Talking to: Nün Visitsak

She has bright red, curly hair, a lean, petite body and the starry eyes of a day dreamer and creative thinker. Nün Visitsak has a sartorial talent for mixing patterns and pairing cute shorts with some very great finds. She’s a Thailand based film director who studied in London and looking upon her Lookbook profile you can’t help but what to know her.  Her profile has been viewed over 10 000 times and yet she still finds the time to respond to each and every comment on her looks with sincere thank you's and kind words. She’s an active presence in the Lookbook forums and now she’s agreed to share a little bit about herself with me.

OK, first. Your hair! It’s amazing. What is your natural hair colour and why did you decide to dye it?
My hair is actually quite a long story! My natural hair is black and is super straight! So much so that even though I would use iron curlers, my hair was so straight that the curls would never stay! I had long (almost waist length) black, straight hair for 18 years of my life but when I moved to London to further my studies there, I decided to cut off all my hair as I was in a new country, doing new things and I wanted to create a new identity for myself.
So, for the entire 4 years of my stay in London, I had extremely short hair (I guess you could call it boyish) and I constantly changed its colour almost every month. I really had fun with my short hair and I felt [that] it made me different and gave me an edge. I have never been a 'girly-girl' anyway and this change created a new sense of confidence for me.
But eventually after having very short, boyish hair for 4 whole years, I was beginning to get bored of it and wanted another change.
And because my hair was so, so short already and there was practically nothing left to cut off, the only change I could make was to grow it. But as I was growing it, I was rapidly feeling as if I was losing my sense of self, my 'edge', and therefore my confidence. I felt like I was going back to my long, black, straight, natural hair again which I couldn't really handle. So I thought, what would be the opposite of that, that would still allow me to have long hair without it being too 'normal'. The opposite of straight is 'curly/wavy' and then I decided that just because my hair is longer, I didn't need to stop dying it! So I headed straight for the salon, permed it (I asked for the frizziest perm ever! I'm a huge fan of VOLUME!) and asked for the reddest red you could get. So there, the 'history' of how my current hair came to be! (I did say it was a long story But I love it now, though, exactly how I wanted it to be. I can still be girly, but still keep my edge!

Being a film director sounds like a very exciting job and shows that you’re an artistic spirit. Does your work influence the way you dress?
Yes, I would say it does. I'm always running around, meeting people and going location scouting; so being comfortable on my feet is extremely important and I don't see myself working properly in heels! Everyone that I work with knows that I wear a lot of Dr. Martens boots (I have seven pairs), they are extremely comfortable, durable, and stylish! Who says you have to give up being stylish when you are working? But obviously, I am a very petite girl (five feet and three inches) and [I] often feel like I need a height-boost, so I would usually go for platform boots (Jeffrey Campbell 'Riot' boots are my favourite at the moment) as they give me crazy height but I can still remain comfortable on my feet!

You live in Bangkok, Thailand. How would you describe the fashion scene and industry there?
I would say that the general population here (girls) dress very girly. They like to wear a lot of high heels and ballerina flats paired with skirts or dresses. Shopping wise, we have a lot of shopping malls (where you can buy brands, but obviously, these shops are more pricey) but we also have a lot of shopping markets (where clothes are extremely cheap but with good quality and a lot of different styles and designs to choose from) and most people here will wear a mixture of both items from the malls and items from the market! I think it's a really sweet aspect of Thailand; mixing brands and market clothes!


Your profile says that you’ve studied film in London. How different is the fashion and culture in London and Bangkok?
The one thing that is clear from the get-go is the fact that no one in Thailand ever needs coats or jackets as we have summer all year round! Whereas in London, you see a lot of different and very interesting layering of sweaters, jackets and winter coats! Also, if you are walking along the streets of London, you would notice the varieties of styles that everyone has got. Whilst I was living there, I always felt that I did not need to purchase magazines as the people around me were real-life fashion catalogues! In Thailand it is quite different, as I mentioned in the previous answer, everyone here dresses more 'girly' or 'lady-like' and walking down the streets of Bangkok, you would notice that a lot of people dress very similarly. There is also an unspoken 'expectations' from the society of how women should be dressed (high heels, flats, skirts, dresses, long hair) and anyone who dresses differently from that (trainers, boots, jeans, t-shirts, short hair, shorts) are often considered 'scruffy' or 'unattractive' as most Thai people have similar views of what 'beautiful' women should look like. The aspect I miss the most about London is the diversity, acceptance and appreciation everyone has for each other's fashion sense.

What are your favourite stores in Thailand and what destinations would you suggest for shopping for a noob like me?
I don't have specific store names, but when I have the time I like to go to the weekend market (Chatuchak Market aka JJ Market) with my boyfriend and shop there all day! There are over one hundred thousand stores there, so that is my excuse for not having a favourite store as there are too many! Or if I'm free on a weekday and JJ market is not open then I would go to an area called 'Siam' which is a shopping district. One side of the road are shopping malls (Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and Central World) and on the opposite side of the road is a massive market area! So I always like to go there, spend half the day in the shopping malls, have lunch, then spend the second half of the day in the market opposite!

