MAGWOOD 1418 Dundas West, 416-818-3975, magwood.ca
Some people like to pick through bottomless thrift-store bins for their vintage, but the best boutiques take care of the digging, cleaning and mending for you. Take Sarah Magwood’s month-old spot at Dundas and Gladstone, for example. Racks are meticulously organized by colour and era, with special sections set aside for designer consignment pieces (yes, that cutaway LBD is mint-condition, 30-year-old Gaultier).
“I’m selling my own aesthetic,” says Magwood, whose charming look landed her on the cover of our fashion issue last fall. Right now, that aesthetic includes silk blouses, high-waisted trousers and loads of cute summer frocks. “Customers will say, ‘I love your outfit,’ and I’ll show them the 40 options in the store that will allow them to put a similar look together.”
Accessories are equally edited and include a wall of leather handbags, sculptural cocktail hats and retro RayBans.
Magwood picks: A lace skirt would have been worn as a petticoat by its original Victorian owner, but today Magwood suggests styling it as a skirt, $285 a pleated bib detail accents a red silk blouse, $45 Magwood’s standout purse is a 40s-era wood and canvas box bag embroidered with beaded birds, $85.
Look for: Magwood’s own jewellery collection incorporating found objects like miniature amber apothecary bottles.
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday 12 pm to 7 pm, Friday 12 pm to 8 pm, Saturday 11 am to 8 pm, Sunday 11 am to 6 pm.
