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Kelsey Dundon

Thank you | WE Vancouver

Thank you, WE Vancouver, for featuring this gal as your latest It Girl.

Read the interview to find out how I smell (like heaven), what I consider to be my most sentimental wardrobe item (my Justin Bieber concert tee is a close second) and what I like to drink on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings (here’s a hint: they’ll look at you like you’re crazy if you order one south of the border).

You’re the best, Kelsey Klassen!

[I’m wearing a Prada shirt, vintage belt and pants, M0851 tote, Elizabeth and James shoes.]

Photo by Doug Shanks for WE Vancouver

November 22, 2012 by

You Asked | How To Make Your Blog Look Better?

Tara writes:

I am your biggest word-of-mouth fan, and tell everyone about how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your blog. It masterfully combines, passion with personal pursuit, and what I like to call, intellectual fashion — fashion made smart! Fashion that is displayed in a unique, untouchable and lovable way!

Any advice you can give me as a blogger, in regard to ways to make my blog look better, I would truly appreciate…

This weekend I’ll be speaking all about these sorts of things at Simon Fraser University Continuing Studies Social Media Boot Camp. But in case you’re, ya know, not in Vancouver, here are a few dead-simple ways to make your blog look slick, even if especially if you’re not a designer.

Be judgmental. And figure out what you like about the look of your favourite blogs. The blogs I love — whether they’re about fashion (Garance Dore), interior design (The Selby) or DIY ideas (Adore More)– all have one thing in common: big, beautiful images and very little writing. (And this coming from a writer!) Then again, I also love xojane.com and it’s filled with tons of text and lacklustre images so every rule has its exception. But my point is: when you’re not Jane Pratt and you don’t yet have a built-in fan base and scores of talented writers spilling their most intimate thoughts for you, you’ll need to grab readers with your blog’s stunning good looks.

Keep it simple. With all the themes WordPress offers (and I do recommend WordPress over the other blogging platforms) it’s tempting to pick a jazzy one, but I’d opt to keep things simple. Why? None of those fancy themes were crafted for your brand, which means other blogs will have them too and that can get distracting. I find it’s best to keep the framework clean so it doesn’t detract from your brilliant content.

A picture is worth… The web is a visual medium — people have no time and zero patience which means they need to be captivated immediately. That’s why visuals are even more important than copy. (And this coming, once again, from a writer!) Crisp, clean, original images will do wonders for you. And photography is fun. Difficult, time-consuming fun. But the more you do it, the better you’ll get.

Break up. Like to write a lot? Make your longer posts easier to read by dividing up long chunks of copy with subheads, bullet points, images, screen grabs of other sites that illustrate your points, or whatever your heart desires.

Keep it consistent. I didn’t pick up on this when I first started The Anthology, but one of the easiest ways to make your blog look clean and tidy is to keep your text and images all one width (if you’re using a traditional column blog format, that is). The same goes for your sidebar — the cleaner the widgets look, the better. Less is more here too.

If all else fails, befriend an interactive designer and pray that she’ll take pity on you and revamp your blog for you. Or wait until you’re big enough to hire a designer to customize the look of your blog for you.

Hope this helps, Tara!

[Screen grabs from Garance Dore, The Selby and Adore More]

P.S. Take a look at a few of the other reader-submitted questions like Emilie’s How Do You Gain Exposure and Shona’s How Do You Do It?

P.P.S. Have a question you’d like an answer to? Send it to KDundon@TheAnthology.ca

P.P.P.S. Register for SFU’s Continuing Studies Social Media Boot Camp and I’ll see you on Saturday!

November 21, 2012 by

Diary | Vancouver From My Driver’s Seat

A sponsored post. 

Just like Oprah, The Anthology and MINI Richmond have teamed up to give you a car. And not just any car, but your favourite MINI. (Click here to enter to win!) My favourite MINI is the little Roadster pictured above, which I’m test driving before it ends up in one of your hands.

It’s a convertible so I’ve been doing a lot of driving with the top down lately. Roofs are so overrated.

These are a few shots I grabbed of my very pretty city (Vancouver!) as I was cruising around town (don’t worry, mom, I pulled over before I started snapping away).

I might love the beach on sunny fall days even more than during the summer. Kits, at least, is calm — quiet, even. And oh so pretty.

