By Shannon Sturgis Vone Nantharangsy loves vintage clothes and owns a shop in the Midtowne Antique Mall called the Underground Socialite.

LITTLE ROCK — Where others may see junk, Vone Nantharangsy sees a jackpot. A longtime designer of her own clothing who in recent years has ventured into marketing her creations to the world, she is a devout lover of all things vintage.

"I've always loved vintage and I've always loved fashion," said the 29-year-old Laos native, who came to the U.S. at age 4 and grew up in Little Rock. "Since age 5, I've wanted to be a designer."

Her signature style is to take something old - vintage being by her definition 20 years and older - and repurpose it into something new. It might be a decades old full-length, blue dress with white embroidery, shortened and enlivened by a belt. Or it might be a gold brooch recycled into a necklace or buckle. The sky is the limit.

"I want to give people a sense of their own style, people who can't afford to buy designer wear," said Nantharangsy, who explains that her creations are, by their very nature, one of a kind - ideally a creative mix and match of old and new.

"I have developed a third eye for styling and piecing together vintage with modern pieces to create a look that is unique, fun and brings out your personality," she said. "Anyone can go to the mall to buy a dress or an outfit off the mannequin display but you lose your sense of style if everyone else is buying the same thing."

For her, it was a skill that grew out of restless necessity.

"Growing up with hand-me-downs from friends and relatives, I had to come up with a way to be different and make the most of what I had, so I would use my mom's professional sewing machine to redo a dress or skirt or make something old and turn it into something new since I couldn't afford the new trends that all my friends were wearing," she said. "But I always had amazing compliments from friends who liked the way I would wear things."

It was when her closet quite literally got too full that she decided to "give it all back to society" about a year and a half ago. Starting online, she slowly grew her Underground Socialite retail venture and this year launched a store on Etsy. She also runs a booth in Midtowne Antique Mall at Rodney Parham Road and Markham Street in Little Rock.

For it is at highway-side antique malls, flea markets, thrift stores, estate sales and the like that Nantharangsy is truly in her element, looking for things that she might resell or materials from which she can create something new. She shops in Little Rock, but says her usual haunts are outside the city and spread all over the state, even to Memphis and Dallas. She has her favorites, of course, but explains that the beautiful thing about antique malls is that, when you haven't been into one for a while, it's a whole new place when you do return because the stock is always changing. Around three times a week she goes out hunting, browsing the aisles, honing in on those things that catch her attention.

"When I am out searching for vintage garments, I look for value such as a quality of the fabric and the cut that is no longer available to us today. I look for soft feminine silhouette along with beautiful detailed embellishments."

It is the details that are the key, the hallmark of something carefully crafted that is all too often left off in today's world of mass production, she said. Spotting that difference usually isn't hard for her. There are giveaways for the astute observer, aside from just being able to tell when something looks aged - an outdated logo on a tag, for instance.

Of course, shopping can also be a dangerous activity for someone whose love of vintage extends well beyond just clothing : and who, as a rule, never leaves a store empty-handed.

"My problem is I buy everything," sighs Nantharangsy as she drifts toward a mustard yellow rotary dial phone she notes would look adorable in her apartment. "If there's something I have to have, it has to be mine."

Sometimes that weakness goes overboard. She once put a bright blue couch in her booth only because she didn't have a place for it at home and intentionally priced it so high no one would buy it until she could make room for it.

But that's not to say her whole life is an endless shopping spree. No, there are garments to make. And then inventory has to be catalogued and photographed (a process in and of itself), orders need processing and shipping and, of course there's a store to mind. It's 12 hour days most days, and few holidays ... and no vacations. Thus, she doesn't recommend it for just anyone.

"Not unless they have that love and that passion as I do. I eat, sleep and dream vintage."

THIRD DEGREE

If you could live in any historical era, when would it be?

It would have to be the 1930s because of the hats and the designs of the garments were sweet and feminine. Night wear was glamorous with sequins and beads. Everything seemed so proper and classy.

If you could take a two week vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Paris, France, because I've never been, and I love the fashion world in France and European styles. They're so fashion forward without even trying. And I'd love to see the historic monuments and the museums ... the art and structures and dream I was living there.

If you knew your next meal would be your last, what would you have?

It would actually be my mom's cooking, sticky rice with papaya salad and some pork ribs. I love my mom's cooking.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

"Be yourself."

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

The power to make people happy. I guess to be a healer. To make the sad happy, to make the poor efficient, to make the sick healthy ...