The Vintage Clothing Guide

Toronto is a big vintage city. It may even rival New York in the pounds of vintage clothing per capita. Apart from the 90s when the city produced metaphysically bad raver wear (Montreal didn’t escape that DON’Ts orgy either), Toronto has always had a great selection of vintage stores. Here are some of the better shops to visit this summer: 69 VINTAGE (1100 Queen St. W.) It’s a bit on the expensive side but the belts are nice. After you spend an arm and a leg, you can go right next door and spend even more money getting shit-faced at their bar the Social.  BLACK MARKET (319 Queen St. W. and 256 A Queen St. W.) These are two stores across the street from one another. We call this side “the boys side.” On the south side is… you guessed it, “the girls side.” This is probably the least expensive store out of the whole lot. Jeans are about $10. Great sales Wednesdays and Thursdays. BRAVA (483 Queen St. W.) You won’t have to chat with the shop owners because you’re not even gonna get eye contact. Works for us. Their men’s boots are flossing. Don’t walk but run and get your clueless boyfriend into them. CIRCA 40 (456 Queen St. W.) Remember those old pics of your grandma at parties in the 40s and 50s? She looked hot, you felt lucky to be related to such a babe. Go to this shop and make your future kids proud. COURAGE MY LOVE (14 Kensington Ave.) This place is epic. How about the name? Hippies founded it in the 60s (OK, maybe a bit later but the myth shall live on). It’s family run. The jewelry is one-of-a-kind (they have bracelets made by Caucasian natives. What race are they?) This is a bit more than just a shop: It’s the closest thing we will ever get to that better time. And go for a wander around Kensington, there are a lot of other great vintage shops in there like Flashback and Dancing Days. DENIS’ HOUSE OF VINTAGE (571 Queen St. W.) Expensive and they think they’re really fucking cool, but they do get dibs on some of the best rag houses in the city.

STELLA LUNA (1627 Queen St. W.) Another gem. It has weird hours, whenever the owners feel like waking up. Go throw rocks at their windows. It’s worth it. TRIBAL RHYTHM (248 Queen St. W.) Bad name and when you first walk in you’ll think “What is this Le Chateau bullshit? I came to do some serious fucking vintage shopping, motherfucker.” And then you catch a glimpse of the back racks and you’re like “OK. Cool.” VALUE VILLAGE(S) (all over town) This is truly the Canadian experience. It use to be a secret among die-hard vintage lifters, then the JAPs started asking the broke kids where they got their outfits and since then it’s been raped and pillaged by trend-obsessed Jewish chicks in track pants. P.S. They still claim they “never find anything.” You gotta have vision, bitch. Be careful, you may walk out with some freaky shit. Shit you can’t believe anyone would ever create or buy in the first place, or buy again, but you just did.  THE OLD CLOTHING SHOW (the C.N.E. grounds) You missed this vintage clothing equivalent of a monster truck rally that happens every year in one of the big buildings down at the Ex because it just happened. (May 14-15). Remember this for next summer.