Obsessed Interview: Linsay Philippe-Auguste's Monaco obsession

When Old Hollywood nostalgia meets the French Riviera

Photo by Matthias Mullie on Unsplash

As my newsletter’s first anniversary was approaching, I was thinking about how it can evolve and become a space that isn’t only about my obsessions, but yours too. I want to know what you can’t stop thinking about. It could be a movie scene you love. A meaningful project you’re working on. A path not taken. That time you thought getting a Sublime tattoo would change your life. Whatever the obsession, I want to know and have a conversation about it. Welcome to the first edition of OBSESSED Interviews!

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Courtesy: Linsay Philippe-Auguste

My first guest and I go way back, to nearly a decade ago, when we were both working as in-house copywriters for a digital media company. We’ve both since moved on from that wretched place, but have kept in touch over the years. It was great to catch up and bond over my guest’s fascinating obsession.

I’m thrilled to introduce you to Linsay Philippe-Auguste, an author and content creator living in Montreal, Quebec. Linsay published her first poetry collection, Alpha Female Chronicles, in 2020. The collection explores her experience as a Black woman navigating questions of true self, relationships, career and spirituality. She is also the host of a podcast of the same name. Let’s dive in…

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This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michelle Béland: Linsay, thank you very much for agreeing to talk with me today. You're my first interview. Ever.

Linsay Philippe-Auguste: I'm very happy. 

 MB: Okay… So Linsay, tell me what obsession you’d like to talk about today.

LPA: Well, I have this obsession with Monaco and it has many layers. I don't remember exactly how old I was when I started to become obsessed with Monaco, but I do know that I've always been obsessed with royalty. 

MB: What fascinates you about royalty?

LPA: I think what fascinated me the most about royalty is definitely the lavish lifestyle. I grew up in the hood watching TV shows like Dynasty, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and plenty of soap operas, so I absolutely loved anything that exuded any semblance of wealth and extravagance. And when I was about fourteen, I started watching classic films on PBS. I remember watching a few movies with Grace Kelly…

MB: Oh, Grace Kelly!

LPA: And for some reason I was just obsessed with Grace Kelly. I knew her story. I knew about her tragic death. My guess is when I discovered who Grace Kelly was, I became fascinated by Monaco, and her life in Monaco especially–her transition from being an actress to being a princess. And, you know, just the glamour and the fabulousness of it. I remember doing a presentation on her for my French class when I was about fourteen. I guess my obsession with Monaco really started with my love of classic films. The first two movies that I watched with Grace Kelly were High Society and To Catch a Thief. Those were great films to watch at fourteen.

MB: So, let's dive a bit deeper into that. What is it about classic films that you enjoy versus modern, contemporary films?

LPA: I love the elegance, the poise. I love the sass. I also like the delivery of the lines. The acting seems effortless. Some of my favorite classic film actors were Cary Grant, who had impeccable delivery. The first two actors that I really enjoyed watching as a teenager were Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. Both actors played in To Catch a Thief, which was filmed in Monaco. And I love the style. Now that I’m older, I can appreciate the fashion even more. It was fascinating to see what was considered casual wear back then. It’s super classy and fabulous. Like what? This is casual wear? This is amazing! As a kid, it brought me back to a different time. There was also an air to the actors that was so refined. I think that was a stark contrast with modern films. I mean, I love films in general. I’ve always been an avid moviegoer, but to watch classic films and to watch some of what the most notable film directors have done like Hitchcock, and to see through their eyes, it was a discovery of a different era. So my appreciation for classic films began around the age of fourteen with To Catch a Thief and High Society, which is really awesome.

MB: I haven't seen High Society. What’s it about?

LPA: It’s basically The Philadelphia Story with Cary Grant, James Stewart and Katherine Hepburn. In High Society, the main character played by Grace Kelly is about to get married but her former beau is trying to rekindle a romance. It also brings in different elements compared to The Philadelphia Story, because there’s really strong music. There’s some jazz in there. It’s a fun story.

MB: And what about Monaco, the place?

LPA: I like the allure of Monaco. Where is it? What is it? Is it a country? What’s going on over there? You have the Grand Prix over there. You’ve got casinos, a fabulous life. It’s near the South of France. But it’s not France? It’s its own principality. It’s so fabulous and mysterious. I just have always loved fabulous things. This is why I’m saying there are so many layers to this obsession with Monaco because ever since I was a child, I was obsessed with anything fabulous. Just to give you an idea, my favourite Muppet was Miss Piggy.

MB: Well, I mean she’s fabulous.

LPA: My sister always used to make fun of me because I like things that are gaudy. I enjoy looking at gaudy things. I like gaudy jewelry. I love gold. And the fact that there’s something about Monaco and Grace Kelly that always fascinated me—like it was an extension of myself.

