PART 1: A Peek at SNSD Tiffany’s Life, Styles and Fashion
Positive energy hung about Tiffany like an aura, as she continuously used words like ‘very’ or ‘work hard’. There are things you can see about her with just one glance, like the effort she put into her work shining behind the bright smile on her face. The shoot that took place with Tiffany for Bean Pole Accessories, just a few days before the muse’s birthday, was, as expected, cheerful as ever.
I wonder how you’ve been doing
In the beginning of the year, I promoted as Taetiseo, and prepared for [Girls’ Generation’s (SNSD)] new single albumPaparazzi. Now we’ve started promoting in Japan, and so I’ve been traveling back and forth between Korea and Japan.Your birthday is coming up on August 1. Happy birthday in advance. What do you usually do on your birthdays?That’s right. Thank you so much. A few days after my birthday, SNSD will also celebrate its fifth anniversary. Since my birthday is always in the same month as the anniversary for our debut, it’s usually celebrated more grandly than any of the other members’. My fans send me a lot of presents, too. (Laugh) During most of my birthday’s I’ve worked, spent it with my members and some good food or used it to take a rest. I want to make it special this year; if you have any suggestions, I’m open.There were two concepts for the photo spread, lovely and dandy. I heard you decided on the styling concepts yourself.They were the last concepts that came up in my meeting with SNSD’s stylist Seo Soo Kyung. I thought it would be nice to add a bit of cute boyishness to a sexy and lovely girlish look. Actually when I first made my debut I had short hair, and I appealed with my epicene charms. I want to let more people know about the charms I never got to show off up to now.For photo shoots you usually have to put on styles that you otherwise never would have tried. It’s a bit different from standing onstage as a member of SNSD. How does it feel?Mm…. They’re not that different. Even when preparing for our performances I look over every detail. I look over the makeup, hair and even the details and cloth for our costumes. My experiences onstage have been a great help.Now, a lot of time has passed [since my debut] and I can try on more mature concepts, so I can make the styles a bit more interesting. That’s why it’s fun and I really enjoy it.
I heard that you participated a lot in the styling for Taetiseo’s album. (Tiffany chose the red hair she dons in the music video for Twinkle herself, with Nicole Kidman of ‘Moulin Rouge’ in mind.)
Since my debut, I’ve tried many different hairstyles, from blond hair to orange hair. They say that it’s hard for Asians to look good in red hair, but Nicole Kidman and Emma Stone looked so great in it. That’s why I offered to do it, and fortunately I think it came out okay. (Laugh)Were you always interested in fashion?I didn’t know before, but I found that fashion was embedded in my everyday life. My parents, and even my aunts, wear clothes even now that are very different from others’. My mother especially had a great influence on me.From when I was little, she always picked out things she thought looked good, and she always taught me about the different shades of [certain colors, like] pink. It came naturally to me.Do you like to carry bags around?Bags are like my family. I carry my life in these bags, so they’re very precious to me.Do you like the bags you’re carrying for the shoot?(Pointing at a pink bag) Hot pink! I recommend this one. I love pink. I believe this fall, bags with vivid colors will be in trend. Today I brought a pretty orange bag.What do you carry in your handbag?I didn’t bring much today because the shoot isn’t going to last too long, but I brought my wallet and the diary I use for scheduling. Whenever I have time, I add something to my schedule, like getting something polished or exercising. I write a lot, too. (Showing her open diary) I organize the clothing concepts in writing, or jot down the songs I want to perform onstage.Please tell us more about the items in your bag.I write in my diary with different colored pens. My perfume! Whenever I feel bad or when I need to feel more energized I put my perfume on. My hair band is pink, too. I also have glasses. When I leave home in the morning I wear glasses. There are powders and lip tints, which every woman carries around. I choose between red or pink depending on my clothes for the day. If you want to look pretty, you definitely have to use perfume and lip tints. (Laugh) I usually carry around books and gaming devices too, but I didn’t bring them today. Oh, and my mp3 player. I always listen to music on it while I’m preparing.
PART 2: SNSD Tiffany on Taetiseo, Style and her Dreams
You’re wearing the clothes for your fashion photo shoot today. How are your usual styles?
They differ every day, but recently I got so lazy I kept appearing in slippers and training suits. (Laugh) I usually wear feminine clothes, though. I love girly and romantic styles, like skirts and one-piece dresses. I love long jump suits, too. Since we have to stay in the plane for a long time when we’re going overseas for shoots or performances, jump suits are the best.
SNSD has nine people, and Taetiseo has three. Taetiseo was the group’s first unit group. I wonder how you feel about the unit.
We worked hard to showcase a stage full not only with [the number of people], but with our voices. I was happy to put on styles and music that we never got to put onstage, and which I personally like very much. I’m sad it went by so quickly, and I also feel like I want to start promoting again.
Still, I’m happiest when the nine of us are together. In the beginning of the year most of the members were on their solo ventures. The three of us [in Taetiseo] were the least lonely [of them all]. We travelled overseas together for the first time in a long time, and though the members usually use separate rooms, the nine of us stuck together and ate together. As happy as we were during our solo promotions, we learned how precious we are to each other.
What songs do you listen to the most these days?
I listened to electronic a lot because I was really into the genre. I recently went to Wonder Girls’ concert, and so I listen to all of the songs in Wonder Girls’ album. I personally love their music. These days I’m into Ne-Yo again. I think I listen to his songs more because they’re somewhere between electronic and R&B. I recommend them. (Laugh)
What do you do when you have no schedules at all?
These days there are a lot of days like that, because our promotions for Taetiseo are over. I actually have nothing to do even though I have the time, and so on the days I have off, I go to polish something.
I visit the dermatologist, and get my hair treated. I personally believe a woman is all about her skin and her hair. I could go home if I had a long vacation, but because I only get a few free days at a time I just invest that time in me.
You’re much loved by the public, but do you dream sometimes of being a normal girl?
(After some thought) Of course I do. I want to walk around, shop or eat outside alone and personally. This is, however, the road I chose to walk, and my work now is as precious to me as much as I want to do these other things. That’s why I try to be more responsible about myself, and try to enjoy my life.In a different interview, I saw you said it was like you had “launched a brand named Tiffany inside the brand of SNSD.” I nodded my head at that comparison. I believe you would dream of your own personal future as much as you dream of SNSD’s.I think that my dreams are huge myself. (Laugh) I want to fulfill my dreams as a member of SNSD, show off my musical skills as Tiffany and try roles in dramas or musicals that fit me. Fashion, too! I want to express the fashions I love as much as I want.
I remember the time SNSD first left an impression in my memory. It was at a bus stop sitting next to a broad road in Sinsa-dong, when Gee and Genie were so popular it was like a social phenomenon. Posters showing the girls wearing white t-shirts and skinny jeans had been plastered all over the bus stop. Just when the sun started to set, the bus stop, with the posters reflecting the light from the sunset, looked like a piece of art set there by an installation artist. Those girls that had stood in the posters now stand proud as the leaders of the Korean wave. Tiffany ventured to Korea when she was still in middle school, debuted when she was in high school and is now a full-grown woman in her 20s. This girl with her trademark smile matured enough to say she now wished to show everyone how she looks like in the dandy woman style she never got to try. Tiffany can now unveil herself with her own hands.Editor: Yoon Min Jung, Contributing Writer: Hong Seok Woo, Stylist: Seo Soo Kyung, Hair: Hee Won by Soon Soo, Makeup: Seo Ok by Soon Soo
Photo credit: Kim Young Joon
