Photo by Stephanie Fysh from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. All along Queen Street West, consciously kitschy cuckoo clocks are ticking down to tomorrow's grand opening of Toronto's sophomore Urban Outfitters. Just west of Spadina, but still east of cool, the kaleidoscopic shop takes up residence on the far end of what is fast becoming the strip mall stretch of Queen. Little problem: that block, and the accompanying teenage wasteland demographic, has been ruled by......

When Kealan Sullivan was 22, she never wore the same thing twice. The 69 Vintage owner would throw together an outfit at Value Village, trash it on the town, and toss it in her closet at the end of the night, never to see the flash of a camera again. An undisclosed number of years later, she's cleaning out that closet—and the basement of her beloved Queen West boutique—to indulge the fickle desires of......

Miss Rowe Fall/Winter 2008. Photos courtesy of Miss Rowe. Ashley Rowe had nothing to wear. Then 24, she was a big city girl with the big interview at the big Bloor Street store every clothes-lover dreams of calling home: Holt Renfrew. Well, their clothes were just too expensive, and H&M? She loves it. Who doesn’t? But... it’s H&M. So, Miss Rowe designed her own collection and called it just that. "I wanted to make......

If you thrill to the authenticity of a one-of-a-kind vintage find, but could do without the authentic experience of digging through a factory-sized, moldy basement-scented Value Village for hours on end, you’ve probably already discovered Upside Dive Inc. And if not, you’re about to have a moment. Bicycles and biker jackets, desk chairs and secretary dresses, sunburst clocks and butterfly shades... Upside Dive is a purveyor of all things preloved, a one-stop wonder emporium founded......

Showdown's hot picks for cold season include cropped leather jackets and cute jumper dresses. Photos courtesy of Showdown Vintage. Why Showdown Vintage isn't like Toronto's 1348 other vintage stores: 1. It's not really a store. Staysail Shedd, Mick Jackson and Andrew Pepall launched Showdown as an eBay retailer in April 2006, using their combined years of vintage-picking expertise to sell the coolest of Toronto's castoffs to customers all over the globe. But with a......

In an age of hipster irony and shirts to match, the Joy T-Shirt Project and its slogan, "Wear the World on Your Heart," seem impossibly sincere. But the "we're all connected" paradigm rings true: each shirt features the face of a real person—not Paris or Perez, but Sonya from Toronto or Sabry from Algeria, or one of over a hundred others in the online catalogue—hand-drawn and silk-screened over the wearer's heart. "It's more than just......

Two big name/big chain clothing lines landed in Toronto this week—one at Holt Renfrew on Tuesday, the other at H&M this morning. To determine which "limited edition" collection is for you, dear fast-fashionista, here's a little quiz: 1. Who's your personal style icon? A) Kate Moss B) Jennifer Lopez 2. Favourite fashion model? A) Kate Moss B) Jessica Stam 3. Most influential figure in pop culture this decade? A) Kate Moss B) Beyoncé Results......