Shopping for something simple is often the hardest of tasks. Shopping for a party dress can be a case of too many options. As is usually the case, when you add a few restrictions, some shaping parameters to your quest, the creativity flows. The little black dress, that magic female formula, is now pretty much a cliché. That said, we were immediately intrigued when we first saw the little sandwich board peeking out on Tecumseth Street in Toronto, just below Richmond: "Little Black Dress Shop, down the lane to the back courtyard."
We follow the breadcrumbs through the industrial loft zone and up a precipitous staircase to the bright, 500-square-foot space designer Jay Barrigar opened up at the end of October. It's a hit already; of the stock, culled exclusively from local dressmakers, jewellery, bag and wrap designers, plus Barrigar's own line, Quip, little is left of her opening offerings.
Everything is on frantic reorder, and small-scale artisans around town are scrounging for fabric to keep the shop stocked. After a run filling orders for shops across Canada and in New York, Barrigar's own Quip dress also sold out instantaneously on opening. The viscose-knit sleeveless sheath has a V-neck, as Barrigar says, "not too prissy and high, nor too low and revealing. It looks like nothing on the hanger; you have to try it on."
Women are turned off by knits, she says, because they think they are going to be clingy. "That's what happens when they are cut badly." But women designers tend to understand what a woman wants to show off, and what she wants to hide. Her little miracle dress retails for $110, making it democratic, too.
The night dresses by Damzels are standouts, and since they top out at $180, they are also bargains. The lacy, ruched numbers have sweet names like Swan Lake, Giselle and Poemed. "Their muse is a very regular woman, not some woman they don't know with a high income," Barrigar says.
On the sexier side is the awesome I-Style line by Antoinette. A long (floor sweeper) halter dress is cut low and Halston-esque, for $230. It's paired with a golden horseshoe pendant from The Princess and The Party Girl, a line of jewellery made from found items ($260). The same designer makes gold-plated hoops that start at just $25.
Toronto vets Comrags make a basic black sheath ($160) suitable for day to night in a simple crew neck. "The other bonus," Barrigar says, "is that it's washable."
The Comrags line is good for petites, as is Steen, by Christina Remenyi, who also makes sweet little sweaters to go over the dresses.
And since night is all about accessorizing -- and simple dresses particularly need fun add-ons, unless you are Gisele Bundchen -- the Passion line of purses by Sophie Hanson, handmade in velvet with cording and macramé bits, stand out.
As is jewellery by Mashu Mashu (Labradorite with shot-silk velvet), and art pieces by Shannon Hazel, who trained as a sculptor and now makes dramatic jewellery.
My favourite piece in the shop is a kimono top by SDG (for Sushi Design Group), a splurge at $285. It is paired in store with what look like crafty kids' beads by Yuki.
The shop offers very simple pashmina alternatives, such as a cotton-velvet throw for $39. "There's no shaping, no trim, it's just a finished piece of fabric, but there is some body to it," Barrigar says, "so it stands nicely on the shoulders." Because of course we're all getting tired of pashmina droop, aren't we?