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Style and Fashion

Style | Jason Matlo’s Presentation at Rosewood Hotel Georgia

How many weddings are you going to this summer? I’m going to six. And you can bet every bride is going to be wearing something very different. That’s the most fun part, no? Seeing how the dress reflects the bride’s personality.

Mad props to the brides who go bold and wear couture-style gowns, like those in Jason Matlo’s latest collection.

As the Vancouver-based designer prepared for his runway presentation at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia (he’s showing the models how to strut their stuff in the photo above), he shared how this collection came to be — the joys (employing couture techniques) and the pains (employing couture techniques).

“It’s bridal-themed but very loosely bridal-themed,” he says. In other words, you could wear these dresses to tie the knot, but you don’t have to be a bride to wear them — with their darker colours and rich embellishments, they’d look just as beautiful if you’re simply tying a knot…in your hair.

You’ll find my interview on Vitamin Daily’s Editors’ Diary.

P.S. I visited Jason Matlo’s studio in preparation for a segment on CTV a little while ago and you’ll find it right here.

May 14, 2012 by

After | The Flowy Floral Dress

See how happy I look, sitting there on a rock in the middle of Queen Elizabeth Park? That’s a) because I was doing a shoot with Vancouver-based portrait photographer Sherry Lu and b) because my dress no longer looks like it does in the photo below.

You’d be smiling too. So how did this vintage Little House on the Prairie-style dress go from looking like this…

…to this? I hemmed it! Oldest trick in the book. And belted it with a vintage YSL belt instead of its original sash. I almost always swap out the belt that’s comes with a dress or jacket, regardless of whether it’s vintage or brand new. Makes a piece your own, ya know?

I left the sleeves long because they’re fun, they’re see-through and they’re quite flowy so I feel like a true flower child (though in this photo I look much more like a tree child). Oh, and that ring? It’s by Social Experiment. And speaking of things that are social, we have quite a few giveaways coming up  so socialize with The Anthology on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll be the first to hear about them!

[Vintage dress, bag and belt, Prada sandals.]

First, third and fourth photos by Sherry Lu.

P.S. Thank you, Countdown Events, for this feature on yours truly!

May 11, 2012 by

Style | Spring Trends on Breakfast Television

When you do morning television your day starts early. Like, really early. At that time of the morning when only hardcore joggers — you know, the ones who lace up their running shoes before dawn — are up.

I’ve never been one of those joggers, but with a heckuva lot of coffee, I can be one of those morning people.

I did Breakfast Television for Vitamin Daily the other day and talked spring trends at Old Navy (the outfit pictured), Gap and Banana Republic. Think lots of fun, summeriffic colours, even for gentlemen.

And me. My silk top and lace skirt are from Banana Republic.

My shoes are Elizabeth and James.

If you were out jogging and missed the clip, you can watch it riiiiiiiiight here.

Thanks for having me, Breakfast Television! And thanks again Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Tara Parker Tait, Vitamin Daily, Michelle and Laura!

May 3, 2012 by

Style | Prepping for Breakfast Television

Bright and early tomorrow morning I’ll be on Breakfast Television Vancouver talking trends from Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy. Which means today I got my style on. Those are raspberry shirts I’m leafing through, gentlemen. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Then be sure to catch my segment Tuesday morning at 8:20.

Thanks, Michelle, for snapping that photo!

April 30, 2012 by

Style | Hosting JNBY’s Anniversary Party

Mad bonus points if you can guess what I wore to host JNBY‘s third anniversary party last night.

Orange you glad you said JNBY? Obvi I’m wearing it head to thigh. Not JNBY? My eel-skin clutch, which is vintage, my ring, which is from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, my bright blue nail polish, which is Slapper by Butter London (courtesy of Nail Polish Canada), and my gold cuff, which I’ve had for so long I don’t even remember where I found it. I do remember last night being a heckuva lot of fun, though. It was so great to see all your beautiful faces!

[Thanks to my sister Larissa for snapping this picture!]

