Here are nine facts about our rentals business which you may or may not know!
Our Library
We have an extensive library of catalogues, magazines, and pattern books of the 20th Century available for rental at $5/week.
Our Stock
We specialize in vintage 20th century womenswear and menswear. Each 20th Century decade from the 40s to the 80s has its own dedicated aisle (each aisle is double sided with men's on one side and women's on the other, and triple tiered).
There is particular emphasis on business wear, workwear and day and cocktail dresses.
We have one aisle dedicated to children's clothing, Victorian and Edwardian clothing and one other aisle dedicated to teens, 20s and 30s.
The last aisle houses our 90s stock on one side and our gowns (evening, nightgowns and robes) from each decade on the other.
While we don’t have a lot of cowboy hats and no cowboy boots, we do have a fair amount of Western style shirts and a selection of denim.
We have a full wall of mens and women's shoes from the 20s to the 70s. Other shoes are found in bins on the floor of each aisle.
As well as this, we have a large selection of jewellery and accessories.
How many productions we rent to
We rent to approximately 30 productions per year. We rented to 35 in 2022. This number went down to 25 last year due to the industry strikes. With over 25 years in the business, our stock can be seen in hundreds of film and television productions.
Some international locations that we have we sent our stock to include the UK, the US, Australia and Europe.
The top renters from our collection:
- Men’s 20th Century Suits. The items that we have the most of in our collection are suits (of various eras).
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Shoes/Hats/Accessories from various eras.
Even though we don’t have many clothes from the late 1800s/early 1900s, projects like Murdoch Mysteries have rented our Homburgs, Bowlers, Granny Boots and Stacy Adams boots.
- Period Workwear (1900s-1950s).
We have an extensive workwear collection with clothes of various wear and tear (some are contemporary brands and some are true vintage items that have broken down over time). A large portion of the workwear items came from the Netflix series Damnation. - 20th Century Children’s Wear
- 20th Century Womenswear
When/how it started
After Ian closed his vintage store in the early 1990s, he moved to the US, selling at vintage clothing shows in the northeast and midwest. "Many of my best customers were people who owned vintage rental businesses in NYC. It became obvious to me that the opportunity to rent a garment multiple times was more valuable than selling it once. With this plan in mind, I returned to Toronto and geared up to turn my sales stock into rental stock".
Our studio locations
We have been at our current location (a warehouse on Islington Avenue) for 11 years with 12K sq ft. Prior to this, we had a 5k sq ft studio at Adelaide St and Spadina Ave in downtown Toronto. Prior to that, 11 years on Lansdowne Ave, which was a rabbit warren of unused artist studios.
Building the studio space
The philosophy behind the design of the studio is to be a hybrid mix of warehouse and a retail experience: Clean, curated, organized. 15 permanent triple tiered, racked, 45 foot aisles, set up by decade and gender and size. The shoe wall is a 14 x 65 foot wall with womens & mens shoes hung individually by size. A second one of equal size is planned. It took us 8 weeks when we moved in to install the permanent fixtures and stock them.
Sourcing Stock
The stock has been built up steadily over the past 28 years. There are 3 main sources for acquiring the rental stock.
- Decades of buying at vintage clothing shows in Canada and the USA.
- Constant buying from estate calls in Canada and the USA.
- Purchasing the working stock from film and TV productions when they wrap out at the end of the production.
Best buys: Hairspray (E60s), Damnation (30s workwear), Man in the High Castle (E60s), The Women of Camelot: Jackie, Joan & Ethel (E60s) and Cinderella Man (30s).
Some high profile productions that have used a lot of our stock include:
- Cabinet of Curiosities
- Nightmare Alley
- The Shape of Water
- Crimson Peak
- Chicago
- Fantastic Beasts 1&2
- Masters of the Air
- Dumbo
- Man in the High Castle (S 2-5)
- Hairspray
- Cinderella Man
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Wonka
- Murdoch Mysteries (18 Seasons)
- Riverdale (S 6-7)
- Anne with an E
- the It Films
- Amelia
- Grey Gardens (Series)
- Little Bird
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- Perry Mason S2
- Are You There God It’s Me Margaret?
- Dark Shadows