Co-manager Elizabeth Hanna photo by STEVE PAYNE best place to outfit your inner diva CABARET NOSTALGIA Co-manager Elizabeth Hanna 672 Queen West, 416-504-7126

best shoe store
B2

The words "shoe fetish" imprinted on the window pretty much say it all: Browns' kid sister, B2, has all the funkiest footwear under one roof. Look for selections from Diesel, Miu Miu, Camper and Costume National plus house brands that do their darnedest to ride the trends while not completely stripping your pocketbook. B2 is a little low on sporty shoes, but for that you can just hop down the street to Get Out Side (437 Queen West, 416-593-5598), the styliest sneaker zone. 399 Queen West, 416-595-9281, plus Yorkdale and Eaton Centre

best place to get costume jewellery
MINK

Going beyond streetside trinkets, the wee magic pink box that is Little Italy's Mink turns jewellery shopping into a funky designer affair. While the stock isn't all technically "costume" - there are some semi-precious contenders in the shimmering display cases - you're more likely to find vintage-inspired chunky baubles from L.A.'s Tarina Tarantino or massive crystal-en-crusted necklaces by Tommassini than a lame-o silver baby pinky ring. Not cheap, but glam. 550 College, 416-929-9214

best place to pretend you're in New York
JET RAG

A mix of carefully selected vintage and ultra-cool new, this hipster boutique features a mix of saucy young Canadian clothing labels like Toronto's Wolves and Preloved and Montreal's Fidel right alongside international offerings like denim from Japan's Edwin. Browse the collection of arty Euro fashion mags scattered oh so casually about and check out the tunes, too. 359 Queen West, 416-979-2677

best sex toy shop
COME AS YOU ARE

Downtown sex radicals' favourite enlightened shop 'o' sleaze, Come as You Are has samples of all its toys in the open so you can diddle with them, chatty staff who will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about that butt plug you're holding, plus shelves full of books, videos and some naughty gear. CAYA also runs workshops that will tell you how to do things like tie up your boyfriend or learn to deep-throat a baseball bat. Also check out girl zone Good for Her (175 Harbord, 416-588-0900) and long-time makeout boutique Lovecraft (27 Yorkville, 416-923-7331). 701 Queen West, 416-504-7934

best place for om-i-licious yoga gear
LULULEMON

Ever since this Vancouver retail concept dogged its way onto our gritty urban shores last year, you can't touch your toes without seeing Lululemon's ubiquitous horseshoe-like label on the bum in front of you. Here are piles of sexy and colourful workout gear made with magic fabric that "wicks" away sweat, plus all the yogic accessories - mats, videos, mat bags- you could ever want. Om shanti, baby. 734 Queen West, 416-703-1399

best place to outfit your inner teen
NOISE and NOISY GIRLS

Streetwear central, the pioneer of rave/skate wear now has two locations - Noise for the lads, Noisy Girls for the ladettes. But Noise goes way beyond phat pants and hoodies. The racks are stuffed with stylie, body-hugging wear from local labels like Geek Boutique and Snug and cutie-patootie clothes and accessories from California's cartoony Cosmic Debris and Emily lines. 275 Queen West, 416-971-6479, 271 Queen West, 416-598-1183

Regular customer Isaac Obeng photo by DAVID LAURENCE best place to buy clothes someone died in GOODWILL BUY-THE-POUND With remade vintage still the hottest style statement de jour, thrift shopping has taken on new cultural cachet. At Buy the Pound you can stuff bags for a mere $2 a pound, but it takes a lot of rooting around to find the gems. The less archaeology-inclined should try regular Goodwill and Value Village stores (various locations). 234 Adelaide East, 416-362-4710

best store for women who are preggers
LILITH

Here's something we've learned just recently: cool chicks get knocked up, too! And those hipster moms-to-be want maternity wear (ugh, even the term sounds frumpy) that can reflect their stylish, pre-pregnant selves. Welcome Yummy Mummy's line of stretchy wrap dresses. And check out more grown-up options for expectant moms at fancy French Formes (128 Cumberland, 416-972-0207) and Rhonda Maternity (110 Cumberland, 416-921-3116). 541 Queen West, 416-504-5353

best pet supply store
SMALL WONDERS

Heaps of product plus knowledgeable staff make this a hot spot for the city's pet owners. There's a large selection of muzzles and leashes, doggy and cat beds and pet jewellery, but Small Wonders is also big on unusual imported pet toys. Elsewhere, you'll see every west-end Trinity-Bellwoods doggy-dragging mommy over at Helmutt's Pet Supply (863 Queen West, 416-504-1265) for his cookies, and good old Pet Valu (various locations) is impersonal but well-stocked and cheap. 148 Danforth, 416-462-3773

