Toronto Is a Capital Place for Bargain Hunting

There’s more than one reason to shop Toronto. This city’s chic and sophistication may surprise first-time visitors. Others know that the capital of Ontario is one of the finest shopping cities in North America. Shops offer a vast variety of up-to-date merchandise, unusually friendly service and, with the dollar still pulling an advantageous exchange range, incredible bargains.

The city has many notable shopping areas. One of the best is Queen St. West, especially along the strip between John and Spadina. The area is close to the Ontario College of Art and developed as graduates of that acclaimed school began to open shops to show their wares and sell primarily to their peers. Soon the public at large discovered the trendy clothing and gift boutiques, with their unique styles and objects. Queen St. West is now packed on weekends, with people of all ages and income brackets looking for the latest fashions, especially those by up-and-coming Canadian designers.

One of the most popular shops for men’s and women’s fashions is Club Monaco (No. 403), the outlet for designer Alfred Sung’s sportswear line. An affable host holds out a sack full of bubble gum as you enter, and you shop and chew your way through the spacious store to the entertaining beat of soft rock music.

The clothes are stylish, comfortable and long-lasting. Take for example the tan flannel trousers ($55), to be topped off with a wool cable-stitch sweater in one of a dozen bright colors ($38) and matching wool scarf ($18), sox ($4). A natural leather belt can be purchased for $15. There are buckskin oxfords in pink, tan, brown and black ($45), and canvas parkas in black or white ($93) or denim jackets with leather collars ($90). Leather hunting bags come in pink, green, brown, navy and black, with natural leather trim ($45 to $75, depending on size).

High-Style Menswear

Boomer (No. 309) features high-style menswear of Hoax Couture. There are unusual wool knit riding pants ($100) and modified sailor pants with additional pockets and cinched waist ($100). Other Canadian labels include Carbonnel (with wonderful big sweaters) and Jim Searl. There are also hand-painted silk ties by Vivi Ramu ($20).

Metropolis (No. 319) has interesting men’s and women’s clothes by a group of independent Canadian designers. Men’s wool waist-length jackets ($70) and calf-length dusters ($100) are good buys, and work nicely with an assortment of finely tailored cotton slacks ($30). Women’s fashions feature a lot of herringbone tweed, including miniskirts that zip up the front ($30) and jumpers ($60), with matching pill box hats ($12).

Marilyn Brooks Boutique (No. 383) offers fine fashions by this top Canadian designer (she was born in Detroit, now lives in Toronto), whose collection has a lot of color-coordinated knits in blue, green, rose and black, with matching accessories and hosiery. The straight skirt ($45), tunic top ($55), double-breasted shirt ($70), balloon pants ($42) and wonderful coat dress ($75) would outfit a short trip, without requiring much baggage or expense. There are also dressy dresses and warm coats.

Unique Styles

At Fashion Crimes (No. 395), designer Pam Chorley shows her unique styles (she describes them as a combination of Victorian, postmodern and western influences) in mostly black-and-white lightweight wool or cotton jersey, or in interestingly patterned fabrics (zebra is a favorite, for example). Coordinated tops and bottoms are about $30 to $55, matching hats are $15. In addition there are gold and silver lame slinky dresses. The interesting accessories include black and silver belts and huge earrings, with bucking broncos dangling from sheriff’s badge studs ($20).

At B. Scene (No. 352) Toronto designer Brenda Beddone has a distinctive collection including twill riding pants in tan, with buttons running up the sides of the legs ($45), double-breasted blouses with metallic fabrics ($45), zippered knee-length cardigans (($50) and balloon pants in denim or gray ($50). The gray suede slacks are soft and supple, full-fashioned and reasonably priced at $100.

Several Canadian designers are featured at Ruth Lockhart’s Atomic Age (No. 350). Tess has a line of classy, dressier women’s clothes. Her miniskirted black wool dinner dress ($100) has an unusual elongated peplum. Tess also makes skirts, suits, shirts and other dresses. Zarb is another designer whose knit coordinates have slits and buttons in unexpected places. Skirts, tops and dresses are $48 to $120.

Collection of Coordinates

A fun collection of coordinates for women and children are sold at Finally (No. 391), where designers Candace Castro and Alice Beninger show their line of sweat shirt dresses with leather trim ($65) in blue, white and olive, or with buttons down the front ($70). For children, they carry the Peanut Power label’s colorful sweat shirts with patchwork applique ($18) and charming school dresses and coordinates, as well as Angi Venni’s slacks or skirts with matching tops in unusual puzzle pattern fabrics ($18 each) or a patchwork pantsuit, with little dinosaur silhouettes scampering over the white patches ($35, the set).

Koochee (No. 324) and La Cache (No. 346) are great sources for clothes imported from India. Each has its own label of cotton and/or rayon fashions, mostly loose-fitting comfortable clothes with contemporary styling. Prices are reasonable in both. Koochee has functional cotton great coats in textured, almost tweedy fabrics with earthy colors ($100), large cotton duffle bags ($25), cotton trousers with knee pockets ($30), as well as pant suits and shirts and a large selection of accessories. La Cache has some great corduroy slacks and tops in black and colors ($35 each), as well as varied floral and plaid patterned dresses and suits. The sale rack at La Cache is always a source for great bargains.

Queen St. West shoe stores also offer great value. Twinkle Toes (No. 320) sells men’s loafers with leather soles and tassles ($70) and ladies’ leather oxfords with patent leather wing tips ($60), as well as other trendy styles for casual and dressy occasions. Next (No. 340) has well-made and stylish boots, combining leather and suede ($100), as well as great leather bags, including satchel cases with double buckles and shoulder straps ($60), and a full range of pocketbooks in leather and suede in brown, black, gray, dark green and navy, as well as gold and silver metallics ($35 to $70) by M. Frederic of Montreal.

No Shortage of Shops

For those who tire of shopping for clothes, Queen St. West has no shortage of gift shops. One of the best is Zephyr (No. 292), a shop filled with an array of sea shells, glassware, handmade mobiles and wood carvings. For children, there are handmade puzzle name plates, made by Mazooma, in which each letter is another animal or group of animals. The puzzles cost $18 for a four-letter name, longer names cost more. The puzzles are made on order. Mazooma also makes animal puzzles, many of which are actually three-dimensional pieces of sculpture. Zephyr carries an unusual wooden rocking duck (a variation of species on the rocking horse) with a smooth finish and subtle, naturalistic coloring ($250).

Urban Paper (No. 423) has all kinds of fun greeting cards, just in case you suddenly remember that you forgot your boss’s birthday or your cousin’s anniversary. There are also small gift items.

And, last but not least, Queen St. West has some exceptional book stores. Bakka (No. 282) has an extraordinary collection of new and used science fiction and fantasy, including some rare and out of print titles. Edwards (No. 356) has a huge listing of art books at discount prices, as well as other categories, including literature, history and current releases.

About Books (No. 280) is a used book store with all categories of titles and an especially large selection of out-of-print literature and first editions. New and collector’s comic books are found at the Silver Snail Comic Shop (No. 367), with an upstairs section devoted to three-dimensional cartoons in the form of robots, supermen, dinosaurs and other build-them-yourself creatures of various stripes.

Prices quoted in this article reflect currency exchange rates at the time of writing.