Pipler Accessories mixes old-timey vibe with ethically sourced goods: Stealth Shopper

Pipler Accessories, 453 Parliament St.

Intimidation factor: Nil. It is a gloomy rainy day but official greeters/house pups Apple, a Yorkie, and Ouchy, a poodle, brighten the mood.

Number of salespeople on floor: Two, owners Leonie Lilla and Alice Clarkson.

Response time: Immediate. Lilla, whose business card reads “Owner, Friend Maker,” takes charge of my dripping umbrella while Clarkson, “Owner, Friend Keeper,” gives me a tour.

Vibe: Drake General Store meets Goorin Bros. hat shop.

Price range: From $5 for a greeting card to $340 for a leather messenger bag handmade in Montreal.

Rating: Three-and-a half cotton camouflage ties out of four.

It is no coincidence that Pipler accessories emporium is nearby a No Frills grocery. That’s the kind of shop it is: no pretense, no attitude — just the basics of sustainable ethically made bags, hats, eyewear and jewelry.

It is a plucky, funky little store with an old-timey vibe that comes from reclaimed wooden floors; a beaten-up old door bearing the scars of multiple striplings; a vintage record player that supplies background music; and cool steampunk industrial lighting over the sales desk across from a photo of an abandoned high-school theatre by Sean Galbraith, who does urban decay and architectural abandonment photography. Galbraith describes himself as “a bow tie and fedora enthusiast.” He certainly fits in at Pipler. They major in bow ties and chapeaux.

Clarkson has a fashion background with stints at Holt Renfrew, Danier Leather and Sears. Lilla is a chef, formerly at Farmer’s Daughter resto in the Junction.

They chose the Cabbagetown location because they hang out here and there was nothing like this in the ’hood. “We opened the store for our (personable) dogs,” Lilla jokes.

The stock is hand-picked for four criteria: sustainable, handmade, local or charity-driven. And they are deliberately gender neutral. There is no demarcation between male and female.

“That’s so you’re not bound to one corner,” Clarkson explains. “We all get heteronormative.”

Say what? Heteronormative means “denoting or relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.” I had to look it up.

I gravitate to the knockout hat display at the entrance. Pipler carries two U.S. brands, Yellow 108 and Bailey, made of recycled material, unisex and priced from $70 to $110. I am smitten with a grey/green felt fedora with leather band but it is way too small. Apparently both brands fit small. Do Americans think Canadians have pin heads?

I linger over leather and wood bangles by Raven & Lily at the ridiculously low price of $25 for two. “I’m sick of ethically shopping and spending a small fortune,” Clarkson says.

Fine & Dandy out of New York is a line of men’s fast-fashion hardware including cufflinks (love the skulls and revolvers) for $35; tie bars for $30 (including a clever safety-pin version); collar bars; and button covers. Keyway, a Canadian brand, makes wooden iPhone cases in fun motifs like deer and pineapple.

Doubling as wall art: a display of vintage hipster handkerchiefs from the New York brand Izola with “pithy phrases” like Lost Time is Never Found, Sticks and Stones and Wild Beasts, featuring illustrations of packs of wild animals. They come three for $50 and make excellent table napkins.

As an afterthought, I ask about the name Pipler. It references Clarkson’s mother’s maiden name and the name of the family business back in England. “And we hoped it would bring us luck,” adds Lilla.

They’ve been a couple for eight years, married for five, in business together for three months and still clicking. I call that luck.