MB: Right.

LPA: And Monaco is part of my bucket list. I don’t say this to a lot of people, but whatever, my ultimate goal is when I get married, I want to spend my honeymoon there.

MB: I love that! It’s a great idea. So you haven’t been to Monaco yet. You hope to go one day. I’m not sure if you’ve watched The White Lotus…

LPA: I have not.

MB: Okay. So in Season 2, Episode 2, Jennifer Coolidge’s character, Tanya McQuoid, describes her fantasy day in Italy. She says something like “My fantasy day in Italy is: first of all, I want to look just like Monica Vitti, and then I hop on a scooter, and then I go eat pasta, and then I do this, then do that,” and so on. What does your fantasy day in Monaco look like?

LPA: I would probably eat breakfast on a little terrasse somewhere with my new hubby. And we would walk the streets and at some point go to the beach. We’d look at the beautiful sea. I see palm trees. I see the bluest of waters. I see the beach and me lying there in the shade.

MB: Wearing a fabulous hat and gold jewelry.

LPA: Yes, and an amazing bikini. And my hubby would be looking at me adoringly. And then, later at night, we would go to a fancy restaurant and take a stroll under the stars with my shoes in my hands. I’m barefoot because there are cobblestones and I’m wearing kitten heels and that’s not compatible. But it’s okay, I can walk barefoot because I’m on my honeymoon and everything’s perfect. That’s it.

MB: I love that for you. I hope your fantasy day in Monaco comes true.

LPA: It will, it will.

MB: I share your fascination for old Hollywood glamour: the beautiful clothing, the old movies… I was thinking about what you mentioned earlier about the fashion in classic films, specifically how they dressed. As you said, even the casual wear was fabulous. Do you sometimes wish we could still dress like that nowadays?

LPA: Absolutely. And that’s why a lot of the times I feel like I’m overdressed for a lot of things. I enjoy fashion. I enjoy styling myself. I like to have fun with my clothes, and to me every day is an occasion to step out and look great. And I have this mentality, I got it from my mom. My mom’s a seamstress. She’s always had great style. When she was much younger—she grew up in the sixties—she started making her own clothes. When I see pictures of her, she was the epitome of class and that was instilled in me to this day. She never goes out without lipstick on. My mom usually wears berry lipstick. It’s her staple.

MB: What’s the one thing you’d never leave the house without?

LPA: Earrings. I can’t go out without jewelry on. I need earrings. I’ve also picked up on my mom’s habit of wearing lipstick. And I think that for my mom, it’s just the simple elegance, trying to emulate that, and having seen so many models of poise growing up, for me it just became natural to do the same. It became part of my life, who I am and how I carry myself. So to be able to see that on the screen and to revisit classics where that’s a staple, to me it’s like “Ahhh, feels good.”

MB: I totally get it. I wish we could still dress like that. But that’s the thing… Is that really true? We can’t dress like that anymore?

LPA: We can. We can give ourselves the permission to do it. We don’t need anybody else’s permission and we don’t have to fear the gaze of others and the judgment of others. I see a lot of people looking jacked up in these streets and they don’t care what people think. So why can’t we just be stylish on a Tuesday to go grocery shopping or to go to Dollarama?

MB: Yes! I just bought this hat. Hats are one of my obsessions. I love them. I usually wear a lot of summer hats, like straw hats and stuff like that. But I recently bought this fall-winter piece and it’s an oversized, bouclé-style hat. It’s clearly a statement. I haven’t had the courage to walk out of the door with it yet, but it’s also Spring now, right? It would be a bit much. Maybe when the weather cools down, I’ll work up the courage to walk out with this fabulous, large statement hat and hopefully not care about people staring.

LPA: Listen, I hope you do find the courage because like I said, there's a lot of people looking jacked up in these streets and they don't care. They don't give a ding dong about nobody, so you wear your hat, okay? I see people walking out in pajamas, flip-flops-and-socks-don't-care-about-anything, so you wear your hat.

MB: Thank you for that. One last question for our readers. If they’ve never seen a Grace Kelly movie, which one would you recommend?

LPA: Oh, definitely To Catch a Thief. It’s based in Monaco and her chemistry with Cary Grant is undeniable. It’s a treat. The scenery is breathtaking. It’s a Hitchcock movie. You can’t pass on that.

I had such a wonderful conversation with Linsay, and I hope you enjoyed the first edition of OBSESSED Interviews.
You can find Linsay on Instagram.
Her debut poetry collection, Alpha Female Chronicles can be found here, and her podcast can be found here.

See you next week!