Stealth Shopper: Gilding the Lily nails the eclectic-classic-rock-star-European vibe
Gilding the Lily looks like Georgia O’Keeffe’s salon if she’d taken up jewelry making. There is a cow skull hanging on one of the reclaimed wood walls; a steamer-trunk coffee table; faux fur pillows on a distressed leather couch; and a wickedly crude wooden chair at the entrance, from Zenporium in Leslieville and available for sale at $2,500. Call it sophisticated rustic.
The shop has been open since June, brainchild of L.A. stylist Annie Jagger and named after her daughter Lily. There is definitely an L.A. vibe; the bijoux range from delicate to funky and can go from jeans and white tee to LBD.
Jagger says she was going for “eclectic, classic, rock star and European.” She nailed it.
At the front, a display of the hippy-dippy fringe and Moroccan-feel bags still on everyone’s hit list. They are hand-crafted in California by former stylist Camille Simone but have a meet-me-at-the-oasis vibe ostensibly because they are crafted from wedding sashes, wall hangings and tribal costumes sourced from Nepal to India and embroidered with coins, tassels and beading. Prices range from $882 to $1,000.
Your credit card will take a hit here, but there are entry-level items like $50 “staple” earrings that look like staples if they’d been made of gold.
Gilding comes across as more art gallery than boutique, and curator Jagger has amassed a rock-star list of designers. There’s a definite emphasis on layering pieces, like sweet gold rings that fit above the knuckle by Toronto designer Alessia Magnotta and Vancouver jeweler Leah Alexandra, as well as bolder pieces such as a gold body chain ($795) from the Toronto label Beaufille (formerly Chloé Comme Parris), helmed by sister duo Chloé and Parris Gordon, nominees for Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards in two categories: fashion and design accessories.
Though most of the rings are stackable and play well with other designers, I covet Rona Pfeiffer’s loner cigar-band ring made of oxidized sterling silver and pavé diamonds for (gulp!) $4,200.
Major trends are covered, including the ear skimmer, which fits in the ear like a regular earring but sits on the lobe and looks like multiple piercings, without the agony.
Lest we forget, the sunglasses, more like fun glasses, by Anna-Karin- Karlsson. My personal favourites are the cat’s-eye sunnies with pale-blue lower rims and black-and-silver zebra-striped on top, which sound like they are so Dame Edna but are so not.
There are home accessories like chunks of pyrite stone and crystals made into skulls for $350 to $925. And really, how can you beat a heart-shaped crystal of clear quartz for Valentine’s Day?
They carry coffee-table books including The Rolling Stones by Taschen; the Vitruvi line of aromatherapy oils and tonics from Vancouver; crunchy-granola scent pillows made from dried-balsam needles embroidered with “Be Brave And True” and cow skulls, which are actually hand-crafted and filigreed and are for sale for only $350, which is way less than a trip to Santa Fe.
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