CHARLIE BOUTIQUE, 809 Queen West, 647-436-8452, www.iluvcharlie.com. Rating: NNNNN
CHARLIE BOUTIQUE, 809 Queen West, 647-436-8452, www.iluvcharlie.com.
Sometimes a new store debuts and it’s the same old, same old, and sometimes its launch satisfies the city’s style craving with a heap of new lines. Erin Swan’s Charlie Boutique is one of those trail-blazing openings. With her buying background at shops including Girl Friday and Anne Hung, it’s no surprise Swan’s made so many fashionable discoveries.
She has a bit of a British Columbia-designer fetish, so west coast lines including Dace, Peel and Lily & Jae receive ample rack attention. The BC look means airy fabrics and feminine shapes that mix well with more urban and whimsical fare from Montreal’s Anastasia Lomonova and Ophelie H.A.T.S.
As lovely as the dresses are, Charlie’s breakthrough buy is the Worn Free shirt collection, which reinterprets classic Ts worn by John Lennon and Joey Ramone in vintage washed cotton.
Charlie Boutique picks: Dace’s Ria dress is cut from pale blue cotton/linen with a pinch-pleated poof at its waist, $239 a Lovely Girl wrap dress has a hand-painted look with strokes of bright red and turquoise, $120 an Only Accessories organza ribbon bracelet is strung with black and white striped marbles, $28.
Look for: An always rising number of Canadian labels. Gaya bags from Vancouver are the next arrival.
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday noon to 7 pm, Sunday noon to 5 pm.