Spruced Up Kid

With a short sampling of felony-free smocked monkey-themed clothing

How many Curious George books are there?  Hundreds?  If so, that's how many crimes that nefarious monkey has commited.  Some of those books depict multiple transgressions, so the number is probably a lot higher.  I think I have read every one many times over to my daughter, so I speak from a position of authority.

The structure of the stories follows a consistent pattern.  George's accomplice, The Man with the Yellow Hat (aka Le Chapeau Jaune), temporarily "leaves" the scene of the intended crime, instructing Curious George "to not be too curious". Evidently this is criminal argot for start the caper! The Man with the Yellow Hat has perfected his air of nonchalant dimwittedness, which provides the perfect cover.

Next "Curious" George gets going on his misdeeds.  Who can forget the Breaking and Entering of George Gets a Job?  Or the abuse of controlled substances (Ether) in George Goes to the Hospital? Or the destruction of property when he made paper boats out of heisted Newspapers and floated the lot down the river in Curious George Rides a Bike?

Typical of his "modus operandi", George will be chased by the authorities and get into some improbable situation where he miraculously repairs the damage he himself wrought.  At this point of the heist the Man with the Yellow Hat comes to make off with the booty.  To top it all off George gets a hero's celebration by the naive townspeople for fixing problems of his own making!  It's the perfect crime!

Thankfully the licensing and commercialization of Curious George have not extended to the world of smocked clothing, which leaves it untainted by that monkey's felonious acts.  In fact, you can get some perfectly respectable and upstanding monkeys embroidered on smocked clothing without even a hint of the underworld.

A case in point:  the Zuccini Boys Monkey Smocked John John.  There is not a whiff of any capital crime, just monkeys innocently swinging around on the front of the outfit.  There are even bananas separating the monkeys, just to make sure there is no "monkey business".  Don't believe me?  See for yourself...

If outfitting a girl in the same monkey motif is your goal, Zuccini has a girls jumper and blouse with monkeys doing what monkeys do, no Grand Larceny to be seen.  The fabric of the outfit is hot pink with polka dots, always a winning combo for the girls.

Anavini has a boys monkey-themed romper in green-plaid.  Instead of the hackneyed "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil", the three monkeys are sensibly covering their ears, as if they are attending the Daytona 500 and the loudness is too much to bear.  You would do the same.

Vive la Fete offers a smocked monkey long-sleeve tee-shirt for either boys or girls.  The embroidering  shows monkeys innocently balancing on balls.  Balls they not doubt borrowed (not stole) from the Circus. 

Finally to round out the lot Funtasia Too has an appliqued Monkey driving a truck a with something that looks like the top half of a sunburst.  The shirt comes complete with some Madras shorts.  Honestly, what else do you need.  These are not ill-gotten gains.  They have been well-earned, and I think monkeys deserve to get credit for work they've done on the up and up.  Don't you?

Have you seen this Man?  He's wanted in numerous crimes, known to associate with Monkeys.