1234 Bloor has you paying less and loving more. 

text-and-style by: Michelle Kuran 

It’s the Summer of ’69. It’s your red leather/letter day- POUND-it sisters and brothers, mamas and papas. The Queen West boutique that really rules, 69 Vintage (1100 Queen West, 415-516-0669), is now twofold, taking on a second, second-hand hotspot-shop; trying out basement floor living on Bloor and trading in price tags for pounds on a scale. Where/ wear little black numbers are sold for little receipt numbers: your 15-minutes of fame for 15 dollars per pound!   

69’s classy-crafty chief clothier, Kealan Sullivan, gives more than she takes because she wants to see her patrons of pleated paisleys and dreamy dresses radiate. Sullivan is pretty down to earth, yet crazy in love with all things out of this world; her style-sense has no sky, no limit. “To pull it off, you’ve got to put it on,” the wide-eyed wonder whistles while she works.  

Only one, two, three-weeks-old, By-the-Pound (1234 Bloor, 416-516-1234) has brimming bins and rattling racks of wild cards inside. From Mexican Mariachi band vests to marriage/Band of Gold ceremony cute-fashions, plushy pieces perfect for playing pretend in to Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders pushy attitude meets attire, you’ll want to cut this 69 daughters’ deck again and again, ripping through the rails then to the scale.  

Calling all shapes and sizes, widths and wits, Ferris Bueller’s and Farrah Fawcett’s, Bowie’s and Blondie’s, this basement boutique is your Cheap Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays. From noon to 6 p.m. bus, bike or dance barefoot to Bloor and Brock, so you can pick sweet summer deals like a bouquet of lilacs and buttercups.  

Pound-it one: Mariachi vest, clowning-around brooch and striking lightening-bolt necklace for $8.48 (tax included)

Pound-it two: flower-girl dress, springs-back sling-backs and braided belt for $16.95 (tax included)