best place to get a jesus night light and the latest pumas
URBAN OUTFITTERS

Ah, Urban, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways. We know it's a little expensive for its pop-cult trendoid wares, but where else can you equip your shagadelic pad with butterfly chairs and fun-fur pillows and snap up the latest clothes, accessories and Diesel shoes on your way out? 235 Yonge, 416-214-1466

best oh-so-quirky gift shop
RED PEGASUS

This den of kitsch is one-stop shopping for a small but cool selection of cards, books, jewellery, pillows, purses, kids' stuff, pin-up girl cigarette lighters, Paul Frank paraphernalia, ironic magnets - you name it, they have it, and it's so adorable you just can't get over yourself for finding it. They also have a lot of stuff by local artists, including pillows by Ruckus and jewellery by Stephen Stanish and Barbie's Basement. 628 College, 416-536-3872

best dollar store
Dollarama

Ten times the size of other junkaterias, it's the Shangri-la of shopping cheap 'n' chic for housewares: Martha Stewartish latte cups with matching soup bowls and tea towels, inexpensive knives that actually cut, turquoise battery-operated Deco-look clocks, 8-by-10 picture frames, sexy translucent plastic dog bones. And everything's a buck! 1337 Queen West, 416-531-4809; 730 Yonge, 416-924-1064

best place to muse on how rich folks fit dogs in their purses
HOLT RENFREW

Yes, 'tis true - there are indeed bejewelled, manicured matrons toting mini-pooches at Holt's. But what would you expect at a place where you can buy purses for $1,000? And that's the cheap floor. Plebes can pony up for a little piece of le action on the makeup floor and pick up favourites by harder-to-find lines like Stila, Kiehls and Bobbi Brown. And if you must do a field trip to see the latest fashions, roam the upper floors, but for god's sake, don't touch anything! 50 Bloor West, 416-922-2333M

best beauty spa
AVEDA

We know there are lots of chi-chi spas, with warrens of treatment rooms, armies of staff and waiting rooms full of fashionable sorts, but that isn't our style. We're more partial to the small, chilled-out and unsnooty Aveda spa, complete with affordable rates, yoga magazines, fresh juice, New Agey piped-in sound and, of course, treatments with yummy Aveda products. But don't ignore Paul Pecorella Salon (106 Cumberland, 416-924-2751). 95 Bloor West, 416-921-2961

Rena Cooke and Julie Grieve photo by DAVID LAURENCE best designer-owned boutique Preloved While there are several designer-owned shops in our fair city (many of them in pricier zones), we loved Preloved first. Co-owners and designers Julia Grieve and Rena Cooke have been chopping up old rags Ð mostly denim and cord, but you never know with these gals Ð and turning them into groovy one-of-a-kind pieces for years now. They've turned that old Bob Seger rocker shirt into a sexy, bejewelled tank. Rock on. 613 Queen West, 416-504-8704

best place to buy size 44 stilettoes
Walk on the Wildside

A bed and breakfast plus shop catering to cross-dressing gents and tranny ladies, this fully stocked boutique contains enough girly clothes and accessories in manly sizes to make even the most jaded drag queen weep. 161 Gerrard East, 416-921-6112

best place for "avant-garde" fashion
I-Cii

No, they won't make you wear a piece of modern art, but this chic shop sure feels like a gallery. Oh-so-sparsely placed shoes and carefully "curated" (that's what they say at places like this) selections from obscure lines like Junya Watanabe, APC and Atsuro Tayama are all here for flush fashionistas. 99 Yorkville, 416-925-3380

best place for a business guy to shop and not feel like his dad
Grreat Stuff

While the crammed walls make it look like an unlikely place to get a cool suit, get past the discount vibe and suck up good prices on casual businesswear for the lads. Modern pieces from designer lines like Kenneth Cole, Mexx, Burberry and Tommy Bahama are all up for grabs. 870 Queen West, 416-536-6770

best discount clothing store
WINNERS on College

While any Winners is an exercise in retail therapy, we're particularly partial to the latest College and Yonge location, where you'll find marked down gems by the likes of Betsey Johnson, Diesel and Diesel Style Lab, Dex, Fendi and Kenneth Cole mixed in with the usual pillow cases and flannel PJs. 444 Yonge, 416-598-8800