Angus & Company (647 Dupont Street, 416.537.4104) has some of the best shop windows in Toronto–month after month, year after year, I can count on designer Michael Angus to turn my head with his trio of luxe tableaux. There’s always something surprising going on in his Dupont Street displays, always the suggestion of a back story.
Angus is a master stylist who bends the rules to suit his whims. Decorating 101 dictates that tablescapes and vignettes should rely on odd numbers of items, yet look at the window above with its perfect symmetry–two lamps, two picture frames, two silver buckets of paperwhites. Do the math though and you realize that that’s three pairs, an odd number. The dresser supporting the scene is new but looks old ($2,195) and the mirror at the centre of it all is rimmed with faux antlers, cast in resin ($695). Angus makes me curse my meagre wallet.
In the window above (from left), the vintage music stand is sold ($950), the Lancaster Armchair from the Angus Collection is $2,495, the hurricane lamp is $925 and the Directoire brass and granite side table is $975. Not everything in the shop is eye-wateringly expensive, however.
The vintage Georgian bow front chest, above left, is $1,950 but the fun Tartan ice bucket is only $58, the mercury glass urns are $196 and the silver salver is $395; the Chinese export blue and white jars, above right, are $90 each (the top pair are vintage, the bottom two are new). And right now, Angus has some lovely Christmas ornaments, below, priced around $4 each.
So don’t be intimidated by the gorgeous window displays; Angus & Company actually carries merchandise for just about every budget. The staff is always polite and you’ll undoubtedly pick up some decorating pointers along the way.
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