How do you celebrate a significant birthday? (I just turned 21!*) Fly to New York with your girlfriends and pop open a bottle of bubbly. I just got back and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Stay tuned, my friends. Stay tuned.
*Humour me and pretend you believe that, mmkay?
[J. Crew jacket, JNBY slacks.]
Let’s talk about tangerine for a second. I, like the good folks at Pantone, love this colour. It conjures images of Miami sunsets and drinks served out of coconut shells, doesn’t it? But forget summer sunshine for a second — I love tangerine-coloured winter outerwear too. It’s especially fitting on a jacket from the Company of Adventurers, a line that was originally conceived as colouring books.
Wait. What?
Yes, you read that right: colouring books. When Michael Purkis (pictured with yours truly) was helping his young son with his homework, he realized how little Canadians are taught about Canada’s wacky, wonderful history. Developing a line of fun, educational materials would be a fitting solution, but Purkis’s expertise lies in textiles (he’s president of Caulfield Apparel) so he turned to what he knows best. A move which, funnily enough, befits Canada’s history.
“We’re a country that was founded by business people,” said Purkis when I met up with him at The Bay, which carries the line exclusively. “They were traders, not explorers.”
Those traders originally called themselves “The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s Bay.” (Aha! The inspiration for the Company of Adventurers name!) Pieces in the line’s first season are named for important figures in Canadian history: Prince Rupert, Pierre-Esprit Radisson, and Sir Martin Frobisher to list a few.
While the line is technically tricked-out, there’s a focus on the style side of the equation too. Think down-filled pockets that are angled to flatter. You know, for urban explorers.
“You don’t have to be badass, just adventurous,” said Purkis. “For some people that might mean summiting Everest, for others that might mean trying sushi for the first time.”
And for others, that might mean wearing tangerine in the winter.
P.S. Thank you, B-Insider, for naming The Anthology one of your five favourite Canadian fashion blogs!
Sometimes it’s not so much about how you alter an outdated vintage piece, but how you style it. This jacket used to look like this. And truth be told, it still kind of does.
I had it altered ever so slightly. Actually, this is the first time in the Anthology’s Before and Afters that we’ve modified a piece this way — we didn’t remove the shoulder pads (the jacket is structured so it would sag awkwardly without them), we simply cut the shoulderpads so they don’t protrude as much.
Now the sleeves still have volume, they’re just a little less in yo face.
Speaking of sleeves, I’m going to let you in on a little secret — half the time I just cinch the sleeves on a weird vintage jacket and that does the trick. Makes it more laid back and undone, ya know?
So just like belting a billowy vintage dress will modernize it more often than not, pushing up the sleeves on a strong-shouldered vintage jacket will work insta-magic too.
See? Sometimes change is easy.
[Vintage jacket, scarf and belt, Talula pants, Matisse boots.]
P.S. Like The Anthology on Facebook because, as the chalkboard in the first photo says, I totally like you too.
I’m heading to New York and I want to give YOU my going-away present.
That’s right, my friends, Shopbop and The Anthology are giving away a $100 Shopbop gift card! So how would you spend it? On one of New York’s favourite lines 3.1 Philip Lim perhaps? You could put it toward 3.1 Philip Lim bags, 3.1 Philip Lim tops or anything else your heart desires at Shopbop. To enter:
For one entry: Comment on this post and tell us why you love New York.
For two entries: Follow Shopbop on Twitter.
For three entries: Write on The Anthology’s Facebook wall.
The contest is open to Anthology readers worldwide (gift card is in USD). The lucky winner will be chosen on Monday, February 27, 2012 (contest closes 5:00pm PST 02/27/12). Good luck!
CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Stay tuned for more!
[Photo of Bill Cunningham found here.]
I wasn’t at last week’s party in Toronto celebrating the launch of Dr. Marten’s First Love film starring Agyness Deyn and Ash Stymest. But this photo was.
