Pretty much everything about Decibel is low-key. Without an exterior sign, it doesn't exactly stand out in the Queen West crowd. Instead, it allows the clothing displayed plainly in the window to speak for itself.

The store is for men who've outgrown the skater fashion of Decibel's brother store, Noise, but retain their eclectic taste. The attire is casual enough for a creative or relaxed workplace, but stylish enough for the beach or a College Street patio.

If a single word can describe Decibel it would be variety. Rather than stocking the entire catalogue of a handful of labels, Decibel opts to offer a small selection of a seemingly endless array of labels. Those on offer include the usual suspects of Penguin and Ben Sherman, Boxfresh, WESC, and Toronto-based Model Citizen. There's even some Kenneth Cole mixed in.

Everything is organized according to size, rather than brand or style, so if you come in for a short sleeve button up, you'll have to mine through all the solid, check, patterned and embroidered offerings in your size. It's the perfect way to expand your fashion horizons to styles or brands you never knew you were looking for. So if you're someone who eschews brand loyalty to constantly discover new labels, this is the store for you. I've never considered myself a skater, and would never have been tempted by a Mark Ecko polo had I not found it mixed in on Decibel's rack.

Decibel's stock is dominated by the light jackets, t-shirts, shorts, polos, and short sleeve button ups of summer. In addition, they've got a good selection of jeans casual pants, a decent selection of cardigans and argyle v-necks, and a handful of blazers. The selection of hats is impressive, as are the casual shoes from Vans, DVS, Penguin and Ben Sherman.

Although the modest floor space is maximized with the racks and displays jammed tightly, what you see is pretty much what's available. The emphasis on eclectic variety means there's usually only one of each size for any given item. This ensures a steady rotation of stock and something new in store each time you visit. So the tradeoff works in Decibel's favour.

But if that short cut brown Bertoni blazer catches your eye, you'd better snap it up or it might not be there next time. On the other hand, you might also surprise yourself by discovering some drastically reduced sales items mixed in with the regular priced merchandise.

Contributed by Kevin Plummer