And with a MINI Roadster convertible, you can sunbathe without even leaving your car.

Want to win your own MINI for a year plus a supersized MINI adventure from MINI Richmond? (Of course!) Click here to enter. Then up your chances by sharing your entry on Facebook and Twitter @MINIRichmond (#MINIadventure). Good luck!

November 20, 2012 by

Style | Doing Pirouettes

Maybe it’s the icy blues and winter whites, maybe it’s the sequins, or maybe it’s the Nutcracker, but this time of year will forever be linked with ballet in my mind.

Soft cozy dance-inspired sweaters (bottom right), Degas-esque editorials for Harpers Bazaar (an oldie but a goodie, top left), dresses that look like they belong on stage (top right), holiday party-ready tops (bottom left) and the slippers that are the closest things to dance shoes I wear these days (Tieks foldable ballet flats in Ballerina Pink — thank you, Tieks, for sending me a pair!).

They all feel rather en pointe right about now.

November 19, 2012 by

Home | Printed Painted Walls

Ever since I saw designer Kelly Wearstler’s hand-painted walls I’ve been dying to get all abstract with a paintbrush.

And now I’m seeing these DIY printed walls pop up all over the place. They’re murals that anyone five years old and up can do. I’ve been too chicken until now, but my hallway is looking awfully bare these days so…

[First image found here, second found here, third found here.]

P.S. If I do paint you better believe I’ll post photos on Facebook so like The Anthology.

November 16, 2012 by

Workspace | Alice Ko of Wantering

The Anthology’s Workspace column takes us inside the creative spaces of some very creative people.

You might know Alice Ko from her fashion blog Koko Stiletto, but soon you’ll know her from the on-the-verge-of-launching shopping site Wantering, a Vancouver-based startup that harnesses the social web (think blogs and social media) to help wanterers discover clothes and accessories tailored to their personal style.

In her own words she takes us through her workspace, taxicabs, stilettos, and all…

I moved back to Vancouver seven months ago from NYC and only recently unpacked everything, and settled into my new place downtown…and actually created a workspace for myself! I only came back with seven suitcases but I forget how much you can actually fit into those things with wheels…

1. I am always eating while checking emails and writing. ALWAYS. Food gives me energy and new ideas :) Today I behaved and had a fresh strawberries. Regular items that may make an appearance include: chocolate covered berries, Trader Joes mix, ice cream from Cadeaux Bakery –basically anything that would make the dentist squirm.

2. I hadn’t purchase any Apple products until recently. I seriously do not know how I functioned without an iPhone or Mac before.  I would love to get in my time machine and see how much my life would have changed if I had first purchased these products a looooong time ago. To anybody considering getting an Apple product – just DO IT! This may sound dramatic, but your life will thank you!

3. I love the whimsical design of the vase. Gives me a “mad hatter” kind of feeling. The mask is from one of my good girlfriend’s stagette (which was actually also my first time in Vegas) and since I attend so many masquerade balls I have to keep that mask around. The fake daffodils are from my grandma — I love yellow.

4. The best part about my workspace (and my apartment) are the beautiful views of downtown Vancouver, the North Shore, and of course, the water. I don’t even need a TV — I could just stare out my windows all day. I love working during both day and night time …. but if I have to choose, I’ll always have a soft spot for night time city views. During some evenings, I’ll look out the window and I feel so peaceful and surreal.  Although I admit sometimes at night I pretend I am back in NYC – with all the city lights gleaming in, it’s easy.

5. I went to SO many sample sales in NY…I must have gone to at least six Betsey Johnson ones.  I bought so many shoes I had to use US Post and separately ship empty shoe boxes back to Vancouver. So here’s my attempt to use all my shoe boxes in a practical manner. And I’m still really into the neon trend right now… so I’m dragging this trend out as loooong as possible!

6. I will be lifelong bookworm. This is the only area where I am old-fashioned — I still love holding a tangible book in my hand. I started using Audible when I came back but I still cherish hard and soft covers.
The Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres: Visiting the Dali museum in Spain changed my life, and so his book is always on the top of my stack :)
The City Out My Window: Picture book of views from different NYC windows
The Fire Starter Sessions: Danielle LaPorte is a motivational wizard. She had a book signing at Chapters and I was absolutely enchanted by her charisma and pure joy about life.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Louis Vuitton recently did a collaboration with Yayoi Kusama (all the polka dot bags!) and her art is currently on exhibit at the Whitney Museum. My old co-workers sent me this – so sweet.

