A Look Inside This Stylist’s Coveted Dress Collection

Growing up in remote North Bay, Ont., Talia Brown Thall loved heading to the concert hall to listen to the North Bay Symphony perform the upbeat woodwinds of Mozart or the swelling strings of Beethoven. But it wasn’t the music that was the draw for her — it was the clothes.

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Brown Thall developed her love of dressing up at an early age. “On my first day of Grade 1, the teacher asked everyone what they wanted to be and I said I was going to play with Barbies,” she says. “I just didn’t know it was going to be with life-size Barbie dolls.” A full-time stylist since 2008, she has dressed such prestigious clients as Idris Elba, Avril Lavigne and a pre-Harry Meghan Markle.

 

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The consummate clothing lover found her true power outfit at the age of 14 when she tried on her first maxi-dress at Club Monaco Kids: a black-and-white long-sleeved polka-dot dress straight out of the Gwen Stefani era. “I remember putting on the dress and being like, ‘This is me; this is how I feel,’” she says. “I get a lot of compliments on my dresses when I go out, and I think it’s because people notice that I’m comfortable. When you’re comfortable, it kind of shows.” Now an accomplished collector, she shares a walk-in closet with husband Nelson B. Thall (whose family once co-owned the Toronto Star) in their three-bedroom Toronto home as well as two mirrored closets in different rooms that are stuffed to the gills with maxi-dresses. “I’m not even sure how many I own,” she says, guessing that the number is at least 200. Despite her small stature — she’s five foot one — Brown Thall is an avid collector of long, lean dresses that brush her ankles. “Technically they’re midi-dresses, but they’re maxis on me,” she laughs.

In the early 2000s, the “dress for your shape” dictums issued by fashion magazines treated maxi-dresses as the exclusive province of tall women, suggesting that the more petite should stick to mini-dresses so as to not overwhelm their Lilliputian frames. However, Brown Thall doesn’t abide by this principle. “I believe that rules are meant to be broken,” she says. “Sometimes I forget I’m short. In a maxi-dress, I feel like a tall short person.”

 

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Brown Thall tends to gravitate toward hyper-feminine silhouettes, like the layer-cake frills of LoveShackFancy, the voluminous pouf of Ganni and the floral fancy of Rotate Birger Christensen (of which she counts a blue puff-sleeved lace dress among her favourites). But as a new mother — her daughter, Arielle, was born in January 2022 — she has begun to embrace cleaner, sleeker silhouettes. Fashion provides the scaffolding upon which we hang the rest of our lives, and now Brown Thall is ready for more structure. All the dresses she acquires have two things in common: They are exquisitely made, and their fabrics feel soft to the touch. “I really like velvet and silk. I’m not a polyester-blend type of person,” she says.

While Brown Thall doesn’t plan on curbing her maxi-dress obsession any time soon, she has been forgoing fast fashion as of late in favour of acquiring items more thoughtfully. After all, a true investment piece is forever. “As long as you buy timeless pieces, you can wear them whenever you want.”

Ahead, some of Brown Thall’s most coveted frocks.

Hair and makeup by Sierra Elliott/P1M.ca. Photography by Riley Stewart

Photography by Riley Stewart

Hair and makeup by Sierra Elliott/P1M.ca. Photography by Riley Stewart

Photography by Riley Stewart

Photography by Riley Stewart

Hair and makeup by Sierra Elliott/P1M.ca. Photography by Riley Stewart

Photography by Riley Stewart

Photography by Riley Stewart

Photography by Riley Stewart

Hair and makeup by Sierra Elliott/P1M.ca. Photography by Riley Stewart

1/10

Think Pink

Brown Thall always feels in control when she puts on the colour pink. “People don’t realize how much power you have in letting your femininity be free,” she says. “Being feminine can mean whatever you want it to, but to me it means I can choose to wear pink and florals.”

2/10

Formula One

Brown Thall loves pairing her dresses, like this Simone Rocha one, with flats. “There’s something so cute about seeing a ballet flat or a pointy-toed flat with these long dresses. It evens out the look so you can wear it in the daytime without it looking too fancy.”

3/10

Set Sale

Brown Thall finds many of her maxis, like this blue number by Rotate Birger Christensen, on Shopbop. “When sale season starts, that’s the first place I look. They always have petite sizes.”

4/10

Closet Case

When Brown Thall first moved into her husband’s two-bedroom condo in 2017, he renovated the second bedroom into a walk-in closet in order to accommodate her growing wardrobe.

5/10

Pip Pip Cheerio

Designer labels from across the pond, like this floaty number from Dream Sister Jane, evoke a particular fondness for Brown Thall. “I love how whimsical and romantic they are. It’s like wearing Shakespearean dreams.”

6/10

Kindred Spirits

As a stylist, Brown Thall has special relationships with certain brands and often gets first peek at the new clothing before it is released. “When I see the Smythe look book every season, I think, ‘I need this dress.’”

7/10

Lucky Charms

This floral Giambattista Valli dress was another lucky consignment find. “It still had the tags on it,” says Brown Thall. “It had never been worn.” In order to get the perfect fit, she had the waist altered to accommodate her frame. (She recommends her favourite tailor, Last Minute Alteration in Yorkville, for alterations.) “It was meant for me.”

8/10

Three Of A Kind

When Brown Thall falls in love with a dress, she’ll buy a duplicate — or even triplicate — of the object of her affection. These flouncy gowns are all by Danish designer Birgitte Herskind.

9/10

Mommy & Me

This nap dress by Hill House Home is such a staple in Brown Thall’s wardrobe that she bought a matching one for her daughter, Arielle. “They’re like nightgowns for the house. You can just throw a turtleneck and some tights on underneath and feel put together.”

10/10

Designer Desire

The shining star in Brown Thall’s collection is a green velvet YSL dress that she “stalked” until it went on sale at Holt Renfrew. “It was one of those pieces that you just know you need and you’ll regret not getting.”

This article first appeared in FASHION’s September 2023 issue. Find out more here.

The post A Look Inside This Stylist’s Coveted Dress Collection appeared first on FASHION Magazine.