quo.
On Bloor Street West – an area that just underwent its own multimillion-dollar makeover – Fulsang goes to Guerlain Boutique to “explore the history of perfume, sample the greats and get completely caught up in the romance of that awesome and abstract world,” but visits Chanel to buy her favourite fragrance, Coromandel. She also loves designer department store Holt Renfrew for perfume and pamper products from prestige labels Tom Ford and Jo Malone. Just north, in Yorkville, Noor Boutique is a gem “for special gifts and those who have a passion for perfume.” The Clarins Skin Spa – “so French and so good” – is a must for mani-pedis.
For beauty beyond the Yorkville border, visit the European-inspired Murale at the Shops at Don Mills where, Fulsang says, “they take the art of beauty seriously.” At Yonge and Eglinton’s Delineation Hair and Skin Essentials, they “were sourcing the best niche brands before it was cool to do so.”
And to revive your weary soles at the end of the shopping day, plunge into pampering at the water-centric spas, Stillwater or Body Blitz, where Fulsang loves to just “zen out in the pool.”
Art and Folk Art
Sometimes the most meaningful souvenirs are those unique local treasures you can’t find elsewhere. “The worst thing is to not buy something when you’re travelling and then regret it,” says Cobi Ladner, the former editor of Canadian House and Home magazine who now runs a web-based consultancy and is creator of the Ladner Style line of products for home. “I have a painting that I bought at a flea market in Paris. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I’m so glad I did!” she says. So in Toronto, where can you unearth those one-of-a-kind treasures to take home?
Roncesvalles Village has long been a favourite hideaway for stylish second-hand stores ranging from ‘junk’ to ‘antique.’ Pickwick’s Choice and The Queen West Antique Centre are well-known faves. “It’s gritty,” Ladner admits, “but I like to picture the local hands the pieces have gone through.”
From Roncesvalles, forge east on Queen to Made You Look, showcasing unique handmade jewellery by more than 100 local designers (Ladner’s fave is MoonRox). Sister stores Arts on King and Arts on Queen also showcase a well-curated collection of local art from jewellery to sculpture to original paintings. And if you’re in town at the start of March or December, the One of a Kind Show and Sale – a sprawling haven of local craft – is where to go “for those who are hard to buy for,” says Ladner.
If you’re an art aficionado seeking to expand your collection – or to simply take-in local talent – visit The Distillery Historic District (dating back to 1832) for artisanal boutiques and nearly a dozen galleries promoting emerging artists. In Forest Hill village, Art Interiors champions affordable local art. “The girls who run it really know their stuff,” adds Ladner. And her buying tips? “If it’s a really cool thing that you know is unique and you know you won’t find at home – and it can fit in your suitcase – you’re not going to regret it!
Home Décor Haunts
Tamara Robbins Griffith, managing editor of Style at Home and Canadian Gardening magazines, decorated her own bedroom at age 10, and at 17 she oversaw the renovation of her parents’ basement – from flooring to furnishings – into her own bachelorette pad. So this Toronto native knows the city’s hottest home décor shopping haunts.
“Elte is an amazing mecca of everything,” gushes Robbins Griffith of the sprawling North York institution that celebrated its 90th anniversary last year and carries lines from Thom Felicia to Ralph Lauren. “Like walking through a museum, it’s inspiring just to be there,” she says. While in the neighbourhood, visit Elte’s stunning sister stores, Ginger’s Bath and Summerhill Hardware, and stop in at The Door Store for its “fantastic selection of vintage and salvaged hardware and antique doors,” Robbins Griffith adds.
On the other end of the city, King Street East boasts a design district of more than 25 stores in five short blocks. Trianon “is the place you go for a statement piece,” says Robbins Griffith; EQ3 is a haven for basics; Filter, just off of King St., is filled with the young and the hip; and Modern Weave “has the most splurge-worthy, silk-and-wool carpets you’ll ever see – and their contemporary rugs are to die for.”
On and around Queen Street West, Robbins Griffith loves Quasi Modo Modern as “the essential one-stop shop for everything cool from the mid-century,” Stylegarage for its selection of customizable Canadian-made furniture, and the flagship shop of Virginia Johnson, an internationally acclaimed Canadian textile designer whose resume includes illustrating for Kate Spade. “Virginia’s someone to watch,” says Robbins Griffith.