Month: May 2017

May 31, 2017 – Matchy Matchy (OOTD #33)

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These summer days all seem to run together.


Summer is weird. For me, personally, I like to sleep in late and wake up late, meaning a large portion of my “day” is often spent at night, and a large portion of my “night” is in the morning.


For example, today, I woke up around 11:30, after having been out late until maybe 1 the prior day (the graduation party that I mentioned in my last post was interesting, by the way. It was quite the sausage fest, making my outfit from yesterday quite the interesting choice). After that, I had a meeting at Starbucks to do some part-time work for one of the real estate agents I had worked with in my previous job (so hooray for that!) From there, I had about an hour at home before I had to go out to pick up my dad from work, and now here I am at my local Harry’s restaurant, waiting for my sushi to arrive and typing this blog on my phone.


Was it a busy day? Maybe not in a traditional sense. I sure did a lot of tuning around though.


Today’s outfit was much more conservative than yesterday’s since I had that meeting, not to mention much more comfortable. I based it around this fun sweater with bright reddish coral bows down the back, and from there, I pulled from the coral color to match with my coral pants and coral necklace. I feel like coral was a very 2012 color, but it’s not like it’s gone out of style or anything since then. In my optinion, it’s as cute now in 2017 as it was 5 years ago! I tied it altogether with these tan booties, just to add some variation to the color scheme. 


So that’s it for today! Not the most exciting ever, I know, but some days are like that.


Also, I’d like to thank all 60+ of you for following my blog! It means a lot. I can’t believe it’s been a month since I started L’ensemble du jour, and it’s already grown so much. 

Sweater: Grace & Mila 

Pants: The LOFT

May 30, 2017 – In A Barbie World (OOTD #32)

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I used to play with Barbies all the time as a kid.


In fact, I’m certain that my fascination with Barbies is how I got into fashion. I was never super interested in having my Barbies reenact scenes from my imagination, but I loved to dress them in different outfits and comb out their hair. My favorite Barbie was not the one with light up wings, or with a singing voice box, or a mermaid tail (though trust me, I owned them all), but one that was simple, with normal hair and a normal body for wearing all of my clothes.


You know, as “normal” of a body of that tiny Barbie doll could have.


I’m admittedly pretty jealous of little girls these days and the wide variety of Barbies they get to play with – even though I grew up just in the early 2000’s, The doll aisle of the toy store was still 90% the blonde, blue-eyed classic Barbie. Now, I see that the doll aisle is filled with Barbies of all shapes and sizes and ethnicities, which is a reallycooo thing to see for me.  I always wished there were more Asian-looking Barbies as a kid, and I usually ended up having to settle with some tan brunette with features that could’ve passed for Latina, Eastern European, or Middle Eastern.


Plus, Barbie has the best movies. Princess and the Pauper was my jam, but Mermaidia and Fairytopia were close seconds. I remember seeing Rapunzel as an infant and being instantly hooked on the franchise. To this day, I still think of Barbie as Rapunzel as a more definitive Rapunzel than the Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled.


I wound up with a lot of spare time on my hands today, so I ended up doing a very elaborate hair and makeup look – bright lips, prominent highlight and contour, false eyelashes and curled hair – much like the glamorous look of a Barbie doll. Thus, I modeled my outfit after this concept, going for a lowcut pale pink top, short denim shorts, and wedges. It was pretty comfortable for a summer day like this, where a slight breeze makes it a bit too cold for short sleeves in the morning, but the heat of the afternoon makes it much too warm for pants.


Plus, I’ve got a graduation party to go to this evening, so it’s nice to show a bit of skin in the presence of people who usually saw me bundled up in leggings and coats due to the freezing cold temperatures my school’s AC brought about.
I had quite the playday with taking my pictures today. Be prepared for quite a few shots down below!
As always, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Shirt: H&M

Shorts: Abercrombie

Choker: Charlotte Russe

And don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com

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May 29, 2017 – Memorial Day Fashion (OOTD #31)

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Happy Memorial Day my friends!


Of course, Memorial Day is a holiday we Americans take to honor the men and women who have served in the military. Granted, that’s not what the majority of the people do on Memorial Day – it’s become a day for shopping good sales at the mall and holding barbecues for friends. Personally, I fall more into that majority category, who takes this holiday off as a shopping opportunity, as I don’t know anyone close to me who has served, but I do think it is an important day for our country to recognize.


