Browsing Category

Style and Fashion

Style | Nicole Bridger

By Erika Renfrew

It was pure poetry, the mixture of fashion and dance in Nicole Bridger’s S/S 2012 performance at Eco Fashion Week. Now, I use the word performance because the show stretched far beyond the traditional runway strut. Bridger called this season Allowing Grace, reflective of her inspiration and a reminder to us all to have faith and be exactly as we are.

nicole-bridger-ss-12

I got chills through my camera lens. Models and dancers shared the runway, and Bridger’s effortless designs shined next to powerful contemporary movement. With bare feet and long, loose hair, a story of freedom and optimism was told.

Nicole Bridger S/S 12 detail

Muted pastels, organic fabrics and Bridger’s signature draping allowed room for intense choreography (and also work fabulously in everyday life). This emotional portrayal was topped off with the delicate sounds of Bon Iver.

nicole-bridger-dance

It just makes sense; fashion is expression, dance is expression and Nicole Bridger united both for one truly chilling performance.

A little too awestruck, I just about forgot to applaud.

October 11, 2011 by

After | The Checkered Dress

Oh, vintage secretary dresses. How I love finding you buried on a vintage store rack and reworking you into something I’d actually wear!

reworked-vintage-dress

Remember what this one looked like before I reworked it? This:

pink-checkered-dress-before

You guys called it frumpy. And you were bang-on with that observation.

vintage-ysl-belt

My fixes were relatively easy. I belted it with a vintage YSL belt (I don’t even remember where I found it, but I am so very glad I did). I pushed up the sleeves to make it look more laid back and I unbuttoned the high neck so it didn’t look so, well… buttoned up. See? These are things a non-seamstress can do.

pink-secretary-dress-after

And I removed the shoulder pads, which is the easiest fix ever, as long as the piece isn’t so structured that it requires them. Oh, and I had it shortened just a bit. But my tailor handled that part because that is something that a non-seamstress cannot do.

[Thakoon shoes.]

October 6, 2011 by

Style | VCC Fiat Mode 2011

Grad fashion is fun.

vcc-fm

Case in point: I loved the VCC grad show Fiat Mode last year. (Dress by Agnes Kim.)

vcc-fiat-2011

And I loved it just as much this year. Probably because the designers are so fearless. To wit: Aleksander Mitrovic’s colourful, bulky ensembles.

vcc-fiat-11

They’re not all wild, though. Some, like Camila Charry’s dresses, were very wearable. This dove-grey maxi dress would be pretty at a wedding, non?

vcc-fiate-mode-prototype

And while seeing the finished pieces is always fun, I love, love, love getting a peek into their design process. Student portfolios are on display during the show and, in the case of Franz Albana, so are the prototypes. Betcha didn’t expect to see that kind of model at a fashion show, huh?

P.S. Like The Anthology on Facebook and you’ll get a peek into the blogging process.

October 3, 2011 by

Style | Attitude Jay Manuel

Top Model’s Jay Manuel is every bit as charming as you think he’d be.

kelsey-jay-manuel1

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s because he’s Canadian.

kelsey-jay-manuel

After interviewing him (or making like a keener student and writing down every word he says) he says to me me “By the way, I like your mis-matched prints.” Why thank you, sir. They’re both vintage.

jay-manuel-necklace

The man knows a thing or two about timelessness (just look at his ankle-length camel-coloured coat). The line he creative directs, Attitude Jay Manuel, is now at Sears Canada. That’s right: Sears Canada. “I was important to me to come home,” he says.

kd-jay-manuel-attitude

You know where I feel at home? Amongst models. (That’s not true at all. Look at how tiny I look! And I was even wearing heels.)

You’ll find my full interview with Jay Manuel on Vitamin Daily’s Editors’ Diary.

[Second photo by Alicia Quan.]

P.S. You’ll also find even more pics on The Anthology’s Facebook page. So like it already.

September 27, 2011 by

Style | The Quartz Ring

Bold accessories are the best. Especially those that are an outfit unto themselves.

quartz-ring

Now I don’t mean this ring should be your entire outfit. I’m just saying you could wear any old potato sack and this rainbow quartz number will bedazzle the heck out of it. There you have it folks — fashion advice from The Anthology: wear a potato sack.

[Infinity ring]

P.S. I took over Park Royal. But only temporarily.

P.P.S. A few Visual College of Art and Design students are putting on a stylin’ and winin’ event at Gastown’s new Community Thrift and Vintage on Thursday, September 22nd, 7:00-9:00. See you there?

September 20, 2011 by

Style | Vintage Sequins and JNBY Slacks

These aren’t special effects, my friends.

vintage-sequin-butterfly-shirt

This shirt is just that sparkly. It’s vintage, in case you couldn’t tell from the outrageous sequins and bold batwing cut.

kd

Don’t you think instead of using those fancy special effects in Katy Perry’s Firework video, they should have just borrowed this shirt? Silly question — of course you do.

jnby-slacks

I’ve been wearing these slacks (by JNBY) pretty much every day since I got them. They’re half trouser, half sweatpant, and all amazing. I’ve dressed them up, I’ve dressed them down, I’ve dressed them all around.

vintage-sequin-shirt-back

They make my heart soar as high as a (sequin) butterfly.

[Vintage shirt, JNBY slacks, Thakoon shoes, Joe Fresh nail colour]

P.S. Add The Anthology on Facebook and your heart will soar too.

September 16, 2011 by

Before | The Checkered Dress

Say you’re vintage shopping and you see this shoulder-padded, fuchsia-checked, long-sleeved, high-necked dress.

pink-check-dress-before

Some of you might recoil in disgust and throw it right back on the rack.

check-dress-detail

I did a little happy dance. Because I love nothing more than to reinvent a vintage secretary dress.

pink-checkered-dress-before

This one looks like a 1980’s take on an 1880’s school teacher’s ensemble. And for that, I love it.

I’m taking it to the tailor today and you’ll be the first to see the “after” shots once she’s worked her magic.

P.S. Let’s take a journey through some of The Anthology’s best before/afters, shall we? Like this printed jacket “before” and “after“. Oh, and these ridiculous pants look so much better after they became shorts.

September 14, 2011 by

Trippin’ | Galiano Island

I’ve always envied East Coasters and their cottage country.

croquet-galiano-island

There’s something so romantic about spending the weekend off the grid — or at least untethered from your laptop — playing croquet and having bonfires with your friends.

kelsey-boots

But instead of cottaging, I cabin. (It is the west coast way, after all.) And there’s nowhere more spectacular to do so than the Gulf Islands.

welcome-sign

I spent the weekend on Galiano Island and I am sold — hook, line and rooster-shaped sinker — on its cozy, woodsy charm. (I first fell for it during a retreat with Amrita Yoga.)

galiano-view

Especially when that cozy, woodsy cabin comes with a gazillion dollar view.

galiano-frog

And frogs that seem like they’ve been transported from some tropical destination.

galiano-beach

The water, on the other hand, does not seem tropical in the least. It is all sorts of freezing, but we swam in it any way. Because that’s also the west coast way.

[RayBan Sunglasses, vintage shirt, Gap shorts, Cougar Boots.]

P.S. Whether you cottage or cabin, you should definitely keep up with The Anthology on Facebook.

September 6, 2011 by