Style | Moderating a Q&A at the Museum of Vancouver

So here’s something I didn’t want to focus on before I moderated a Q&A at the Museum of Vancouver this past weekend: I’ve never moderated a discussion like that before. I’ve presented on live television a trillion times. I lectured at one of Canada’s biggest universities for years. I’ve been on panels. I’ve spoken at events. I’ve given wedding speeches.

I’ve done many things you’d think would prepare me for something like this, but let me tell you: moderating a Q&A is a very different beast.

See, when you’re the one answering the questions, you’re already the subject matter expert (you’d hope). When you’re the one giving a presentation, you already have an idea of where you want to take things. When you’re giving a wedding speech, you just have to heckle the heck out of the bride.

But when you’re moderating a Q&A, chances are, you’re interviewing someone you just met a few minutes before you hit the stage. You don’t know what they’re going to want to talk about, you don’t know what they’d rather not delve into, you don’t know, frankly, how comfortable they’re going to be speaking in front of a live audience.

Since you don’t know where the discussion is going to go, you have to be prepared for it to go anywhere. Which means doing a lot of prep work. So, so much prep work; researching every public component of the interviewee’s life and career (and in my case, showing up with three pages of typed notes).

Thankfully, designer Evan Biddell and stylist Ellen Balsevich are both great interviews. Their collection, created for the 81lb. Challenge for Eco Fashion Week, is fascinating. And the message behind it — the average North American discards 81lb. of clothing and textiles in a year, making fashion the second-most polluting industry after oil — is powerful.

We talked about Evan launching his career on the first season of Project Runway Canada. We discussed the challenging parts of working in a creative field, we talked about Evan’s home/studio in Toronto’s Darling Mansion, and, because the event was part of Eco Fashion Week, we talked about the beauty — and significance — of upcycled clothing (while wearing coordinating upcycled outfits, no less).

It was fun. I learned a ton. And maybe at the next Q&A I moderate, I’ll only need to show up with two pages of notes.

Thanks for having me, Museum of Vancouver and Eco Fashion Week!

[Photos by Larissa Dundon — thanks for your help!]

Style | Upcycling Q&A at the Museum of Vancouver

I love a good upcycle. In fact, the early days of The Anthology were all about reinventing vintage pieces like this dress, this formerly comical piece, and even the odd piece of furniture, like these stools from Habitat for Humanity for the Vancouver Home and Design Show.

A post shared by Kelsey Dundon (@kelseydundon) on

But designer Evan Biddell (of Project Runway Canada fame) has taken upcycling to a whole new level. For Eco Fashion Week’s 81lbs. Challenge, he has created an entire line using the volume of textiles the average person discards in a year. (I covered last year’s event for Vancouver is Awesome — read up on it here.)

On Sunday, April 2nd, I’ll be moderating a Q&A at the Museum of Vancouver with Evan and stylist Ellen Balsevich. It starts at 2:00; you’ll find all the details here.

Want to come? We’re giving away a few tickets. Email me at KDundon@TheAnthology.ca with subject line: Museum of Vancouver for your chance to win.

Get involved | Variety BC’s One Night in Monte Carlo Gala

Here’s a serious question for you: If you could be any princess, who would you be? Kate Middleton? Elsa from Frozen? I’d choose Charlotte of Monaco. The woman is pure glamour (she’s Grace Kelly’s granddaughter after all), and seems to live a life of galas, yachts and horseback riding.

Why do I ask? (Aside from, you know…general curiosity?) Because Variety BC’s newest gala One Night in Monte Carlo is coming up on April 8th, which means a princess’s gown collection would come in handy. The gala will feature live entertainment, a red carpet, bespoke cocktails and fine dining at the Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver. But the best part? It benefits Variety’s mobility program, which provides Sunshine Coaches for community organizations and offers safe, wheelchair-enabled transportation for families with children needing support.

I’ll be there! Will you? Get your tickets here.

Now, if you have a princess’ gown budget, you’re already set wardrobe-wise, I’m sure. But if you need a little inspiration for what to wear on a less-than-royal budget, I stopped by Global BC to share some ideas from Hudson’s Bay, Aldo, Town Shoes, Le Chateau, H&M, all provided by Coquitlam Centre. Take a look.

Thanks for having me, Variety and Global BC! And thanks as always for your help, Jerome Insorio!

Pinstagram | Dancing Queen

The Anthology’s Pinstagram column marries the dream (Pinterest) and the reality (Kelsey Dundon’s Instagram photos of places and faces in and around Vancouver).

Hit the floor. At my sister’s wedding (photo by The Apartment) + someone who is most definitely a dancing queen.

Patience is a virtue. My beast tolerating a grooming + his true feelings about it.

Art attack. Colourful canvasses at the Vancouver Art Gallery make me want to paint (a messy prospect, to be sure) + a delightfully colourful mess.

Tiles for miles. A honeycomb tile backsplash + something a little more complicated.

Flower power. Arranging flowers for a friend’s wedding (I’ve never been so intimated by a project, nor had as much fun doing one!) + my very favourite flowers: magnolias.

P.S. There are more photos where these came from so follow @KelseyDundon on Instagram.

A love letter to a client and an introduction to Hayley Hudson

Kelsey Dundon stylist

I’ve been working with the lovely (and I do mean lovely!) team at BC’s biggest shopping destination Metropolis at Metrotown for more than a decade (hi guys!). First, as a copywriter at the design firm I used to work for, where I would write everything from digital campaigns to radio spots to television commercials. Then, as a stylist, spokesperson and sometimes blogger when I launched my own firm Northill Creative.

