Interview: Kate Gabrielle from Scathingly Brilliant

Friday, November 18, 2011


When thinking of blogs I love to visit daily, immediately the pink-haired Kate Gabrielle's blog comes to mind. Scathingly Brilliant is filled to the brim featuring helpful DIY's, her gorgeous art, and pastel-hued outfit posts - one could get lost there for hours! I asked Kate if she would do a interview with me, and much to my delight, she accepted! ^^

Why did you decide to get a blog?
I first started blogging in 2009 after one of my friends thought it would be a good outlet for writing about classic movies, since at the time I was filling up the descriptions on my flickr photos with paragraphs on classic film ... so I started Silents and Talkies, my first blog, in January 2009. Last year I decided I wanted to blog about more than just movies, and that's when I started Scathingly Brilliant! I've ended up devoting much more time and effort to my newer blog, but I still love posting on Silents and Talkies too :)

I love your style icon series - who would you say has had the most impact on your style?
Thank you! My biggest influence is probably Clarissa Darling (Melissa Joan Hart's character in Clarissa Explains It All) not for her specific wardrobe choices, but for her general attitude towards fashion and conformity. I think my current style draws mostly from my favorite 60's actresses like Julie Christie, Monica Vitti and Jeanne Moreau. I have to put my own spin on sixties-ness because I don't have the narrow frame to pull it off, but I like to incorporate as much big hair, bell sleeves, velvet, cool collars and lace as is humanly possible ;)

Describe the average day in your life.
Eek this is going to be so so boring! I wake up whenever my cat Hypatia wakes up --usually around 12pm-- she meows at me until I get out of bed and show her her food bowl (she likes to cover it up with a sock or tissue before we go to sleep, then she can't find it again until I show her where it is!) Then I mosy over to my computer and check my emails and blog comments, and tend to my etsy shop. Then I get dressed (probably the most important thing about being self-employed and maintaining some semblance of reality, lol) and have breakfast. The rest of the day depends on the activity in my shop, pretty much. If I didn't have any orders, I'll play with the cats.. watch movies.. read.. spend way too much time on twitter, etc. If I did have some orders, I'll spend a good deal of time printing them and packing them and making sure I get to the post office before they close. Every once in a while I draw, or come up with new products for the shop. I usually blog at night before I go to sleep, and schedule the post for 9am the next morning. I end the day with a cup of hot chocolate and an episode of The Office or The X-Files.

Scathingly Brilliant has a definite (and absolutely gorgeous!) design aesthetic - do you visit any blogs in particular to get inspired?
Thank you so much! My favorite blogs for design inspiration are probably Little Chief Honeybee, Fancy Fine and Goodnight Spoon, but there are really so many blogs that inspire me it's hard to not just say "all of them!".

What was your inspiration behind coloring your hair pink?
Ever since I saw Shirley MacLaine sporting pink hair in What a Way to Go! (Style Idol - Shirley MacLaine) I wanted pink hair! I'm back to brown right now, but I already miss it so much! It was just so fun! :)

You list Barbara Stanwyck as your favorite actress - a woman who I think it incredibly underrated. What makes her special to you, and what films are your favorite?
She was so underrated, yes!! She was a master of light comedy, yet she makes me cry in her melodramas like nobody else can. She seemed to carry herself with such ease, and acted as though everything came naturally.. yet you know that underneath the facade she was working really hard to project that image. Also, she seemed to really love her craft, not just the idea of being a star, and I love that about her! I think my favorites would be Meet John Doe, My Reputation, Ever in My Heart, Remember the Night and The Miracle Woman but honestly I love every single one of them!

And lastly, what is your favorite episode (or episodes!) of The X-Files? ;D
First of all, there are the mythology episodes. I LOVE the alien conspiracy plot, so those are definitely my favorites (including the 1998 movie.. I watch that more often than I'd care to admit!) I really geek out over the conspiracy. Did you know that the date Samantha Mulder was abducted is the same day that 18 minutes are missing from the Nixon tapes? I love that they snuck that in there, it's such a tiny detail but makes the series seem so real. I remember when I read that on an X-Files fan site thinking to myself "hmm.. that's suspicious!," as if Nixon *really* had something to do with a fictional tv character's abduction, lol!

As far as the other episodes go, basically every episode in Season 6 is my favorite. I love Arcadia (S6E13) where Mulder and Scully pose as married suburbanites Rob and Laura Petrie (like the dish.) and Season 6 also has the Dreamland plot arch, where Mulder and Michael McKean switch bodies. Another great episode in Season 6 is Monday (S6E15), a deja vu style psychological thriller that I could watch a million times over (and do!) Season 6 is just so creative.. there are so many episodes that play out like feature-length films instead of hour-long tv dramas. Triangle (S6E3) takes Mulder back in time to the WWII era when he drifts into the Bermuda Triangle. That one is really clever, and they captured the 40's era perfectly! SR819 (S6E10) is another favorite, and one that I can remember scaring the wits out of me when I watched it in middle school! (I've been an X-phile for a long long time, haha!) Finally one of my all-time favorites is How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (S6E8) which guest stars Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin as ghosts who haunt a mansion every Christmas Eve. It's sweet in a way that only the X-Files can be! Besides Season 6, Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man (S4E7) is another all-time favorite. Really great for anyone (like me!) who really loved the CSM character!

