Q&A: Where Did Kate Beaver Get That Hair O’ the Dog Dress?
Northern Liberties’ Kate Beaver made quite the splash over the weekend at the Hair O’ the Dog party, where she showed up in this rather, er, showy dress. Everyone was talking about the former Sixers dancer and her dress on Sunday and Monday, with Facebook comments ranging from “stunning” and “wowzer” to “tasteless” and “gross.” Here, the Havertown native tells me about her choice of outfits, what she wore underneath, and the book that she’s currently writing.
What do you do when you’re not hanging out at Hair O’ the Dog?
I act and model and dance. I’ve done a lot of commercials. And I’ve been in a few movies, like Road to Pecumsecah and I had a small part in a movie called No Boundaries. And I dance on the weekends at a club in Philly called Recess. And I also write.
You’re a writer?
Yes. I used to do a website called phillyin.com, but it hasn’t been updated for a while. I’m going to get back to that soon. And I’m working on a book project called Katy B. Cell Free.
Do tell.
I went a year without a cell phone and saw how that affected dating, family, friendships and life in general, and now I’m turning that into a book. I got sick of my cell phone. I had one of those moments where you see everyone you’re with is on their cell phone, and I just had to get rid of it. At first, I was going to do it for 30 days. Then 60. Then 90. Then a year. I started in November 2011 and finished November last year.
So were you just borrowing others’ phones in the meantime?
I used my house phone and pay phones. I was always carrying around a calling card. But my general rule was, if someone handed me a cell phone because someone was looking for me, I would accept it. I was already being a huge pain in the ass.
But, really, let’s talk about the dress.
It’s a really old dress. I bought it in 2005 for a formal for my college dance team at Kutztown University. I got it from Bloomingdale’s. I can’t even read the tag, because the tag is a little rough. I think it says Mary L. Couture. I was planning on wearing a different dress, but I picked it up from the dry cleaner, and it was too tight. It wouldn’t zip right. And I thought, “What on earth am I gonna wear?” I opened the closet, and there it was.
The ladies in my office want to know what you wore underneath to keep everything just so.
That was a challenge until right before we left. I thought I was gonna have to use duct tape. But, instead, I used little inserts from a bridesmaids dress. I literally safety-pinned them inside the dress so that I could stay put and not have any malfunctions. And I tied it really, really, really tight.
What was the dress that you were going to wear?
Another bridesmaids dress. Navy blue, strapless and full length. Sort of form fitted up top and flaring out at the bottom. But a lot of women have that predicament. There’s a party and all of a sudden you don’t fit in the dress or a zipper breaks or a strap breaks. What do you do?
When you first saw the photo on The Philly Post, what did you think?
I thought it was cute. I thought it was cool. It helps that you can see it’s not a short dress. Even though I am not very covered up on top, I am covered everywhere else. It was a cute picture. I was excited.
And what about when you saw the Facebook comments?
They kind of stung a little bit at first. I didn’t expect it to get so many opinions. But then I thought it was a very interesting conversation about what people have to say about women’s self-esteem, what’s appropriate, what’s not. And then I had people thinking I have fake boobs.
You haven’t had a boob job?
I haven’t. I just gained weight. It was interesting to me. I’m not offended. It’s definitely a talking piece, in a good way. But I do agree with the one comment that said that you should only show one thing, either legs or cleavage or stomach. That was a little more skin than I normally show. But I love the dress. And, really, I don’t have any regrets.
Kate Beaver Bonus Material
Here’s Kate Beaver at Hair O’ the Dog 2012.
Here’s Kate Beaver modeling in front of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
[Photo: Nick Johnson]
Here’s Kate Beaver in Road to Pecumsecah.
Here’s Kate Beaver in a Saladworks commercial.
Here’s Kate Beaver learning to shoot a gun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZtOPpaalV8
Here’s Kate Beaver running through a muddy obstacle course.
