Oh my! There are so many new goodies up on The Anthology Boutique (which is now super fancy and super Etsy-ed out).
Shop your hearts out, friends! And send me your feedback at theanthology@live.com
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Vancouver
And it’s not 100 degrees in Vancouver, either. Shocking, I know.
But in my mind The Temper Trap’s set (at the Commodore the other night) kept bringing me back to sunnier, sweatier times.
Because the last time I saw the Australian supergroup we were in the middle of the California desert at Coachella.
In other words, a far cry from a dreary Vancouver evening. (Get it together weather, it’s June, for crying out loud.)
It doesn’t mean you can’t wear shorts and your favourite hippie-dippy purse. It just means you’ll be carting around an umbrella instead of a water bottle.
And that instead of wearing a flowy dress, you’ll be wearing a men’s shirt belted with whatever belt you happen to love at the moment.
And your wrist will be wrapped in a pirate-themed bracelet. Why?
Because if there’s one thing my love of cheesy pirates has taught me — there are palm trees on desert islands. And you’ve got to keep the dream alive somehow.
P.S. Twitter is a tropical destination of sorts. So follow me.
What a way to end the season. Vancouver Opera’s take on Puccini’s classic Madama Butterfly is beautiful and brilliant, not to mention, brightly coloured. And I was there to blog all about it (nerd alert!).
Before taking our seats, opera bloggers John, Gus, Stacey and I had a backstage tour. We weren’t allowed to touch (or twirl) these parasols, but let me tell ya — what looks like simple corrugated plastic backstage makes for dramatic props on stage.
And I loved every psychedelic-shaped, primary-coloured inch of it. (Photo by Tim Matheson.)
Looking like the set of a sixties game show (can’t you just envision it filled with dancers doing the Austin Powers?), the stage’s swirls have been known to cause vertigo in those sitting in the balcony.
But we were sitting front row, centre. (Surtitles be darned — sitting that close means you can see the singers’ throats quiver).
This visual spectacle is the work of set and costume-designer Jun Kaneko, a Japanese-born sculptor at the forefront of the contemporary ceramics movement. (Thanks, Vancouver Opera, for the photo.)
So what’s the story? A beautiful fifteen-year-old geisha falls in love with an American sailor and sacrifices everything for him — her family, her friends, her religion, you name it. He marries her, but then leaves to return to the States, (didn’t her mother warn her about guys like that?) and she gives birth to his ridiculously adorable child.
Three years later, he returns to Japan to take their son to the States, leaving Madama Butterfly behind. She is in such despair, she… well, I won’t ruin it for you. (Manga by Roy Husada.)
Coincidentally I wore a sixties dress, but less mod and more Aud(rey). And that means it’s official: I have not worn a single dress from this millennium to the opera this season.
First, there was the eighties number with the crinoline, then there was the eighties number with the shoulders, then there was the fifties wedding dress and now this. Plus, last season, I rocked this significantly shorter sixties dress.
Even though this is the end of the opera season, my friends, there are still five performances of Madama Butterfly if you want to get in on it.
He’s inspired thousands. He’s raised $35,000 for diabetes research. And he’s only nine years old.
Jack Stuart, captain of Team Jack of Hearts, will be leading the charge at The Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes in Vancouver. His goal? To raise $20,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
And I’m on his team.
Want to help him achieve his goal? Of course you do. Join Team Jack and walk with us Sunday, June 13, 11:00 at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Or show your support and pledge Jack. Now let’s hit the road!
Is the name of a beautiful song off Radio Dept.’s latest album.
And it is the perfect title for this post.
Because this skirt is, if you ask me, much better this time around.
When I first scouted it as part of a twofer two piece, it looked like a garden threw up all over it.
But I find separating separates to be very effective (see the blouse here).
Because in smaller doses, this beautiful paint-splotchy print is downright delightful.
P.S. A Token of Gratitude is another Radio Dept. song. And it’s also what I owe you for following me on Twitter.
Your grade two teacher wore something very similar to this, didn’t she?
Long skirt, exceptionally shoulder-padded shirt — it’s a foolproof combination, isn’t it? So classic. So vintage.
My favourite thing about a twofer is that you can treat the separates as separates and wear them, well, separately.
All I needed to do with the blouse was remove the shoulder pads and it was ready to rock.
Easy peasy.
And all I needed to do with the skirt was take it to the tailor’s (D.I.Y. is so easy when you have someone else D.I. it for you).
So how did the skirt turn out? Who knows! It’s still at the tailor’s. But I’ll let you know as soon as I do.
I’m pretty sure Grace Coddington would approve of wearing it head-to-toe but, Anna Wintour most certainly would not (have you seen The September Issue?!?).
It doesn’t matter, though, because neither were in Vancouver last night. And neither were at the jam-packed first-anniversary party for JK Models at Leone.
It was so much fun to see such beautiful faces (I’m talking to you Liv, Kim, Adela, Nicole, Olivia, Niki, Anya, Erin, Lisa, and Raul).
And it was so much fun to wear my new-to-me giant spiral gold earings, which are — you guessed it — straight out of the 1980s.
When you’re decked out in ridiculous accessories from such a ridiculous decade you can’t help but have a blast, even if you’re dressed in the most solemn colour in the rainbow.
P.S. Like the Anthology? Like Facebook? Might I suggest this?
to Steveston, which is — what would you guess — 20 minutes outside Vancouver?
And yet, it is an entirely different world.
You’ve been, right? Probably even eaten the fish ‘n chips at Pajos (if you haven’t yet, you’ve got to).
We walked for hours along the trails. And boy, did it feel good to stretch our legs.
And watch people fly kites.
Wore a thrifted sweater, which was hand knit, probably by someone’s very lovely grandmother.
And my acid washed cutoffs.
Weekends in the summer. I’m telling you — they’re the best things going. The week has only just begun and already I’m asking myself: where to go next?
Sound familiar? It’s Britney Spears. And it’s also many of you.
Because after I posted a few teaser shots of the vintage wedding dress transformation, y’all were hollering for more. And who am I to deny you?
Here’s a refresher: I found this late 50s/early 60s dress at a thrift store and I had to have it. (I didn’t even know at the time that it has my initials sewn inside. Creepy, but true.)
So I had it hemmed.
And I specifically left the two layers of tulle longer than the under layer.
It’s more dreamy, more floaty, more ballet-y that way.
And it was perfect for the opera (Marriage of Figaro? Wedding dress? I mean, come on.)
I am so very freaking excited to announce the launch of The Anthology Boutique where some of my favourites (like this scarf) can become your favourites.
Shop! shop! shop your hearts out!