Kelsey-Dundon-Global-Television

In 2011, I started collaborating with their team on style segments on Global Television (you’ll find my first segment where I discovered I still wouldn’t be cool in high school here). That led to more segments. Many, many more segments, each a ton of fun to pull together, each a last-minute scramble to make sure everything is perfect before we go live on air, each an adrenaline rush.

Hayley Hudson Vancouver

But this year, because of a new project I’m developing, I’m not able to take on the segments as frequently as I was.

Which is why I’d like to formally introduce you to Hayley Hudson, a name you’ve seen on The Anthology a million times before. She’s been assisting me for close two years now, helping with styling (along with Jerome Insorio, who’s incredibly talented!) and taking many of our behind-the-scenes photos. (She’s also helping me launch my new project, but more on that later.)

Hayley Hudson Global TV

Hayley’s taking over the monthly Wear It Well segments and quarterly trend reports. And she’s been killing it. Tune into Global BC to catch her segments and if you’re in PR, add her to your outreach list. Thanks again, Hayley, for all your help these last few years!

[First photos from @KelseyDundon on Instagram, second photo by Hayley Hudson, last two sets from @MissHayleyAlice on Instagram]

Travel | I’m officially a Honolulunatic

honolulu

I never had much interest in Honolulu. Hawaii as a whole, yes – I first visited the state when I went on a three-week-long scuba diving/marine biology field trip to Maui while I was in high school. We camped in huts on the beach, dove with eels at night and shook scorpions out of our scuba booties in the morning. It was heaven.

More recently I wrote a series of travel articles on living like a beach bum with a butler in Kauai (highly recommend), driving the treacherous north shore of Maui (you definitely shouldn’t do this), and snorkeling at night with manta rays on the Big Island (actually scarier than diving with eels) – but Honolulu never called to me.

Until now.

honolulu airport aloha welcome to hawaii

For a girlfriend’s stagette we were in search of a place that would be warm in January, easily accessible from the west coast, a place where you could lounge by the pool if you wanted to, eat incredible food, go dancing at night. A place that’s small enough to walk anywhere you wanted to go, but big enough that you could break off into a smaller group and head in whichever direction the trade winds take you.

diamond head waikiki honolulu hawaii

Honolulu fit the bill. The hiking at Diamond Head, the standup paddle boarding right outside our hotel, the whales we saw during our sunset catamaran trip, the karaoke bars — they were just bonuses. Really, really fun bonuses.

Pig and lady 2

I feel like it’s my responsibility now to shout from the rooftops that this city is underrated. Hence this PSA. Go to Honolulu, embrace its Palm Springs-like shopping strip. Revel in its busyness, embrace the tiki overload, make reservations at restaurants you’re worried will be overrated (but aren’t), bail off your paddle board because the surf is way bigger than you can handle.

You can visit a sleepier island another time.

honolulu from the air

I’ll be back, Honolulu. I’ll be back.

P.S. There are more photos where these came from so follow @KelseyDundon on Instagram.

Giveaway | BC Home + Garden Show, Tiffany Pratt Edition

Tiffany Pratt This Can Be Beautiful

This can be beautiful! It’s a mantra worth adopting, yes, but it’s also the title of designer Tiffany Pratt’s debut book. She’s a headlining presenter at the BC Home + Garden Show this weekend and I figure we could all use a little more colour in our lives so we’ve teamed up for a brand new giveaway.

Tiffany Pratt

This prize pack includes a copy of Tiffany Pratt’s book This Can Be Beautiful, a notebook from her collaboration with The Penny Paper Co., a set of coloured pencils, and two pairs of tickets to the BC Home + Garden Show happening February 22-26, 2017 at BC Place.

It’s basically everything you need to get inspired and then get it done.

Copy of 2017_01_17_TiffanyPratt_358Harbord1785

CONTEST CLOSED: Congratulations, Linda!

Decor | Do you believe in furniture fate?

Brass mirror

Do you think it’s possible to conjure a thrifted find? Like, if you pray to the gods of ’80s furniture often enough, do you think they actually answer? It wasn’t long ago I posted about this brass mirror from CB2 (which is also a shelf, but let’s ignore those details for a moment). And now, at a Ukrainian church sale I find this shiny beauty, which is straight outta the ’80s, babies.

As of right this minute it’s hanging in my office, but I’m in the process of redoing it (I’m always in the process of redoing it) so who knows how long it will stay on this particular wall. I’ll keep you posted.

Wear It Well: Holiday Looks for Men and Women on Global BC

Kelsey Dundon Global BC

Half the fun of going to a party is the anticipation (the other half  is definitely the dance floor), and a big chunk of that anticipation comes in figuring out what on earth you’re going to wear. Maybe you’re one of those people who buys an entirely new look for every event. Or maybe you’d rather mix and match pieces you already have. Either way, we’ve pulled together three beautiful looks for three very different types of affairs.

Watch the segment here. It features a magical — like seriously magical — bag from H&M, a season-less look from Forever 21, luxe velvet from Marciano, and versatile menswear (the textures! Oh, the textures!) from Boys’ Co., all at Metropolis at Metrotown locations.

Thanks, Metropolis at Metrotown and Global BC for having me! Thanks, Jerome, for all your help!

My dress is from H&M, shoes from Banana Republic.

[Photo by Jerome Insorio]