P.S. Even madder bonus points if you follow @TheAnthology on Twitter.

April 27, 2012 by

Style | Inside Vancouver’s new J.Crew with Design Directors Tom Mora and Frank Muytjens

Funny that there hasn’t been a J.Crew store in Vancouver until now. The New York-based brand’s dressy/casual approach to basics seems right at home on Canada’s west coast.

“It never feels too dressy or over done,” says Tom Mora, Vice President of Women’s Design (pictured on the left). “And that meshes with Vancouver’s aesthetic. I mean, look at you, you’re wearing a tailored jacket with a t-shirt underneath.”

Good point.

Before J.Crew opened its Robson Street doors I got a peek at the two-floored space filled with cashmere sweaters, pencil skirts and button-up shirts. Though the basics may be the basics, this isn’t your mother’s J.Crew. If you’ve been following the brand’s trajectory – or if you’ve seen how they’ve styled their lookbooks in recent years – you’ve noticed a dramatic shift away from plain-old preppy, which is in no small part due to the vision of J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons.

Lyon’s laid-back luxe style has made her every fashion girl’s girl crush and a source of inspiration for Mora. “Between Jenna and my designers, I’m lucky to work with beautiful, stylish women,” he says. “We’re a company where people walk around in sequins in the middle of the day.”

The Vancouver store is the second J.Crew location in Canada (the first opened in Toronto last August) and the first to carry menswear.

Frank Muytjens, head of men’s design, describes the J.Crew man as fashion-conscious but not too trendy. “Men don’t like change too much so we take smaller steps than we would with women’s,” he says.

“You need to be persistent and consistent with menswear; you need to show a piece many times before [the customer] is comfortable with it.”

Speaking of comfort, a style staple of the Great White North has been given Muytjens’s blessing. “It’s perfectly acceptable to wear denim on denim,” he says. Good news for the Canadian tuxedo.

J.Crew is now open in Vancouver at 1088 Robson Street.

[Thanks, Little Fashionisto, for snapping that second photo!]

P.S. Like The Anthology on Facebook.

April 25, 2012 by

Style | Coachella Festival Street Style

Wait. What?! You’re going to the second weekend of Coachella? Then this is me making a ugh-whatever-talk-to-the-hand face at you. How dare you not take me too?

K, now I’m over it. We can be besties again.

For all you weekend two-ers (and all of you who love looking at pretty people in the sunshine), here are a few of my favourite festival style shots from weekend one. They’ll answer your most burning question: What on earth to wear with a wristband?

Skirts and dresses with boots because a) it’s cute and b) it’s smart. How else are you supposed to keep your toes safe from that dude jumping up a storm in front of you?

Light, muted colours because all that black and grey you wear in the city has no place in the bright, shiny desert. (Peep the dude in the bottom left corner of this picture; you should def. bring him with you.)

A gigantic smile. Because you’re at Coachella for Pete’s sake.

Lipstick! Because no one can see your eye makeup behind those sunny G’s anyway.

And if the temperature starts to dip you’ll look very Coolchella in high-waisted jeans a la my favourite TV host (and one of my BFFs) Jessi Cruickshank.

And if it starts to really, really dip, you’ll be very Coldchella in an oversized men’s wool sweater, cords and boots. Could I possibly look any more un-California? I mean really. But it was hailing at one point so I had no choice but to bundle the heck up. (Stark contrast to my t-shirt-only looks of years past, huh?)

Lucky for all you weekend two-ers, it doesn’t look like you’ll have to worry about anything but the sun.

Oh, you were wondering what the trendsetting gents were wearing? Well, there’s really only one look that matters.

P.S. You’ll find more beautiful Coachella people and styles right here.

P.P.S. I’ll be sharing more photos on Facebook so like The Anthology.

April 19, 2012 by

Playlist | Coachella Weekend 1

Ahhhhh…Coachella.

The sunshine, the music.

The colours, the characters. It all brings me so much joy.

