Nathalie Atkinson's Retail Therapy column, from tomorrow's Toronto Magazine. The autumn instalment of the Clothing Show is this weekend, and there’s the usual assortment of vendors: Vintage stalls from across Ontario and Canada; handmade bags and artisanal jewellery; street wear and major brand-name shoes at deep discounts; and sample- sale booths (great for fussy brand-aware teen clothing shoppers on a budget). My favourite aspect of the show is discovering new and independent designers booths — their enthusiasm is energizing — and often, they’re micro-designers who’ve identified a niche in the market and are creating interesting things to fill it.
Gutsy Dame, for instance, which (aside from a great brand name) creates fashionable plus-size creations, from full-skirted jersey wrap dresses with contrasting trim to silkscreened T-shirts. If the teen (or adult) in your household is more into Emily Strange and Gothic Lolita attire — red pinstripes, vampy Victorian corsets in PVC or cyberpunk outfits (think Angelina in Hackers) — then check out Erin Behl’s Dark Destiny Design. Tara White’s Embody line (embodyclothing.
com) is more Phyllis and Rhoda than Buffy, with groovy ’70s chevron-striped sweaters, and if you miss her at the show, check her out at the Rage, Distill, Nathalie-Roze, Boga Moda, and El Toro in Parkdale. Amber fanatics can head to Ania Healy’s Baltic Bijoux (balticbijoux.com) for handmade, one-of-a-kind amber jewellery set in sterling silver, in a variety of bright colours, not only the classic yellow-orange shade that dates back to 18,000 BC.
In keeping with truly green clothing initiatives — the ones that repurpose materials from secondhand garments and linens into fashionable clothes and accessories, all made locally — there are several vendors whose wares don’t look too DIY-crafty. Joanne Jones from Cambridge uses recycled woolens, leather belts and denim in her line Mined recreations (minedrecreations.com) to create satchels, totes and clutches.
She will also create custom pieces from your own favourite materials, and a portion of sales support a women’s education fund in South Africa. Precocious (precocious boutique.com) by Melody Cebula is equally environmental, and her hooded mini-sweaters (about $80) look great with favourite jeans and T-shirts or over a dress.
In homage to the current craze for ’70s-inspired knit dresses, she’s also got a sweater-vest dress this season, too. For new eco that’s a step up from loungewear, Elroy Apparel (elroyapparel.com) by Vancouver’s Leanne McElroy debuts this season and her bubble-hem dresses and chic separates (like dramatically tailored jackets) are all made from organic fibres.
To top it all off — literally — visit Toronto-based Big It Up’s (bigitup.com) booth for natty pork-pie tweed hats, newsboys, cloches and the wildly popular knit Seattle Slouch knit cap, a cross between a beret and a headwrap. It’s big enough to handle fall’s worst hair days.
• Automotive Building, Exhibition Place, theclothingshow.com, $8 advance, $10 at door, 11 a.m.
to 8 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.
m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday. Photo from Tara White’s Embody line.
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