Greetings sports fans,
This week, we kicked back with soon-to-be-published fashion blogger and all-round cool cat, ShangTing Peng. Aside from stories about ghosts, Barcelona and the location of her oh-so-adorable blouse [see below], we pinned her down for an inquisition about vintage, street style and the rise of the reggae hat....
Q: Hi ShangTing! Vintage Wardrobe applauds [a-paw-ds? No? Ok] your kitty blouse! What's your look in a nutshell?
A: 'Wow - that's a tough one! My style's forever changing. I guess I try to live by the mantra that effortless is best - a look that doesn't try too hard [evident by a minimal all-black silhouette teamed with white shoes and a splash of colour on top] The only problem is that my look can be a little more homeless than effortless sometimes [player, please! we refuse to believe that you could look like a hobo!] The problem is I can't decide what I like - I used to be big into vintage.'
Q: It sounds like there's a story behind that last comment. Is there any reason why you've fallen a little out of love with vintage? I know that a big 'bug a boo' [we may be listening to the Destiny's Child back-catalogue as we type this up...jumpin, jumpin!] for many shoppers is the generally large sizes of vintage clothing. Anyone with a tiny frame can end up smothered.
A: 'There's definitely nothing wrong with wearing oversized - I love big shirts, ponchos etc. One thing i've noticed when out cool hunting is that it's all about proportion - mixing up tight with oversized. For example, if you're wearing a loose shirt, coat or cape, show some forearm to show your size. I agree with vintage being a bit too big for some though - that's the beauty of reworked [such as our very own 'New Retro' collection and even 'Nommy'] - vintage fabrics with a modern fit.'
Q: So would you say you have a particular muse or style icon?
A: 'Again, it's so hard to pin down one inspiration or even an era. What is today but a mixture of all times gone by - one season it's fifties, the next it's seventies - we don't really have our own look. I take my inspiration from the people out on the streets. Even though I've been cool hunting for a while now, I still get intimidated.'
A: 'That would have have to be my vintage Celine leather bag that i got [read: stole] from my mum. It's brown and envelope-shaped with a long strap. It instantly ups any outfit you wear.'
Q: And what about something a little less elegant. There must be a skeleton or two in the ShangTing closet that turns your face red?
A: 'Haha that would be my reggae hat. When I was 15 or 16, I paid £25 for a brown and white deep woolly hat, not unlike those popular with reggae-listeners. It's crowning glory was that it was peaked, like a cap. I wore it with my hair straightened underneath it and felt untouchable - I would walk around thinking everyone worshipped me, I'm just so cool [even though other kids had them too!] Even whilst studying fashion in Barcelona at 19-20, I still didn't feel very cool - I feel like I'm still in my fashion dark age sometimes.'
Q: What about an item that you just couldn't live without?A: 'Simple - my glasses. I like big, businessman glasses - like the ones Colin Firth wears in 'A Single Man.'
Q: And finally, what's on your speaker-box at the moment?
A: 'It's really hard to say - I really like Phoenix - you would never believe that they were French with their accents! Their guitarist Chris Mazallai used to be in a band with the two guys who went on to become Daft Punk - crazy huh?'
Followed by a long conversation about Karl Lagerfeld living it up in Leeds club 'Basics' and the rave buses of the late 80s/90s, it's clear that ShangTing is a font of local knowledge. Currently comprising a publication detailing all the delights of Leeds and London, we can't wait for her tale of two cities. To see ShangTing in action, check out www.hebemedia.com.
Peace out folks,
VW x
