Fashions for boardwalk to boardroom: Stealth Shopper

Intimidation factor: Marginal. It is compact, bright and cheery with a side order of edginess, like a walk-in closet designed by the love child of a sunny Californian and jaded downtown New Yorker.

Number of salespeople on floor: One, co-founder David Archer.

Response time: Immediate. Archer greets me without breaking stride while talking to another customer.

Vibe: Intermix meets Finishing Touches, the long-lamented, former cutting-edge womenswear shop in the Yonge/Lawrence area.

Price range: From $6.95 for a greeting card to $560 for a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.

Rating: Three barbed-wire rings from Fallon New York out of four.

JoshuaDavid is a new resident of the Yonge St. strip north of Eglinton Ave., home to long-standing retailers including Mendocino, Club Monaco and Sporting Life. This newbie is a Montreal transplant; bringing the 514 to the 416. It opened in Westmount in 2009 and here on June 1st.

It is an amalgam of the co-founder’s names, Joshua Fagan and David Archer. And they know their stuff, having worked at Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen. Toronto is Archer’s hometown.

Their mandate is carrying established and emerging contemporary labels with a decent price point. They stock top brands including DVF, Alice and Olivia and Current Elliott but it’s not geared to label whores. The service is knowledgeable without being too pushy and cloying, unlike those tenacious staffers who latch on to shoppers like hyenas to fresh carrion.

Co-founder David Archer offers me coffee or water. It is a blisteringly hot day and I accept the water gratefully. In fact, I could use a hose-down.

The merchandise has been carefully edited, so craftily that the racks are deceptively unassuming. It could be just another standard-issue ho-hum boutique but there are gems lurking — like a black maxi T-shirt dress with edgy zippers positioned at both sides of the hem.

It is one-stop shopping, going from day to evening with a white glitter cocktail dress at the disposable-fashion price of $175 that channels Edie Sedgwick and is perfect for a TIFF party. But this is not disposable fashion. JoshuaDavid could take you from boardroom (hello, black Theory short-sleeved blazer) to boardwalk (ahoy, black-and-white sailor-striped jumpsuit).

A new arrival: Cambio pull-on pants ($310), in a combo of leather and Ponte, a stretch double-knit interlock jersey fabric “designed to hide all your imperfections.”

Sign me up.

Another no-brainer: a black linen T-shirt dress for $92. Ditto the entire selection from The Kooples, a cool UK brand which migrated from France. I covet the grey silk, zippered asymmetrical shirt cut like a moto jacket and the black swing coat in a poly-fleece fabric treated to convincingly mimic leather for only $265.

Accessories include everything from cards to candles (the Baltic amber is yummy): infinity rings made in Manhattan; necklaces from local stylist/designer Jenny Bird; and handsome no-logo Peter Kent messenger bags ($585) which are indispensable for travel because you don’t get targeted for your Vuittons.

Like a pig on a truffle hunt, I keep unearthing goodies. This little piggy loves the Alice & Olivia green linen maxi dress which they have in the window accessorized for fall by an oversized tweed vest. It could also be worn alone as a coat.

And did I mention the black faux-leather sweatshirt is great in summer with white pants?

They also do their own in-house label which includes a black-leather and wool shift dress on sale for $72 because it is last season but so what? An LBD is season-less.