Movin' on up to midtown

[attach]1092[/attach]The hipster shopping scene has migrated to midtown.

With the recent opening of two sequel shops on the Yonge Street strip, whose original locations hail from distinctly hip or artsy shopping climes, I’m left wondering: can these stores successfully adapt to the swankier uptown market?

Overwhelming yes where Lavishy is concerned.

I wrote about The Junction-based shop a year ago and was blown away by its chicky baubles. Owner Leo Wang designs and manufactures fab jewellery, wallets and purses. Open Elle, Lou Lou, Wish or any fashion or shopping magazine and you’re bound to find his fashion jewellery creations adorning the models.

The Yonge Street shop opened at the end of October and has a different vibe than its western counterpart. What flies in the Junction is more artsy and less trend-driven than Yonge and Eg, he tells me, and he’s changed his merchandise accordingly.

When I visit in early December, the front display is decked out in blingy on-trend pieces, like the faux jewel-encrusted bib style necklace for around $85. One sparkly champagne-hued pendant necklace, $29.97, was recently featured in Elle Canada.

Though many of the collections are designed here and made in China, Leo and his fellow designers are handmaking more designs in house at this location. These pieces feature semi-precious stones and vintage brooches, and while they may be pricier than their costume counterparts there’s enough selection to please the most varied of shoppers.

The new Flare collection for spring is adorable. One of my faves: a large multi-coloured Geisha girl pendant, named “Masami” after one of the store’s Japanese designers, for under $40.

The day I pop in the real Masami is modeling one of her latest creations, a necklace whose ends are attached to each ear in the form of a fish hook earring. I dig that punk fashion-forward nod.

Pretty vintage clip-on earrings, $29.97 a pair and other baubles Leo has picked up in New York flea markets, have been lovingly curated atop old floral teacups and saucers. The effect is charming and I get the warm fuzzies all over again as I peruse a shelf filled with limited edition jewellery an associate recently picked up in Paris.

I’m crushing on the vintage-inspired necklaces in gold or silver tones featuring multi-charms like cameos and keys, around $30 each.

This place is now bling central for gifts and moi, of course.

2525 Yonge St. main office number 416-767-7472 [url]www.lavishy.biz[/url]

The retail rover in me can’t believe it when I learn The Drake Hotel General Store is opening a second location on Yonge near the Rosedale subway station, only a year after its Queen St. West retail digs launched.

Land of high-end décor and antique furniture shops, this section of the Rosedale strip seems a bit swanky for the downtown cool of The Drake.

Inside, the shop has the same general store feel of the downtown locale, with rustic wood fixturing and flooring, except the feel is more cabin-esque thanks to the smallness of the space. I like that coziness.

Store designers and managers Joyce Lo and Carlo Colacci tell me the strip is up-and-coming, a sentiment that seems a little downtown-smug for me as the area has a well-established shopping cred. They’re more on the mark when they speak of being part of a selection of stores catering to people with great taste.

Some of the wares are exclusive to this store, such as the Pendleton wool blankets from the Chief Joseph collection, $275 for the brightly hued one I’m lusting after. I can see the Rosedale set shelling out for that.

Speaking of shelling out a resin and marble piggy bank coated in bronze is incredibly life-like and life-sized. It’s $320 and will hold mega bucks, I’m told.

There’s not a ton of other merch that’s different from the downtown store, save for the smattering of one-off antiques that rotate in and out on a regular basis. And to be fair, The Drake concept is a brand unto itself and could work without being modified.

Items are as carefully selected and curated as ever, with the same quirky kitsch factor The Drake has popularized. A retro Charlie’s Angels board game is perched high on a timber style shelf. Old Milverton Creamery jugs have been cleaned out and filled with little surprises and sell for 10 bucks each. It’s like a retro loot bag, with history.

And if you want that downtown vibe, pick up the retro two-tone rotary phone and you’ll be connected with The Drake Hotel’s reservation department.

1011 Yonge St., 416-966-0553 [url]www.drakegeneralstore.ca[/url]