7. I won the raffle prize at the Vancouver Gay Men’s Chorus Spring Recital and this stiletto wine holder was a part of the prize. I’m very particular about my stilettos, and I only own one pair of flats.  Side note – VGMC is amazing, check them out!!!

8. Magazine subscriptions are super cheap in the US ($5-$10 for annual subscriptions to almost everything). When I moved back, I transferred all my American subscriptions to my Canadian address. I love reading Fast Company, Inc, and Time Out New York, to keep up new innovations, ideas and what’s going on in my old hood (Do you want to punch me in the face yet for talking about NY all the time?? I totally understand).

9. The last thing I coveted and bought for myself before I left LVMH was not a bag, or a pair of shoes…. but a book! Yes the Louis Vuitton New York Voyage Notebook by Ruben Toledo. This books contains the most beautiful watercolors of NY’s different neighborhoods, and its people, by the famous Cuban-born artist. I love flipping through the pictures and getting inspired by a different neighborhood or picture.

10. My special mug to keep me hydrated throughout the day. I only drink water, earl gray tea, or kombucha while working in here. Who needs coffee when you have this view to stay awake? Once, I brought my mug to work (Aritzia head office) and left it in the sink, only to find it go missing for two weeks.  I put up signs about my missing mug (yep I’m THAT girl) and I finally got it back. From now on, it only stays at home :)

11. I am a Broadway buff. I saw over 100 shows in NY and this candle is an actual prop off the set of one of my favorite musicals “In The Heights“. It’s signed by the entire cast, and I got it one year at the Broadway Cares Flea Market.  Every time I look at this candle, memories of 100+ shows flood into my mind. I love live shows as there is so much dedication, focus and work put into this one event, which will only be viewed by the people who physically go and visit a specific theatre. It’s mind boggling to me. Whether the theatre is filled at 100% or 10% capacity, the actors and actresses are always fully present at each performance, giving it their all and for those three hours, the audience is allowed to forget about life, worry, and stress.

12. I love inspirational cheesy quotes. You can totally make fun of me.  I am a complete sucker for any type of motivational quote and this card was given to me by one of my great friends, Rosalyn, right before I moved back to Vancouver (“go set the world on fire”). I’m fascinated by quotes – an excellent quote can have the same power, and motivational impact,  as a five-page article… and is much more likely to be read.

13. I love Alice in Wonderland (for obvious reasons) and I love practical items. This Alice in Wonderland “Drink Me” bottle opener had both a functional component, and sentimental meaning, so I picked it up at Anthropologie.

P.S. Get a sneak peek at Alice’s latest project Wantering.

P.P.S. Creep the creative spaces of some very creative people, like Erica Lam of The Style Spy, Niki Blasina of A Haute Mess, and Anya Georgijevic of I’m the It Girl in The Anthology’s Workspace column.

November 14, 2012 by

Style | Rebecca Bree Boutique

Rebecca Rawlinson is a ray of sunshine. And not just because of her sunny blonde hair or her Reese Witherspoon-esque enthusiasm for just about everything. Scratch that. It’s entirely because of her Reese Witherspoon-esque enthusiasm for just about everything. Especially fashion.

After years of dreaming and planning and what felt like years of renovating, she opened the boutique Rebecca Bree, which is such a reflection of her personality and tastes, those close to her have said it is “like walking into her brain.” So I decided to pick that brain…

On her first thoughts

I wanted my own business for about a decade, since I started working retail. I’m never going to be happy working for someone else. I thought Okay, I’m going to start an online store. But that quickly changed because I thought about my daily life and it would be in a warehouse without one-on-one interaction with people and I was like That is not going to work for me. I love people. I love to be surrounded by people, I love to talk to people, I love to style them.

[The Sleep Shirt is by my friend and fellow Vitamin Daily editor Alexandra Suhner Isenberg.]

On darkness and light

I’ve been to a lot of store openings and the décor never really spoke to me. Too much cement, too much glass, not enough décor, not enough colour. I never felt comfortable and cozy, I always felt cold, like I was in a museum.