Want to see more? Visit these links!
Scathingly Brilliant
Flapper Doodle
Silents and Talkies
Etsy Shop

♥, Kailey

44 comments:

  1. She is so cute! I recently started following her blog... one more reason for me to miss my pink hair.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great interview! Love all the detailed questions/answers and the X-Files geekery!

    ReplyDelete
  3. a very interesting interview :) i love your blog and I am now following :) hope you don't mind to follow me back :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear lord, she is positively adorable! Must check out this blog, thanks for doing the interview.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i'm a H U G E kate fanatic. thanks for this interview with her, a totally fun to read for sure. :D

    AND, i LOVE what you've done to strawberry shortcake. just fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. always interested in new blogs. thanks for posting this.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As a fellow X-Phile, I'm going to go check out this lovely girl's blog right now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. thanks for introducing this blogger / love this post! I love all the shades of her pink hair.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ahh, she's so gorgeous! Thanks for doing this interview, it's so pretty and the layout is so magazine worthy :)
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  10. wow I love her hair! and your blog is so great!! you have a new follower :)

    natalie
    http://lucyandtherunaways.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I didn't know at all this blog, I took a quick look on it and I already love it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kate's been one to watch for a long while, she's got such a uniquely tuned in sense of style and i'm forever swooning over her variety of vintage wares & pink hair! great q&a Kailey!! i've come over after seeing Katrina's post and wanted to check out how you incorporated her blogger layout.

    i dig your style a lot, remixes featuring Blondie, Lisa Bonet & Wonder Woman = brilliant. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've loved her blog for a while, and her nerding out on X-Files (and sharing my favorite episodes) makes me even happier.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What's great about your blog is that it actually looks like a magazine!!

    If you get a chance make sure you enter my Christmas giveaway!

    http://ttonicaroline.blogspot.com/2011/11/christmas-give-away-win-vintage-xmas.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. I loved the entire interview! I just love her blog :) It's such an inspiration to me!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I loved reading this, your blog is amazing. XO

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh I love reading interviews! You do cool things on your blog. I remember seeing her blog ages ago and thinking "that is a cool header, why is my header not more like that?!" But I could never find her blog again. Until NOW, you very nice lady!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Haha, what a cute interview. Kate is a lovely lady. I laughed out loud when I was reading the bit on the X-files, I'm currently watching through them on Netflix for the first time and I've never seen the episode when they pose as Petrie's (like the dish) but it made me laugh because that's my last name too. ;p

    ReplyDelete
  19. She is so cute!
    I love his hair!!!

    Best regards!

    ReplyDelete
  20. an excellent interview! thanks for introducing me to a new blog.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Definitely off to check out her blog now!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I didn't know Kate but I'm definitely going to check her blog! I've been checking yours and loved it, love your features and the look of the posts. I'll start following! Thanks a lot for your comment on my blog, come back whenever you like :)

    http://fromheretofashion.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  23. Her blog is adorable, great interview!
    From Carys of La Ville Inconnue

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love love love love love her!
    She is beautiful & enchanting......

    sending you happy spells
    hope to hear from you..x
    amyflyingakite.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. hadnt heard of her blog before...thank you for sharing! heading to check it out now.

    ReplyDelete
  26. how is it possible to be that sweet and whimsical? Great interview. I'm heading to her blog now!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ooh, lovely interview. I'd never heard of Kate before but I'm glad you've introduced me to her.

    ...absolutely amazing hair.

    P.S. Once again, every time I visit, I LOVE YOUR BLOG A LITTLE BIT MORE. x

    ReplyDelete
  28. Aww, she's adorable. I like how she draws inspiration from 60's movies. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. she is as cute as japanese candy!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I loved this interview! You ask really good questions, Kailey, and Kate definitely has so much creativity with her sites and fashion sense :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. She's adorable! I'm definitely checking out her blog now :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great interview! I love Kate, she has such unique style!

    ReplyDelete
  33. What a wonderful interview. I've only just heard of Scathingly Brilliant (I think I first came across her blog a few weeks ago), and it was lovely to learn more about Kate. xo

    ReplyDelete
  34. love her hair and the fact she mentioned Clarissa! x

    ReplyDelete
  35. She is so ADORABLE gahh!

    I love her hair *_* CAT SKIRT and gaaahhh

    Also, I used to really love the X-files as a kid, but tried watching it again (mainly for Mulder~) but I thought it was sort of boring? So I stopped watching because I didn't want my life long X-files love to be ruined, but maybe I should give it another chance?

    ReplyDelete
  36. she sounds so cool and I love her hair! x

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! I read (and cherish!) each and every comment, and respond to questions either via email or twitter (to make sure you see them!) ♡

Mermaidens - Musings of a Modern Mermaid ©2011-2014 All rights reserved
Portrait in Header Illustration by Sibylline Meynet designed by Designs Blue Moon