What is Toronto wearing this season? We hunted through some of our favourite summer hangouts for hot fashion inspiration and boiled down the standout looks to these 10 essential buys.
1. Clear sunnies
In a season so saturated with colour, it’s not surprising that guys and gals are craving palette-cleansing accessories and sourcing sunglasses in clear to smoky acetate like these RetroSuperFuture frames ($210, Rapp, 788 College, 416-537-6590, rapplimited.com).
2. Jean jacket
For cool summer evenings, skip the hoodies and sweaters and pick up a classic jean jacket. This well worn version is by Fidelity ($200, Body Blue, 199 Danforth, 416-778-7601, and other, bodyblue.ca).
3. Short A-line skirt
Don’t skirt the mini issue and be turned off by too-tight styles. Gap’s drawstring ikat print skirt ($59.95, 60 Bloor West, 416-921-2225, and others, gapcanada.ca) and other fuller, shorter options let you show some leg and move at the same time.
4. Walking shorts
The multitude of knee-length options out there suggests the short shorts pushers have finally been bested. If you’re one of the few who miss showing those extra inches of thigh, though, Topman’s blue cotton pair ($56, The Bay, 176 Yonge, 416-861-9111, and others, thebay.com) can easily be rolled up.
5. Signature summer dress
Whether your look is perfectly coiffed rockabilly pin-up or simply minimal, there’s a summer dress you’ll wear day after day out there for you. Dalston Grey has a great selection of vintage options like this apple-motif polka-dot print shirt-dress ($34, 1317 Dundas West, 416-840-5447, dalstongrey.com).
6. Red stripes
Breton stripe tops are classically navy and white. Since it’s quite possible you already have a few of those in your regular summer rotation, why not try a cream and red pick (Philip Sparks polo, $195, 162 Ossington, 647-348-1827, philipsparks.com)?
7. PJ-inspired tops and bottoms
The trick to pyjama dressing is looking like you didn’t just roll out of bed. That doesn’t mean pieces like this H&M top ($59.95) and shorts ($49.95, both 1 Dundas West, 416-623-2090, and others, hm.com) won’t be as comfy to wear as those you wake up in.
8. Suede loafers
You may already own a multitude of mandals or feel flip-flops are the only summer shoe for you, but why not give a slouchy pair of car shoes like these Ted Baker loafers ($195, Heel Boy, 773 Queen West, 416-362-4335, heelboy.com) a try? We bet you’ll be hooked when you realize people don’t have to recoil at the sight of your gnarly toes.
9. Flat sandals
There is a peculiar phenomenon on summer shoe store shelves called the “flatform.” Those heel-less platform shoes make us wonder, if classic sandals like these Minimarket flats ($245, Robber, 863 Queen West, 647-351-0724, robberstore.wordpress.com) ain’t broke, why try to fix them with something so fugly?
10. Floral bag
In beach bag, purse or clutch form, a nice pop of floral is a an easy way freshen up the hot summer buys already stashed away in your closet (Nine West Brite Side clutch, $85, eLUXE.ca).
Photos by David Hawe and Stefania Yarhi