I went this weekend with friends from LA, Calgary and the Couv and man, was it fun. I skipped the first day — shameful, I know! But it was raining! And I spend enough time in the rain when I’m at home in Vancouver, thankyouverymuch, I didn’t want to brave it in the desert, even if it meant missing Wu Lyf, Other Lives, Explosions in the Sky and Neon Indian.

I made up for it on days two and three, though. The highlights? Justice, Miike Snow, At the Drive-In, The Weeknd, and of course…Snoop and Dr. Dre.

You know how you always laugh at those dudes who wear concert t-shirts to the concert? Yeah well, some shirts are too good not to.

Even if it means you have to make one yourself.

I’m jaded when it comes to rumours about people making an appearance via hologram (Terry Fox at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Games, anyone?) and people making surprise appearances at Coachella in general (Daft Punk for the last three years, anyone?). So when I heard Tupac was going to make a guest appearance as a hologram I blew it off and was excited about the Eminem rumours (I like him. Please don’t laugh).

I should have believed the hype. This video of a holographic Tupac performing with Snoop is insane, but it doesn’t compare to how cool it was to see that hologram “live” on stage. From my vantage point, which, granted, wasn’t particularly close to the stage, it looked eerily real. And it left me wondering — what did Snoop see when he looked at the holograph from the stage? A cloud of Tupac-shaped smoke?

I suppose I’ll never know. What I do know is that I really do love you, Coachella.

P.S. I’ll be posting more festival photos on Facebook so like The Anthology and get ready to tag your friends.

April 16, 2012 by

Style | Jeff Garner’s Prophetik

Jeff Garner may look the part of Australian surfer dude (a role he once played in a Barbie commercial, no less), but he is every bit the Southern gentleman — all charm and chattiness, even in the middle of a model fitting. The man behind Prophetik, a sustainable, organic design house, Garner grew up on a horse farm in Franklin, Tennessee; the same farm he now lives on when he’s not dressing celebrities in LA, showing at London Fashion Week or headlining Eco Fashion Week in Vancouver.

Garner has been in the fashion world for nearly a decade, but truly captured the attention of editors and fashion fans this spring when he dressed Esperanza Spalding for the Oscar red carpet. His silver-blue gown earned the singer a spot on Vogue’s Top 10 best dressed list alongside a Tom Ford-clad Gwyneth Paltrow and a Louis Vuitton-wearing Michelle Williams.

“That was an unforeseen blessing – to be an unknown brand on a newly recognized artist,” he said. “We were the underdogs in that running.”

How did the designer go from horseshoes to Hollywood? Instead of following in his family’s military footsteps and accepting a full-ride scholarship to West Point Academy, Garner packed up his Jeep, drove to LA and dove right into all things sartorial, only to discover it wasn’t what he thought it would be.

“I realized very quickly that I myself didn’t even want to go into some of the places in which we were dying and cutting and sewing,” he said. “It was just nasty – the place itself, the working conditions, the way people were treated – and I came out of there with a feeling that I didn’t want to be a part of this.”

“I either had to stop doing what I loved or I had to do it another way.”

He chose the latter.

Treating eco-friendly fabrics like hemp with organic dyes, Garner creates sustainable fashion which he shows in theatrical style on runways the world over. Live music figures prominently in his shows, as it does in his life — he’s dressed the likes of Miley Cyrus, Kings of Leon and Jonas Brothers and grew up surrounded by friends in Nashville’s music industry.

“My buddies and I used to sit around in guitar circles and jam and write songs. When they asked me to be in a band I said No way, but I’ll dress you. And that’s how it all began.”

Jeff Garner’s Prophetik headlines Eco Fashion Week in Vancouver tonight. On Sunday, April 15th, his newest collection will be available on eBay.ca as part of a Green Option. And yes, that includes the dress he created for Esperanza Spalding for the Oscars.

P.S. In case you missed it, you’ll find Eco Fashion Week’s lovely little feature on The Anthology riiiiiiiight here.

April 11, 2012 by