INSPIRATION: Polly, the ingenuous and “organizationally impaired” secretary from Patricia Rozema’s I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing (pictured above). The Canadian film opened the 1987 Toronto Festival of Festivals and won Cannes’ Prix de la Jeunesse with a standing ovation for either Sheila McCarthy’s “Chaplin-esque” performance or Rozema’s counter-cinematic treatment of Polly’s “active” voyeuristic interest in her boss, the yuppie lesbian curator. Polly’s underdog victory over Canadian art snobs is engaging, but what we really remember is the delightful frumpiness of her ’80s temp uniform. Frugality never looked so good.
Hired at the downtown Toronto Church Gallery (despite minimum typing skills), Polly soon becomes infatuated with the pretentious curator: “She was like a fairy tale… she said things like ‘his work shows acute awareness.’ At first, I thought she meant like a cute face.” Brown wool blazer, $98, available at The Gap (375 Queen W., 416-591-3517, www.gap.com) and plaid blouse, $14.90, available at H&M (427-429 Queen W., 416-593-0167, www.hm.com).
Polly bikes around the city, shooting whimsical black and white photos. Her darkroom leads to daydreams: climbing skyscrapers, flying like Superman or conducting a Beethoven symphony. (Rozema is known for her flâneuse protagonists.) Vintage green skirt, $24.99, available at The Public Butter (1290 Queen W., 416-535-4343, www.thepublicbutter.com).
Mermaids was called a “captivating comedy-on-a-shoestring”: Polly’s wardrobe was entirely K-Mart (Sheila McCarthy would buy all the clothes after the 23-day shoot) and the film’s budget was under $400,000. Beige Bloch jazz shoes, $56, available at the Dancewear Centre (530 Wilson, 416-630-2292, www.dancewearcentre.com).