If you’re still mourning the loss of Gossip Girl, we have just the feed for you. Read on for our exclusive interview with the writer behind @sohohousecesspool, an account celebrating (and skewering) New York “society” types.
What’s the origin story of how you started the account?
On vacation in Antigua. I always wrote poems that my friends were thought were funny. One of them was about a friend who got hit in the head with a cocktail shaker and had a concussion. True story. That’s it.
How do you source the images?
Really, anything. I follow socialites that I love. Victoria Baker Harber from “Made in Chelsea” is a huge inspiration. Huge. Honestly, my friends are a lot of the ones in the photos. They’re never tagged though. Most of them I took myself.
When did you know the account started taking off?
When complete strangers started tagging me. And when friends would send me screenshots of other people saying, “Look at this account, it’s so funny.”
How long is the window between having experience in being able to write about it?
It varies. Sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes a week. Usually oh retire to a bathroom stall, and write it on my phone. I write everything from my phone.
What was the impetus behind being anonymous?
I think it’s more fun being anonymous. Also, people don’t really want a “face.” Or they want a face but they still want the mystery, which is why I cut the eyes off in pictures.
Like Gossip Girl.
Exactly. It’s sexier that way.
What’s the future of @sohohousecesspool?
I don’t have concrete dreams for it yet, I think because I’m not sure exactly where it’s going. I know it will never be a meme account. It’s not a ‘Fat Jew.’ It’s almost a social critique, with art. It’s describing such a specific part of New York, and not everyone understands it, so it’s not for everyone. It’s certainly an aspirational account… An aspiration account that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
