We started off the day with food - of course. One thing you'll learn about me is my love affair with food. I'm pretty sure I enjoy it too much for my own good. My friend Amanda hooked us up with this restaurant up in Yorkville called "Ciao!", which apparently specializes in wine - something I have a fickle relationship with. Anyways, it turned out that the restaurant was a part of something called "Summerlicious", which is where participating restaurants will set aside a pre-set menu for $15-$25! What a brilliant idea :) Ours was an unexpectedly large three course meal that left us with a second trimester food baby (attractive, right?) (Sidebar: Kate Beckinsale walked into the restaurant with her family as well!)
We then headed down to Kensington market, strolling the streets, peeking in and out of the different stores to see what treasures we could find. You wouldn't think so because it's such a character environment, but Kensington market is nestled right in the heart of downtown Toronto, hiding away in a little nook that is easily missed if proper attention is not paid. I felt almost as if I was in a marketplace in some foreign country, with vendors offering various goods and treats ripe for the bartering. Thanks to the recommendations of my friend Evan, we were able to navigate the community somewhat efficiently, popping in and out of the stores that had worked well for him in the past. I found a couple pairs of sunglasses (pictured above) in a store called Bungalow, as well as some great little accessories from a unique little place called Courage My Love. I'm kind of obsessed with this whole European scarf/losange look right now, so I picked up a couple bandanas from the store ($1 each!). I've been looking for a good place to find some unique and interesting buttons lately as well. A trick you can do if you want to spruce up your casual look is get a well-fitted blazer and replace the buttons with antique or vintage ones, making for a different and, if done properly, expensive look! I found these little wooden buttons carved into the shape of a rose blossom and thought they would look pretty cool on a cardigan or light blazer!
A closer look
Although I didn't end up finding any garments, I almost prefer purchasing accessories when vintage shopping over clothing. You can really find unique pieces that are different from the standard marketplace offerings in a mall. With clothing, at least with my previous experience, when I do find pieces that I like, I'll 99% of the time end up taking them to the tailors to get them fitted (proper fit = priority #1!!!), which is a huge pain in the badonkadonk! After stopping by somewhere for a quick bite to eat (my friend Isabelle found a cookie made with bacon that, to her surprise, was quite good - apparently), the stores eventually started to close and we made our way out of the rabbit hole that is Kensington market to see what else we could find.
Bad Ass Bitches.
We then made our way to Queen Street West for what remained of our day. I tell you, there are not enough hours in the day when you need to get things done! Or maybe our rush can be attributed to the fact that we didn't actually get to Kensington until 3pm! Oops. Anyway, there's a great luxury vintage store there called REmix Clothing, owned by a sprightly and charming guy named Saleem. Let me warn you, he's a good salesman! He could sell an eskimo snow (or however the saying goes). Isabelle found a GREAT pair of Jeffery Campbells (above) that I thought had the perfect combination of attitude and class - absolutely perfect for the summer! I also found an orange Hermès cuff that I'm debating getting someone for their birthday. But it's a little difficult when you don't know how big said person's wrist is, who is also conveniently located across the country. Sigh.
We then ended the night at this place on King called the Beer Bistro, feasting on cheese fondue (for my first time!) and various lagers from around the world. You'll have to excuse me now while I summon my crane to lift me off this chair!
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