Interview: Monkeyface

So we know it's been AGES since our last interview, but classes have momentarily ended, or at least until tomorrow for Charlotte, so we've finally had the chance to put together another one!

For this one, we wanted to interview another favorite blogger so we immediately thought of Monkeyface. We're sure you've heard of her before, but if you haven't, you're definitely in for a treat. We love this blog for so many reasons--not only is it a great style blog, but we always drool over the photographs and laugh out loud while reading the posts. So if you're thinking Monkey who?, hurry on over to her blog as soon as you finish reading this post. You'll love it. And if you already know Monk, by all means, read on! You'll learn something new!

1. When did you start your blog and why?

I started my blog this past summer in anticipation of beginning grad school.  I knew I wanted to get myself a hobby (that sounds really lame/sad but it's true), and I also wanted to start getting in the habit of writing every day.  A blog seemed like a fun outlet that would also help me exercise some out-of-shape creative muscles.

2. Why did you choose to stay anonymous? 

Okay I'm going to sound like that crazy old conspiracy lady on the bus right now (you know the one I'm talking about) but Google facial recognition software was in the news when I started my blog several months ago, and that really weirded the eff out of me.  Also I knew I was going to be teaching right away which is a new thing for me, and I was terrified at the thought of students finding pictures of me macking it up for the camera and losing all credibility.  Obviously macking it up for the camera with a cartoon monkey covering my face could do nothing but earn me mad respect.

3. Where did you get the idea to put a face over yours instead of cropping or blurring your face like most anonymous bloggers?

Gosh, this is a great question and I just for the life of me cannot remember exactly how it happened!  I'm going to sort of try to answer this in the next question, hopefully.

4. Why did you choose a monkey face? 

Monkeyface was a nickname of mine that comes from the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion.  (My blog name is also a recurrent line in that film, so make sure you hear Cary Grant's voice in your head each time you visit.)  I think I probably knew I wanted to have an avatar/alter ego for my blog and started drawing the monkeyfaces even before I decided to start a style blog and cover my face with them.  Once the style blog came into play, the monkeyfaces made their way onto my bod.  It wasn't the other way around - that I decided to do a style blog but wanted a way to remain anonymous - but rather, I had what I thought were hilariously ridiculous illustrations of monkeyfaces I wanted to incorporate somehow into a personal blog.  Pretty sure that's how it happened.

5. Since you keep your identity anonymous, do you tell people you know in real life about your blog?

No, I really don't.  Out of all the people I know in real life who are aware of my blog, half of them are my mother.

6. How would you describe your style?

Hmm, cheap and lazy.  Or maybe I'm projecting a description of myself onto my style.  But seriously am I the worst interviewee ever or WHAT, because I cannot think of an answer for the life of me.  My style is...hopefully not as boring as this answer.  But almost, maybe.

7. Where do you find inspiration for outfits?

I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that other bloggers out there have revolutionized my sense of style.  I don't pay attention to what designers are up to or what fashion magazines have to say, so I draw all inspiration from people in real life, reel life, and girls on the internet who have no life (like me.  KIDDING, I'm sure you all have lives.  but seriously I don't).

8. What are your staples that you couldn't live without? 

Are we talking clothes here or is this an appropriate time to compose an ode to the Chocolate Croissant?  UM, clotheswise, I couldn't live without a pair of jeans, genus skinny (THRILLING) or a pair of flats (also THRILLING), but I really only said those things because they seemed like the best euphemisms for sweats and slippers which is kind of what I really wanted to say but it seemed like sacrilege.  I would probably wear pajamas in half my outfit posts if I thought it would make for compelling imagery.

9. Your outfit pictures are always so gorgeous! We were blown away to learn that there isn't some kind of professional behind the lens! How do you find new backgrounds for your pictures? 

Well that is officially the nicest commentslashquestion ever!  Thanks ladies.  About 85% of my backgrounds are taken at various large, local waterfront parks.  The other 15% (I spent hours calculating these precise percentages, btw) is a nearby school and a street with a few industrial buildings.  My photographs only capture a very small area so I'm able to take advantage of different buildings and landscapes that are all actually within feet from each other.


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We hope you enjoyed this feature/interview! Thanks so much to Monk for answering our questions!

-Charlotte and Blythe