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Calgary boutiques - Web exclusive

By Karen Ashbee

A fashion round-up for the discerning shopper.

With the recent growth of high-end boutiques in the last year, Calgary has become style-centric. Here’s the lowdown on who’s shopping where.

Who: Urban scenesters who like to make a fashion statement when they enter a room.
Where: Boutik

Kim Stern and Lisa Lawrence, owners of this hip store in Calgary’s Hotel Arts, believe there’s always a reason to look sexy. Intimate and cozy with a boudoir feel (think scented candles and racks overflowing with sensual fabrics in lush colors), Boutik carries sassy clothes that are hard to resist. Case in point: the Pamela dress from Vancouver’s Narcissist line. You’ll never tire of this piece, made from stretch jersey, because it can be wrapped in eight different body-hugging styles. Equally desirable is the floor-length vintage-inspired black wool Glamour coat, trimmed in frills and lined in deep purple, from Montreal’s Spoken.

119 12th Ave. S.W., 403-698-4987, boutikfashion.com

Who: Women whose weekdays involve business meetings and weekends revolve around fund-raisers.
Where: Brown Eyed Girl

This smart 1,000-square-foot boutique in Calgary’s Mission neighborhood caters to lovers of tweed, with a twist. Owner and co-designer Dana Pyke carries her own “contemporary traditional” in-house label of tweed, plaid and stretch wool suits. Inspiring further retail loyalty: Montreal’s Raffinalla’s beautifully tailored wool-blend suits and three-quarter-length chocolate-and-black wrap sweater-coats trimmed in fur from Turkey. And don’t miss Germany's Tuzzi trademark tops embellished with crystals and jeans by Pure Color: an Oprah favorite!

2303 4th St. S.W., #100A, 403-244-7903

Who: Design- and environmentally conscious shoppers who love eclectic fashion with an international feel.
Where: Shed

Fashioned from recycled or reappropriated materials, Shed’s edgy, eclectic products range from jewelry to bicycles to note cards. “We saw that Calgary had nothing like this on the retail scene,” explains owner Dwayne Dobson, “and we wanted to bring an eclectic mix of design-inspired products made from sustainable materials to the community.” Toronto’s SmittenKitten’s vintage wallpaper-covered memo pads with pencil holders and architecturally influenced stainless steel cuffs by local designer Karen Konzuk fit that bill. Earth goddesses will love the hemp boots from Vancouver’s Blackspot, while fashionistas will reach for the Harvey original seat belt bag in black, brown, silver and hot pink.

1022 17th Ave. S.W., #200, 403-245-1702, shed-online.com

Getting here

Tourism Alberta, 1-800-ALBERTA, GoCanadianRockies.com

Photo credit: Shed