Why? Because Dr. Martens asked me to submit a photo that represented my first love and this photo of me and my baby beast is exactly that. Dr. Martens were my fashion puppy love (get it?!). When I was in elementary school they were bigger than big, cooler than cool. They were the first shoes I remember desperately wanting, needing, begging my parents to get me. But my parents didn’t buy them for me(!) which is why Dr. Martens were also the cause of my first fashion heartbreak.
When my elementary school soccer team went out to Red Robin to celebrate a victory, one of the mean girls (who will remain nameless because I’m now friends with her) proclaimed those with Dr. Martens could sit at one table and those without Dr. Martens had to sit at the other. I had to sit at the other table(!) and I was devastated in the way that only an elementary school kid can be devastated when she’s excluded from the Dr. Martens-wearing cool crowd.
Funny how that moment has stayed with me. Would my elementary school self think that taking part in Dr. Marten’s spring 2012 campaign is cooler than sitting at the cool-kid table at Red Robin? As soon as they invent time travel I’ll ask her.
Forget the red roses and champagne, Valentine’s Day is at its best when it’s all about colourful, candy-ful fun.
1. Skip the virtual Valentines and courier a heart-shaped cookie to your SO, BFF or DOG (that last one isn’t an acronym).
2. Eat red and pink meals all day — you could pick from this list or you could just chow down on handful after handful of red almond M&Ms (for protein, duh!).
3. Make a playlist for tonight called Songs to Make West Coast Whoopee to. Oh hey… I’ve done that for you!
4. Watch Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, because love ain’t always pretty, but pastel dresses and macarons are.
5. Rock red and pink! And to make sure people know you’re not being trendy, but Valentines-y, you might want to paint your face with hearts too.
6. Put the ale in Valentine’s Day (now that’s a genius marketing campaign!) — ditch the dudes and go for a drink with your ladyfriends.
7. Challenge your inner Shakespeare to write a better love poem than last year’s. How you are going to top “Roses are red, violets are blue, if you were a nose, I’d totally pick you” I don’t know. But now’s the perfect time to start trying!
Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!
[Photo by Brandon Scott via Le Love.]
Tickets for the Social Feed x The Anthology dinner sold out the day they went on sale. So if you got yours, jump for joy! See you on March 1st!
And if you weren’t one of the early birds, fret not. There will be plenty more events coming up.
[Photo by Melvin Sokolsky found here.]
P.S. Add The Anthology on Facebook and you’ll be the first to hear about them.
I’m all for versatility.
That’s why I love a good tunic.
This one, from JNBY, works bundled under a giant vintage, formerly shoulder-padded sweater.
So I’m cozy enough to sit on the patio and drink tea on a sunny February afternoon.
Or wrestle with a couple of beasts in the backyard.
Its length means it’s also easy to tuck into a skirt so that it looks like a blouse, which is how I wore it when I interviewed Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon about the new documentary I Am Bruce Lee. And no, I didn’t wrestle with her.
[JNBY tunic, vintage sweater and skirt, Opening Ceremony boots, Rock and Republic jeans.]
P.S. JNBY Canada is holding a $100 Giveaway. Here’s how to enter:
-Stop by a JNBY Canada location, check in on Facebook or FourSquare, notify one of their associates that you’ve done so and you’ll receive a free gift.
-Try on JNBY Canada’s new spring line, take a picture in your favourite outfit then post the picture on JNBY Canada’s Facebook page. The picture with the most likes by February 29, 2012 will win a $100 voucher from JNBY Canada.
Ooooooooh boy, this is going to be fun!
Have you heard of The Social Feed? They throw giant dinner parties at independent restaurants around Vancouver and Toronto. And they’re all sorts of fun. Which is why I’m especially thrilled that The Social Feed and The Anthology have partnered up for a Fashion and Design Feed.
Come! Join fellow creative types for a night of networking and collaborating over a meal and a drink at the Irish Heather on Thursday, March 1st. Tickets are just $28 and include dinner, a drink, tax, tip and a donation to Dress for Success Vancouver.
Tell your friends! And get your tickets before they sell out. This is going to be the best dinner party we’ll have all year.
[Images courtesy The Social Feed.]
