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Style and Fashion

Style | Heidi Merrick’s Endless Summer

When California-based designer Heidi Merrick stopped by Oliver & Lilly’s in Vancouver (where her line is available) I chatted with her about the 1980s, her surfing pedigree, and her first kiss.

From left to right: Heidi Merrick, Oliver and Lilly’s owner Leighann Boquist and yours truly.

You and your designs are pure California. What were you referencing in this collection?

I always say it’s high glam — like surf 80s glam — and my small town beach town, but truthfully it’s about this surfer Tom Curren, the best surfer in the world of all time. He was living at our house when I was young, he was my dad’s protégé [her dad is surf legend Al Merrick]. When he was going on world tour, he kissed me goodbye in the driveway. I think I was about 8 or 9 and it was my first kiss.

I was looking at a book on 1980s surfing and I saw a picture of Tom and it brought it all back and I thought I’m going to do something inspired by strong emotional feeling so I tried to make the colours super glamourous and the seersucker and the gauze and the scarves were kind of that little girl left in Carpinteria [where she grew up]– dressed down, beach town, bleached out.

I remember imagining him going on world tour – and I’m sure it’s the most miserable experience in the world to be a surfer on the world tour – but in my mind it was the most glamourous thing in the world so I tried to put it together: the little girl left in Carpinteria and the glamour of the surf world.

You’re now about as far north, in terms of big cities, as it gets on the west coast so how does your Southern California surf-inspired collection fit in in Vancouver?

I can’t believe how cool everyone is who’s walking in the door and how like-minded it feels. Maybe yeah, they’re here for an event for me, but I couldn’t imagine a better group of friends. Take the designer Dace, for example, we met in New York and we just had this immediate connection.

There’s a real California/Canadian vibe.

From Heidi Merrick F/W12: Savile skirt, Jeffrey’s coat, and Savvy dress.

For your fall collection you’ve gone in a slightly more polished direction. What’s the story behind it?

For that I was trying to do a gentleman surfer. Spring in retrospect is more bohemian than I need in my closet and so I wanted to dress it up a little bit. I modelled it after this one photograph of this dude I know surfing in a toque in a yellow top and turquoise shorts and the entire colour palette is taken from that one photograph.

[Second image found here.]

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 New York-based artist Jason Young right here.

October 10, 2012 by

Style | A Few of my Favourite Shots from Freedman Shoes’ F/W 2012 Campaign Shoot

After the concept creation and the location scouting and the wardrobe direction and the posing and the smizing and the shooting, the work really begins. How, for example, do you choose which of the above photos of blue suede shoes you love more? (No really — guess which one we picked.)

You saw the behind-the-scenes pics from Freedman Shoes‘ fall/winter 2012 campaign shoot photographed by David Fierro, styled by Luisa Rino, designed by Dawn Newton, and directed by yours truly.

Now these are a few of my favourite shots and outtakes. Especially the one on the left which features one of the industry’s freshest faces, my girlfriend Kylie’s toddler Mya.

And these two featuring my dog-in-law Lola, whose tongue really is that long. They didn’t all make the cut, but they all have a special place in my heart. Like my favourite shot from Freedman’s spring 2012 campaign, which I now have hanging on my office wall.

Thanks again, team Freedman! That was fun!

[Photos by David Fierro.]

P.S. Kick up your heels and follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter!

October 9, 2012 by

Pinstagram | Bright Lights and Big Skies

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

Pretty in… The RACHEL Rachel Roy dress I wore to interview the designer + a pink bow I’d wear everywhere.

Red squared. A model getting made up before the LOULOU Magazine event at Metropolis at Metrotown + a pair of red shoes that almost perfectly match her hair colour.

Natural beauty. An arrangement from a wedding (congratulations Matt and Megs!) + a place I’d fall in love with.

Graceful greys. Joe Fresh’s moody fall palette + a moody evening sky.

Bright lights. Martha Sturdy’s illuminated orb sculptures (available at Provide) + an illuminated model.

Sunny side up. Sunflowers for a September baby (happy birthday, Elisa!) + a not-so-sunny cat.

Crown jewels. A vintage varsity sweater that would be a gem if it weren’t from a rival high school + some paper gems.

Big sky. Life under the open sky in my MINI Roadster convertible (which you can win, by the way!) + life in the even more open sky.

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

September 27, 2012 by

Style | The Name is Rachel. Rachel Roy.

If you had 15 minutes to ask Rachel Roy anything you wanted, what would you ask? When I sat down with the New York-based designer before her appearance at The Bay in honour of her fall collection, I asked her about Oprah, interning and time travel…

You have described RACHEL Rachel Roy as the younger sister of your designer line. What do you love most about designing it?

Because I was that girl growing up, I have a very kindred spirit to her. I really respect her. I understand that just because she might not be able to pay $500 for a dress she wants fashion and she wants what she sees in Vogue or the magazines that she reads. She wants better options so it’s really important to me to respect that and give the options that I am able to give within a certain price point.

What if you could speak to yourself when you were “That girl?” If you could travel back in time to give yourself a piece of advice when you began your career as an intern at Rocawear, what would you say?

I would say, “Good choice. I’m proud of you. You’re confident enough, thankful enough and capable enough to work for free simply to be in an industry that you’ve been dying to be in.”

