House of Vintage Summer Kick-Off Party

On Thursday June 14, Parkdale’s House of Vintage hosted one of its two annual parties. Last night’s party celebrated the opening of a new by-appointment-only boutique located in the shop’s basement. Pick a brand and a sexy decade from the last century and owner/buyer Dennis Adamidis has something for you. . At the end of the tour I was shown what I have since been told was a 1940s monkey fur bolero because A) I’m not a monkey fur expert and B) I had no idea what a bolero was (bolero = fancy cardigan!).

With beer graciously provided by the Great Lakes Brewery, delicious food with an Asian twist catered by Snacks Catering and Jared Lee Bengson as DJ, everything was in place for a great evening – thanks to Esther Kim Event Planning. Also helpful: a strong AC system that managed to keep the full house icy cool. The stylish crowd had no choice but to have a good time while checking out items to come back and buy after the party.

House of Vintage has been at Queen and Dufferin for over three years (and was at Queen and Portland for five years before that) and opened a second location in London, England in 2010.

I asked Dennis what looks are hot for this season and he replied, “PATTERNS!” So there you have it. I also tried to get him to pick a favourite between London and Toronto but he wouldn’t go there. He did say that London has a more extreme vintage culture, the kind where people will drop a lot of money to be period perfect for a Mad Men party whereas here we would tend to throw together something that’s close enough. Londoners (or at least TV characters from London) also tend to commit suicide when they get fired (miss you Lane) so whatever.
Anyways, here are some attractive photos of attractive people doing attractive things. While looking good at it.