Some might consider the colour black to be the absence of colour but in the world of Monoxious, it is spacious room for experiment. The two authors of Monoxious, Arissa and Dawn, who reign from Singapore sure know how to rock the color that some people deem boring and dull. Though we have featured Monoxious before back in the year 2009 (time really flies!), we decided to cast the spotlight on them as featured Blogger of the Month. We posed hard-hitting questions to get a sense and know them better!
Arissa and Dawn
1. If black didn’t exist, what color would your wardrobe be made out of?
Arissa: Lots of white cotton that I can dip dye in red over and over again so it can look black.
Dawn: Neutrals would dominate – nudes and camels, probably with navy.
2. What is the one item in your closet you can’t live without?
Dawn: Probably a pair of tall, comfortable wedges! I feel that no outfit is complete without a nice pair of shoes.
Arissa: I’m with Dawn on this, I think a nice pair of shoes really makes an outfit.
3. Who takes your style shots?
Dawn: We take pictures for each other usually. Sometimes we rope our friends into doing it for us.
4. Where do you usually take your outfit pictures?
Dawn: We don’t have a fixed place where we take our outfit shots at. We are opportunistic creatures – when we are out shopping and we see a place that would make for an interesting composition, we would pause for pictures there.
5. Japan street style or Hollywood glam?
Dawn: Japanese street style for me. I favor crazy over casual any day!
Arissa: Japanese street style!! I am visually stimulated every time I walk down Harajuku, their sense of style is really inspiring.
6. Tell us a person that you think wears black very well (excluding yourselves)
From left to right: Luxirare, Victoria Törnegren, PHOSPHENE
7. How many pairs of shoes do each of you have and what’s your favourite pair?
Dawn: I think I have about 20 that i wear on a regular basis. My favourite pair would probably be my YSL pumps. They are versatile and make my legs look really long!
Arissa: I have about 30 pairs? My favorite pairs are usually the most painful to wear, the one I wear the most is the Ann Demeulemeester lookalike from Jeffrey Campbell for LF stores.
8. What about bags? Do you have a favourite bag?
Dawn: My dream bag as of right now is the PS1 Keepall. I really hope to own it one day!
Arissa: I have about 6-7 bags? But most of the time I like to wear out one bag before I buy another one. It’s kinda strange I think. I really love the Kristen Satchel from Alexander Wang but it’s pretty heavy even when it’s empty. I told myself I’d own the Proenza Schouler PS-1 someday.
9. Are you a maximalist or a minimalist?
Dawn: Minimalist. I love buying accessories but I hardly leave the house with any of them on.
Arissa: I believe in the phrase “less is more”, at the same time I think that in an outfit, there should be a statement piece that the rest of the outfit integrates with.
10. What do you think of Lady Gaga?
Dawn: I love what she is doing in terms of promoting up-and-coming designers.
Arissa: I LOVE HER. I think we live in the age of Gaga, Pop will never be the same again. I love how she is so driven and motivated in her work and constantly brings something new and shocking to the scene.
11. Any plans on starting a label?
Arissa: I think there’s a lot of planning involved and not something to just jump into. We would definitely welcome investors or collaborators to work with.
12. Short hair or long hair?
Dawn: I don’t have a strong preference for either. Sometimes I wish for short hair, but I don’t think I can give up the versatility of longer hair!
Arissa: I think over the years of keeping long hair, I definitely am quite taken to having short hair now. It’s refreshing and not to mention awesome for the weather in Singapore. There is less maintenance (except for frequent cutting) and you have no idea how much I save on hair treatments now.
13. What is your favorite fashion era?
Dawn: It would actually be the 50′s for me.
Arissa: The “New Look” from Dior in the 50s is definitely one of my favorites, it was a turbulent time after the war so you could really see a shift between utilitarian and opulence.
14. What is your favorite music genre?
Dawn: I listen to such a wide range that it’s really hard for me to narrow it down to one specific genre.. but I find myself listening to classical and electronic music a lot these days.
Arissa: I really like my Game soundtracks, most of them are instrumental. I had a New Age phase once when I was in school.
15. What’s the favourite DIY you’ve attempted which you think everyone should try?
Dawn: My absolutely favourite DIY would actually be the Ann Demeulemeester epine leather strap ones we did recently! It is really simple and there are just so many things you can do with
it.
Arissa: There was this DIY which we tried attempting 2 years ago but it was just too hard. We revisited it 2 years later; it was an attempt to make a chainmail headdress. I did all my preparations (watched YouTube Videos, visited websites related to it) and all of our DIYs take less than a day to do but this particular one is just crazy. I still haven’t finished it but I would challenge anyone to attempt it once it’s up.
16. Lastly, any words for the followers of your blog?
Dawn: I would just like to thank all of you who have been reading our blog for the past two years. We might not have been the most prudent when it comes to updating, and there are even times when we come to dread blogging, but all of you make maintaining Monoxious worthwhile. We do read every comment that we get, and thank you all for simply being the most wonderful readers ever!
Arissa: I’d hate to say this to everyone who owns a blog out there but we have the BEST readers. True story. I would like to thank friends and supporters who have followed our blog since its horrible default WordPress layout. The blog has been a bittersweet journey which has sometimes caused much sleepless nights but also much exuberance at times. I hope the blog can also grow with the Singapore fashion scene which many people are still doubtful of its existence. I also dream of the day we’d all walk down the street, all decked out stylishly in black.
To get inspiration to start your own DIY project, or to get ideas on how to style your black garments, visit Monoxious.
Related articles: FashBlog Focus: Monoxious (SG), Blog Savvy: The Walking Recessionista (PH), Tricia Gosingtian Plays Stylist with Japanese-Inspired Fashion, Playing Stylist: June Paski