Advice I would give to myself would be to have a point of view and stick to it. I definitely do that now and I think I’ve done that since my 30s but sometimes in your 20s you learn it if you’re not taught it right away. Having a point of view that you truly believe in – and sticking to it no matter who’s doing what in your personal life or your professional life – the world at large will have more respect for you if you actually have a story that you live.

In addition to your success as a designer, you’ve become a staple in pop culture with appearances on Oprah and Project Runway and celebrity clients like the first lady. What is it that most amazes you about what you’ve accomplished?

I’m just doing what I’m good at. I’m not good at a lot of things, but I think that everyone is good at something. When you’re good in the arts, it’s not something that – when you go through the public school system in the United States at least — it’s not something that you’re taught. So you can think “What the hell am I good at? What’s my gift?” And a lot of times you don’t learn that until you’re much older.

For me, that was knowing my gift was being able to take my surroundings and make them, to the best of my ability, visually as stimulating or comforting or pleasing as possible. That would be even with homes – I would go into friends’ places and help them shift stuff. In college I would be the girl that my friends would ask to come clean out their closets. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I say that to say we’re all good at something and when you can figure that out great, and it really doesn’t matter what you’re getting paid because your soul is happy.

[My dress c/o RACHEL Rachel Roy, my purse and necklace are both vintage.]

September 25, 2012 by

Diary | Behind the Scenes of LOULOU Magazine’s Shop Till You Drop Event

Hurry up and wait. That’s show shop business. Along with the team from LOULOU Magazine and my lovely assistants Katie Burnett and Amy Podrasky, I styled the Shop Till You Drop trend presentation at Metropolis at Metrotown last night.

Which meant plenty of backstage beauty touchups.

And pulling $1000 worth of Forever 21 accessories. (Do you know how many $6 rings and $8 necklaces that is?)

Certainly enough to accessorize our models, who wore (from left) True Religion, BCBG, and Forever 21, with shoes from BCBG. Cute, huh?

P.S. For as-they-happen photos follow The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter.

September 21, 2012 by

Bookmark | The Fancy

In The Anthology’s Bookmark column we explore some of the most inspiring places on the wild, wild web. This guest post is written by Carlle Chatten, a Vancouver-based fashion student whose writing class I recently lectured at.

The Fancy, a new e-commerce website, is giving Pinterest a run for its money. Not only is it filled with inspirational pictures of food, clothes, beauty products, and places you want to be, but if you really fancy something, you can buy it. Yes, everything is for sale.

The Fancy organizes your favorite things, and you can follow and browse other people’s profiles too. When you first arrive at the site, you can scroll endlessly, past high-definition images of jaw-dropping costume jewelry and infinity pools on the Isle of Crete.

No more lining up for mini doughnuts at the fair or hunting down those sought-after Alexander Wang Kolfinna Boots. The Fancy is an inspiration board that lets you collect things you love. Online and off.

If feel like impulse-buying, sign up for an account and bookmark The Fancy.  And if you haven’t already, bookmark The Anthology too.

Thanks, Carlle! I’m bookmarking The Fancy — and your Tumblr — as I type.

[All images from The Fancy, obviously.]

September 17, 2012 by

Style | For the Little Ones

Everything’s cuter when it’s smaller. Have you ever shopped for children’s clothing? It’s the best. And it actually makes baby showers fun (well, that and a rousing game of Pregnancy Pictionary). When I styled a series of back-to-school spreads for The Province I had a blast searching out miniature everything from the shops at Brentwood Town Centre. Of the four spreads and many outfits I styled, these are a few of my favourite finds.

If only they came in my size…

1. Notebook from Claire’s Accessories // 2. Jacket from Sears, shirt and skirt from the Children’s Place // 3. Vanity specs from Claire’s Accessories // 4. Hair wreath from Claire’s Accessories // 5. Boots by Steve Madden at Shoe Warehouse // 6. Backpack from Aldo // All at Brentwood Town Centre locations.

September 17, 2012 by

Pinstagram | Love It, Lose It, Drink It, Wear It

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

Cue the cards! Getting ready for my trend presentations at Metropolis at Metrotown + a trendy print.

Ladies of lines. Lovely illustrated packaging at Matchstick Coffee + a century-old illustration.

Foxy kitty. My cat Estelle Getty + a piece of origami.

Paint the town pink. Holt Renfrew celebrated 175 years by popping open bottles of bubbly + a bubble-gum pink look from Oscar de la Renta.

On point. A woodsy sunrise in Whistler the morning of my friends’ wedding (congratulations Jen and Pete!) + some spike-tacular art by Fredrik Akum.

The view from the ferry en route to a wedding in Victoria (congratulations Corrine and Dave!) + a waterfront seat I could spend hours in.

A sequins of events. An itty bitty beret from a back-to-school spread I styled for The Province (it’s from Children’s Place at Brentwood Town Centre) + sparkly gowns at Ellie Saab.

Two takes on modernism. A new(ish) forest up in Whistler + a probably-much-newer building.

Love fest. Me (squared) in the Love It or Lose It Lounge at Metropolis at Metrotown + a neon <3.

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

September 13, 2012 by