Try Shopping Small

I have said it a few times this year; I am determined to shop small and help my clients do the same. There are so many incredible shops around the city and I want to support as many as I can this year. I have also discovered that there are some really great little suburb malls (yep, I said suburb malls). In the last few months I have met clients at Mapleview, Upper Canada, Scarborough Town Centre and Erin Mills Town Centre. Not only was parking a breeze, but they had some great picks that aren’t available downtown.

I shopped for Lauren Conrad inspired clothes at Mapleview, channeled Helen Mirren at Upper Canada, bought above average clothes for work at Scarborough Town and had too much fun shopping for an all black wardrobe with Chic Mamma's Pina Crispo at Erin Mills (we also got slightly side tracked with kids clothes - follow me on Insta for pics of the wee one sporting the outfits). I even bought a vest (below) at Sears! I haven’t been into a Sears since they were in the Eaton Centre and they are definitely doing a great job re-branding. They even have a designer discount section that rivals Winners. Who knew?!

It is so nice to have spaces you can run in to grab pieces without having to pay $24 in parking and spending 1.5 hours in traffic. Not to say I will stop shopping at the larger Malls, it is just nice to know I can send clients elsewhere to grab pieces from their to-do list.

Ultimately, it also helped me realize that even in malls that are a quarter of the size of Eaton Centre I was able to teach clients how to find and dress for their ideal style.

I popped into a few other gems around the city as well. Somewhere in Between on Yonge St has amazing bohemian inspired, and locally designed, pieces by Pink Martini. I also love Narnia for a mish mash of fun pieces. Tusk on Queen West has very cool independent labels from all over the world. Logan and Finley is an old favourite for fashionable eco basics, but now they have an awesome neighbour; Pockets and Pearls. It is filled with unique and vintage and vintage inspired dresses.

So the next time you are heading out to the mall to grab something consider one of the smaller malls in the area. Or pop into a local store to see what they have.

I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised.

Tell me about your favourite stores to pop into!

Your Style Queen,

S.C.