VALUE VILLAGE
A strip of Dundas West is becoming the new hub for vintage shoppers
When the number of dollars you spend on a top often corresponds with the number of days it will remain free of holes, it’s refreshing to find a quality piece for a reasonable price. Fortunately, vintage clothing combines recycling, frugality and uniqueness. And now, vintage connoisseurs have a new spot to look for treasured pieces.
Joining Kensington Market and Queen West as Toronto’s established vintage areas is Dundas West, between Ossington and Dufferin. The emerging retail strip has become a popular destination for stylish thrifters because each vintage store has great finds, but a different atmosphere. The fact that there are no mass retailers nearby doesn’t hurt, either.
The newest kid on the block is Bridge+Bardot (1138 Dundas St. W., 647-748-1138, bridgeandbardot.com), and owners Rose Broadbent, Gagan Bassi and Gurjeet Kaur Bassi are thrilled with their shop’s permanent location.
“We wrote it down!” Broadbent says. “‘ Only Dundas, between here and here.’ It is such a good corner. And there are so many vintage shops both east and west.” Broadbent and the Bassi sisters started selling their reworked vintage pieces in December 2010 at various locations around the city through pop-up shops. The aim was to test the market, with the end goal of a more permanent operation.
Opened just last weekend, Bridge+Bardot is a different kind of vintage store. No strangers to vintage shopping, the trio know that a piece sometimes needs a little tweaking, and they take care of these modifications before pieces go on the rack.
“In the name Bridge+ Bardot, the word bridge is about bridging old and new, recreating these clothes, making them fit for right now,” Broadbent explains.
“We look at each piece and discuss what needs to happen, why would I wear this?” the younger Bassi sister adds. “And then we change it.”
The result of this is dip-dyed denim, studded detailing, new buttons and shorter hemlines, to name just a few alterations. Prices are based on the amount of time spent modifying each piece, but no item exceeds $70.
In addition to modified vintage, Bridge+Bardot carries several new collections of accessories and sportswear, all designed and made locally. It’s these things that make the store an ideal addition to the community along Dundas.
“I love the idea that the neighbourhood is becoming a destination for vintage shoppers,” says Rachel Sheehan of Penny Arcade, just west of Bridge+Bardot. “And I think each retailer offers something very different.” Sheehan, whose store has an antique feel, has been on Dundas West for almost four years. She sees the potential in the area and values the sense of community amongst its businesses.
“This neighbourhood is a good spot,” she says, “and I think that shows when other businesses start moving in.”
Dalston Grey, a vintage shop that has called Dundas West home for only a year, is farther west again. Owner Leah Gust mixes vintage with contemporary pieces, and credits her success to both her product and location. “We’re all competitors, but we’re also all young entrepreneurs, so we need each other,” she says of the collegial neighbourhood.
Sarah Magwood’s eponymous business, Magwood, specializes in vintage formal wear, designer pieces and vintage and contemporary jewellery.
“In the year that I’ve been here, more than half a dozen places have opened within a block radius of me,” Magwood says. “A lot of us are in the same age bracket, and a lot of us socialize together.”
It’s this socializing and support that sets Dundas West apart from its vintage forefathers, Kensington and Queen West. Each proprietor has similar goals, but achieves them in different ways, creating a harmonious community that benefits everyone — especially vintage hounds.