EXCLUSIVE TO EMBRACE LIFESTYLE

STAR OF THE MONTH : SITHANDEKILE KHUMALO

Hey embracers as you all know this month we are celebrating women from all walks of life. This month i present to you the fabulous Sithandekile Khumalo aka the Mongolian Teletubbie. Sithandekile is a multi-talented young lady who is very ambitious and she is a lady of excellence. She is a poet, plus size fashion blogger, stylist, musician, art director, dj and set designer. This lady is a full package and i am inspired by her hardwork, determination and she embraces who is she.

WHO IS SITHANDEKILE KHUMALO?

Sithandekile khumalo is a 22 year old poetess, writer, dj, plus size model, plus size blogger, stylist, art director, set designer, social worker and finance student. My writings are centered on the African continent, its struggles, triumphs, culture, its populi, its beauty giving fruition to the moniker The Real African Trademark. As the Kapitol C The DeepSoul Psychedelik i tell the story of life through deephouse music. It’s such a beautiful thing to give the audience your interpretation of music and even humbling to see them take it all in and have a good time on the dance floor....house music is a beautiful feeling. Music is in the crevices of my soul, it’s in my bloodstream. It’s that unconditional love that most souls yearn for, music punctuates everything that i do. I love music so much that my clothes have track names , all i have to do is to gauge my mood and i would know which kind of track would be in sync with my mood and voila am dressed. As the Mongolian Teletubbie, i portray fashion in the view of a plus size woman. Societal and fashion industry standards don’t deem the plus size woman as one who can slay her fashion game. So i dress up to show the world that plus is normal, plus can real work her thread game. So i constantly try to prove that stereotype wrong by dressing up and building a community of plus size women who love fashion. My style is afro grunge, avant-garde, classic and chic. I draw my influences from the Far East and Africa. As the co-founder of Fenders for Africa a non-profit organisation that focuses on eradication of youth unemployment through imparting skills to the youth to channel them in the arts, business and agricultural sector. The organisation also has an adult literacy project where i hold classes in principles of accounts, commerce, English in two locations around the city of Bulawayo. Being a youth and i interact with the youth, i hold sexual education classes for girls and i distribute 4000 condoms around the city each month as a way of curbing HIV in partnership with the National Aids Council and various stakeholders. Being a creative soul that i am, helping other people look fashionably good is one of the things i enjoy doing through personal shopping and style consultancy. This creativity of unfathomable depths has my depths directing and designing sets for films and photos shoots.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START BLOGGING ABOUT PLUS SIZE FASHION?

I love clothes, shoes and makeup just like any other girl. So i thought what better way to document my journey through a fashion blog. So we inspire each other as thickes.

SINCE YOU ARE A JACK OF ALL TRADES WHICH TRADE DO YOU ENJOY DOING THE MOST?

It would have to be writing and poetry. See that’s where one gets to understand who i really am. It’s so liberating to let your mind open up and explore situations and translate it into words. It’s amazing how each and every act has a story behind it for example the fragrance of sand that punctuates the atmosphere after a rainy spell, the cracks in soil when the rain water dries up ....beautiful a sign of life.  A life in 3different spaces that is what i get to see in mind and write. Simplicity of existence. I think the best conversations are the ones you have by yourself ...it may sound crazy but i talk to myself. I get to analyse and understand things, situations in a better way because you get to see things in so many different dimensions and that is enlightening and it elevates your soul to react appropriately to unforeseen currencies. Writing is a way of documenting the conversations i have with myself.

What does women empowerment mean to you?

Women empowerment to me is about growing, helping each other as women. It could be in random gestures such as helping another sister carry her bag in the taxi, the moment you realise that she’s struggling to sit while carrying her bags and baby. Strive to make help a reflex action. As women we should be that umbilical cord that nourishes each other. Nourish and replenish each other with compliments you lose absolutely nothing by telling a sister that she looks beautiful and you love what she is wearing rather than trying to find faults in her appearance or outfit to ease your jealous soul. Give each other advice about anything. Encourage each other advice about anything. Encourage each other to try out new things. Be there for each other, by doing so women kind will rise from strength to strength. We cannot wage a war against unfair treatment we get from male counterparts when we are not a united front. Strength comes from within, so let’s strengthen our umbilical cord as women.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS TIME?

I see myself owning a style magazine, a Mongolian Teletubbie flagship store with all the beautiful trendy plus size fashion personally designed by yours truly. Have more confidence building classes with young teletubbies from the age of 8-16, because i feel that is the most crucial time of a plus size girl‘s life from realising that you don’t fit in your age range‘s clothing line because of your weight to being excluded in some activities because of your weight to being ridiculed by other kids because of your weight. All those experiences  can take a huge knock on a young beautiful big girl‘s self esteem. So i want to reach out to a greater demographic of teletubbies than i am now. So that i hold their hand and show them the path to how they can build their confidence and stay winning in the midst of all fat shaming in this life. I hope to see Fenders for Africa widening its work base to east and central Africa. To grow the love of nujazz, lounge, afro beat, downtempo, neosoul , old school hip hop in the means of jazz and soul festival here in Bulawayo. Familiarise those subgenres of jazz and soul with much younger crowds. Music is life in different dimensions and who better to recreate it and carry its light to the next generation than the youth.

WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE IN BALANCING ALL YOUR CAREER ASPECTS AND HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THESE CHALLENGES?

Time, i wish the day had a couple more hours haha. In as much as i would like to do more things after a day at school, i can only chase three of my passions. Planning my schedule does the trick, that way i know what the day holds for me.

HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING A FEMALE DJ?

As a female you always have to constantly prove that you are as good as your male counterparts. So it’s up to me to keep on improving myself from my musical selection to dj’ying skills. Though the support i have been getting from the brothers in the house music industry is tremendous.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR LOVE FOR JARS

Jars are my Siamese twins hahaha. As someone who attends events, refreshments are a must –have, fusing my avant-garde fashion sense with my thoughts the jar came into existence. I carry one everywhere i go. Them being made of glass makes them so fragile and extreme caution has to exercised when in parties as you know how it gets. So carrying a jar as a drinking vessel for me is a life lesson in the sense that whatever you do have, fun, enjoy yourself but have limits. Because one reckless act can bring all you’ve been working towards crashing down to pieces.

WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL?

It would have to be all the single mothers , the trials and tribulations they have to go through to fend for their kids and play the role of a father especially to their male kids is something that shows that women are indeed multi talented by nature. Apart from single mothers i am continually amazed by Erykah Badu, Jill Scott , Dego , Fela Kuti (may he rest in peace). These inspire me by their view of life and how they interpret it in their music and of course their fashion sense. A clear depiction of art from the soul to the blood stream. Realness, Difference and Existence is what i draw from these musos. I call them my family, my ancestors.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR ALL THE WOMEN OUT THERE?

Put God first in all you do. Look at the mirror, love what you see. Speak the truth unto yourself at all time. Respect all creation. Help a sister out, smile and dance. Eat and always be fabulous for fabulosity is contagious start a pandemic.

Contact Sithandekile Khumalo on the following social sites

Facebook: Kapitol C The DeepSoul Psychedelik

Instagram: The Mongolian Teletubbie