From the pastel coloured macaron trinket boxes, to the bonbon patterned tea towels and pâtisserie-shaped fairy cake bath fancies, Judi McIntyre’s shop Accoutrements feels like it should be situated in the Île de la Cité, the heart of Paris.
Inspired by the romantic goods that she frequently purchases on her annual trips to Paris, Judi wanted to bring a bit of European sophistication to Hamilton’s International Village.
“My friends were constantly inquiring where I had purchased items,” Judi says. And so, in 2011, after working with her husband in their marketing company and raising four children, Judi translated her ability to recognize the aesthetically beautiful into “bringing beautiful goods to women at reasonable prices.” This, Judi explains, is exactly her shop’s underlying philosophy.
“I love France. I go every year,” Judi says as she reminisces about how the French have elevated everything they do ― from shopping to art to eating ― to a higher form. Exploring the shelves and displays of Accoutrements, one cannot help but reaffirm Audrey Hepburn’s utterance that, “Paris is always a good idea.”