Vintage Grounds is the newly named, newly designed, newly street-level incarnation of the former Vantage Ground. Owner Lily wanted to move her Annex shop up from its basement space below Willow Books to a storefront location, and she thought with a move up should come a new name. "I don't know," she shrugs when I ask why she went from 'vantage' to 'vintage.' "I guess it just better describes what I have."

And what she has is, of course, vintage clothing. Walking into Vintage Grounds, it's a much more colourful version of some of the vintage clothing stores I've seen, with plenty of racks of bright reds and yellows, patterns, prints, and textures. "I'm really into '60s," Lily says. "Anything funky, retro."

That might include the floor, actually, painted a bright red ("My favourite colour," Lily says) near the back of the store. There I found a geometric lime green mini dress ($57) that definitely looks plucked straight from the '60s, along with a pair of red suede Maud Frizon pumps for $32.

Lily tells me she's constantly scouring for new merchandise for the shop, though her vintage suitcases are mostly off-limits. They tease customers by the front entrance; stacked bastions quaint design and superb construction.

While Vantage Ground stocked vintage clothing for both sexes, Vintage Grounds is limited to just women's clothing, at least until all the odds and ends of the move have been sorted out. In any case, Lily has still managed to find some room for a great assortment of high-end men's ties (priced at an amazing $20), including a purple printed Christian Dior and a brown and white striped Yves St. Laurent.

There are plenty of accessories for women as well, including a pair of cat-eye frames, a collection of brassy-looking broaches, elbow-length gloves, and even a vintage mirror and brush set with handpainted designs ($25).

Among the polka-dot lined blazers and sleeveless, structured dresses paying heed to former fashion times, I did come across a cropped Michael Kors white denim jacket ($35) that was perhaps more vintage-inspired than actually vintage (unless Michael Kors looks simply remarkable for his age). But most else at Vintage Grounds certainly first saw wear back when Mike was still in diapers.

Vintage Grounds is open most days 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Photos by Jesse Milns