How long have you been interested in fashion? What brought on your love for it?
I guess it's difficult to say. I have always enjoyed dressing up, but I guess I really got interested in it about 3 years ago when I stumbled upon a fashion guru, Chriselle Lim, on YouTube and she completely blew my mind as I never could have imagined there were so many aspects to fashion and so many things to consider in order to put an outfit together! That got me interested in fashion, but what got me really involved in fashion in my spare time began at my discovery of Lookbook! My mind was blown for the second time and I hadn't realised that 'street fashion' could look so 'chic' too! The reason being, I have always been into street style but I thought there was no room in the fashion world for people that dress like me (and I got this idea from how my fashion sense is received here in Thailand) so I never pursued anything to do with fashion or never even thought I was fashionable or that anyone would be interested in what I wear. So when I discovered Lookbook and it's [an] extremely supportive community, I straight felt 'at home'. That there was indeed a place for something like me! I signed up right away and told my boyfriend that now I was going to be posting my outfits and he was going to take my pictures--ha, ha! I have been posting my looks ever since (and my boyfriend has been amazing and has taken all my pictures ever since) and I'm over the moon about how well received my looks are!

Which designers do you like best and why.
I am completely IN LOVE with all of Alexander Wang's collections! The designs are so modern, so sleek, and tom-boyish! I also love that the collections are mostly solid colours (mainly black and white!) but because of the use of different materials and textures, he is able to jazz up the outfits! Sadly for me, their clothes don't suit my body type at all so I can only look and admire!

When you’re shopping, what do you spend most of your money on?
Am I allowed to say 'everything'? Because seriously, I buy everything from clothes, shoes, hats, accessories, makeup, bags, to even sports gears! But I guess, if I really have to pick something I would have to say shoes and clothes. I have almost 100 pairs of shoes (oh dear...a bit over the top, I know...) and I have recently had a renovation for my bedroom to extend to room and create a walk-in closet for my never-ending items of clothing! So there, I have an unhealthy addiction for shoes and clothes!

Can you name  the June/July trends that you love and the ones you’re not too keen for?
This year's most obvious trends would be the black and white stripes, and dungarees! And I love both of them! Black and white stripes are extremely helpful for a little petite girl like me as they make my legs look longer! And I would have to say I am ecstatic that dungarees are back in trend because I have spent the past 2 years searching everywhere for dungarees to no avail and then suddenly they made an epic comeback in the fashion world and now everywhere I go, I can find dungarees! I'm extremely happy. So I have bought denim dungarees, black dungarees, skirt dungarees, denim skirt dungarees, and I'm about to buy polka dots dungarees! Better grab 'em before they go out of fashion and can't buy them anywhere again for the next ten years or so! I don't really have trends that I am not too keen on! I just think that not everyone suits the same things and so the things that might not suit me, will suit someone else. I like everything, but if I'm not wearing it, it would mainly be because I can't pull it off!

Describe yourself in ten adjectives.
Loving, caring, loyal, ashionable, bubbly, tomboy-ish, true-to-who-I-am, realistic, reasonable [and] outgoing.

Name five items you never leave your house without and why.
Well, despite car keys, clothes and shoes;
My iPhone: my work requires me to be on the phone almost all the time! And plus, I can check on lookbook.nu whenever and wherever I want! Sunglasses--365 days of Thai sun would be too overwhelming with no sunglasses. Lip balm--I don't drink enough water so my lips are always chapped! My bag--for carrying to few essentials :) and I also believe that a bag could complete an outfit! I change my bag almost everyday according to what I'm wearing! I'm afraid I can't think of number 5! I don't carry very much at all.

Where does your style draw inspiration from? Any music, decades or particular style icons?
No particular place. Everywhere! Things I see on lookbook.nu, people I see on the streets, outfits I see in films, etc...

At the risk of sounding cliché, what style/fashion philosophy do you live by?
I don't believe I have one. That is too orderly and predictable for my liking! I change everyday: from tom-boyish, to girly, to bright colours, to plain colours, to clashing prints/colours, to matching prints/colours. I guess, and similarly to the question, at the risk of sounding cliche, my fashion/style philosophy is to have no style/fashion philosophy!

If you could go back to any decade in the 20^th century, which would it be?
The 80s! I feel like I should've been born during that time! I LOVE 80s rock music and I love grunge style! Time-machine me back to the 80s!

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten and from who?

Can I list two people? Chriselle Lim: This is the same youtube guru I was talking about earlier. She always talks about 'knowing your own body shape' and dressing accordingly to that. In my case, I'm very petite, so I have short legs, but I have a tiny waist. So what would be best for my body type is to create an illusion of longer legs and accentuate the best part of my body, which is my waistline. Luckily for me, I can achieve this my doing simply one thing: wear high waisted bottoms! They accentuate my waist and extend my legs! My favourite easy combination for lazy days is tank-top, high waisted American Apparel skirt, Jeffrey Campbell 'Riot' platform boots. This outfit does so many things for me, tank top (awesome for Thailand's boiling hot weather), high waisted skirt (accentuate my waist and extend my legs), 'Riot' platform boots (extend my legs whilst still staying true to my style). My awesomely fashionable MUM!: Since I was a little girl, she bought me Dr Martens boots to wear with my skirts and dresses! She always said that not every item of your outfit has to 'match' with each other but sometimes clashing items could complete an outfit!

Fan Nün now on: www.lookbook.com/nunvisitsak


Fashionably,
Khenzo xx


All images are from Nün's Lookbook page.