Vancouver’s a very dark city so I wanted a bright, inviting store when it’s raining. The lighting had to be bright, the paint had to be white.

On learning to let go

This was a huge risk because I’ve been in retail, I’ve been in management but I haven’t been in business.

Before I was like I have to do it all, no one’s going to do it the way I want it done. But now, if I communicate effectively then other people can help me build the store and help me get to where I am. I mean, I remember telling Cynthia how to fold the hand towels in the bathroom.

On Rebecca Bree’s tucked-away location on Fourth Avenue

After three months of searching my realtor sent me this place and I was like No. The windows are too small, I don’t like it. I was very negative about it at first.

But then my boyfriend and I came to visit it and we parked two blocks away and we walked past Aphrodites and Banyen Books and Bioethique, and saw La Quercia across the street. We walked in and it was a blank canvas. There was nothing in here.

My boyfriend and I looked at each other and we were like This is it.

P.S. Follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll be the first to see behind-the-scenes photos.

P.P.S. You’ll find all The Anthology’s interviews with the likes of designer Rachel Roy, J.Crew’s design directors Tom Mora and Frank Muytjens, and Topshop’s top people right here.

November 12, 2012 by

Dairy-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, vegan-friendly pancake recipe (that doesn’t suck!)

It’s the long weekend! Which means we get an extra day to have a long, lazy, champagne-and-OJ brunch. Now, if your ladyfriends — like mine — have all sorts of dietary idiosyncrasies, you’ll find this dairy-free, wheat-free, sugar-free, vegan-friendly pancake recipe to be just what the naturopathic doctor ordered. Oh, and it’s good, too, so even your dairy-loving, sugar-charged, non-vegan friends will love this recipe, which I modified from one in My Father’s Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Happy brunching!

3 cups wheat-free flour (I use Cloud 9 Specialty Bakery’s All-purpose Baking Mix)
1 tbs baking powder
2 teaspoons fine salt
3 cups almond or soy milk
6 tbs vegan-friendly margarine (I use Earth Balance Soy-free Natural Buttery Spread)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbs real vanilla extract

Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in separate bowls. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix, until it’s almost smooth, though a few lumps are okay. Add a touch more almond milk if you want to thin the batter. Scoop onto a griddle set to med-high heat. Flip when bubbles appear on the surface.

Serve with berries, real maple syrup, apple sauce, or whatever your heart desires.

November 9, 2012 by

Bookmark | Miss Moss

In The Anthology’s Bookmark column we explore some of the most inspiring places on the wild, wild web.

Graphic designers always have the best blogs. They’re pure scroll-worthy eye candy.

Take Miss Moss, for example.

Edited by Cape Town-based graphic designer Diana Moss, it’s packed with her original photography, fashion picks and — my personal favourite — mood boards, all of which have a simple, yet colourful aesthetic.

Plus, her Cape Town City Guide lists so many cool boutiques it makes me want to go to there.

It’s a lovely glimpse at a creative life on the other side of the world. It’s worth scrolling through again and again. So bookmark Miss Moss  already and bookmark The Anthology while you’re at it.

[Images from Miss Moss of course.]

November 7, 2012 by

Pinstagram | Cher, Dionne and Violet

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column marries the dream (Pinterest) and the reality (Instagram).

La La Land. Two of my favourite things about Los Angeles? LAX and Beverly Hills.

Sweet tooth. A teeny, tiny, and very delicious coconut pudding at Vij’s Restaurant in Vancouver + a teeny, tiny crystallized violet.

Living in textile. A few bright, colourful fabrics I found at my local sewing shop Spool of Thread + a bright, colourful carpet I’d love to have in my dining room.

Hello, halo. Hers is fake. And since mine is a trick of the camera, I suppose my halo is too. (That MINI, I’m driving? MINI Richmond wants to give it to you!)

Art attack. Opening night of Andrew Grassie’s exhibit at Rennie Collection + words worth walking on.

Taking it easy. My two office mates (on the left) are pretty lazy. I can only image how they’ve been slacking since I’ve been on the road for two weeks. Not in Paris and Roma, mind you, but in Kauai, Kona and Maui.

P.S. Follow Kelsey Dundon on Pinterest and Instagram, or if you prefer a more traditional route, add The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter.

November 4, 2012 by