BEYOND WINDOW SHOPPING: UNCOVERING FIVE TREASURES ALONG ONTARIO STREET

PREAMBLE & PHOTOS BY CHRIS TIESSEN

The leisurely activity of sauntering storefront to storefront, gauging shops’ wares through glass from the promenade of a bustling thoroughfare – downtown Stratford’s Ontario Street is built for this. In this festival city that caters to upwards of two million out-of-town visitors each year, the proprietors of small businesses along Ontario (and so many other walkable streets in and out of Stratford’s downtown core) have perfected the art of dressing windows. Building out themes. Tying colours together. Communicating the language of style and fashion and alluring aesthetics through framed panes of glass.

In late October the TOQUE team traveled to Stratford for a day of delving into the centre of a handful of Ontario Street shops – each one representing a particular facet of what downtown Stratford’s incredible boutiques have to offer. We came to the realization that while the exquisite window displays along Ontario might satiate a certain materialistic lust in Stratford’s flaneuring hordes looking to fill an hour or two between performances at Festival Theatre, it’s what’s inside these shops that truly deserves attention. Like some sort of Fabergé egg, each shop gets more beautiful the further inside you get.

We visited WERK-SHOP – a wonderfully- curated haven of Herschel toques, Japanese denim, Swiss army knives, G-Shock watches, Fjallraven bags, and other hip-centric kit. And Watson’s Chelsea Bazaar – a fourth-generation family retail business that specializes in exquisite tableware, houseware, and gifts of all sorts. We also made our way into La Osa Jewelry + Vintage – a destination boutique that offers the funkiest jewellery, vintage clothing and footwear, and Canadian-made goods. (When you visit, by the way, make sure to check out the shop’s mind-blowing ornate wooden ceiling.) We darted to Got It Made Stratford – a cozy boutique featuring over seventy-five Ontario creatives’ hand- made wares. (Don’t sleep on the crocheted infant high-tops.) And, finally, we checked out Wills And Prior – the most delicately scented, fantastically comfortable mecca of fashionable home and lifestyle commodities.

Next time you’re in Stratford, don’t miss dropping into these five boutiques – among so many more. Because while window shopping might briefly interest you, there’s a richly textured world brilliantly poised to charm and delight you inside.