Today, my family and I hit the Kentucky Horse Park to check out a vintage market they were holding. It was pretty cool! There were plenty of vendors with some really cool products (and plenty of cute clothes), and I would definitely go again next year. There was this really adorable pink taffeta dress from the 50s that I really liked, but sadly, it had what looked like moth holes in it, so I had to pass. It was only $15 too!


Oh well.


Being at the Horse Park, I got some nice photos with the horses that were out and about. I live in Kentucky, so I see horses A TON (like seriously, you can barely drive anywhere without seeing some horses out grazing in a field), but I don’t necessarily get to go up and touch them, as (obviously) they’re someone else’s property and you don’t know how friendly they are.


These horses at the Horse Park were very friendly though, and quite happy to be petted and stroked. I am always so stricken by how large and beautiful horses are up close.


It’s Memorial Day, so obviously, I had to do the red, white and blue thing for my outfit – very stereotypically American, I guess, but in the best way possible. I’ve had these shorts for years, and I always love to wear them on patriotic holidays because I think the pattern resembles little stars. My shirt is much newer – actually, I just got it a few months ago at a vintage shop! It came with a matching midi skirt, so together, they look like a swing dress, but I also enjoy wearing them separate. All in all, I definitely got a vintage vibe from today’s oufit – though perhaps a little less than my outfit from last Friday!


Thanks for reading! I’ll see you in the next one!

Shirt: Vintage

Shorts: Forever21

And don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com
Also, as promised, here’s a really ugly picture of me from the 5K! I did it with my friend Amanda – we definitely weren’t the fastest ones there, but we did okay. And it was a lot of fun!

May 26, 2017 – Like Something Out of a Soda Pop Shop (OOTD #30)

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Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Actually, I suppose it doesn’t really begin until tomorrow, Saturday, but the end of Friday certainly feels like the weekend anyway. Plus, my parents took off from work today, so it definitely feels like it should be a Saturday.


We had planned to take a family trip out hiking today, but after all the rain we had yesterday, it just didn’t seem like a practical choice.


Instead, we decided to head to the brand new Summit at Fritz Farm shopping center in Lexington.


Now, I have something of an interesting background with the Summit – The Summit was originally an outdoor shopping mall in Louisville, and I used to go all the time as a kid. Something happened though, and ownership ended up changing hands, so the Summit in Louisville ended up becoming the Paddock, and the owners of the “Summit” name ended up building a new outdoor shopping center in Lexington.


And it was definitely very nice! A little different than the original Summit I knew – less standard retail, and more upscale boutique. I found a lot of things I liked in the shops, but not a lot I could afford. Still, it was fun to walk around and stretch my legs and window shop.


Who knows, maybe one of these new boutiques is hiring?


As for outfit, today’s shirt actually comes from New York – it was purchased in the H&M on Times Square! I remember back as a kid I visited that same H&M and bought two jackets (both of which I still own and can fit into) , so I felt like I just had to buy something there again! I paired it with some high waisted denim shorts and oxfords wifh calf socks. For good measure, I threw my hair into a ponytail withn a scrunchie to go for the ultimate 50s vibe (though the shorts I was wearing probably would’ve qualified as a bathing suit rather than street wear in the 50s!)



Later this evening, I’m running a 5K with my friend…wish me luck. I don’t really have a problem running 5K straight, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park either, so I’m kind of hoping my friend doesn’t want to sprint the whole thing. I’ll definitely post some pictures tomorrow, assuming I’m not hunched over trying to catch my breath in all of them!

 

And don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com
Shirt: H&M

Shorts: PacSun

Shoes: Target

(bonus: here’s a pic of my dad photobombing me)

May 25, 2017 – Little Yellow Raincoat (OOTD #29)

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Weather-wise, things were both lovely and awful today.


It was lovely in that here we are, late May, and it’s only 60 degrees out. And that’s the high. I personally hate the heat, so this cooler weather is a blessing for me and my taste in layered clothing, long sleeves, and pants.


But in terms of ickiness, it was rather chilly and rainy today. I went running this afternoon; that was an adventure trying to keep my eyes open as the misty, spitty rain kept falling in my eyes. Not to mention my wet hair.


Otherwise, it was a pleasantly dull day today. I slept in, after having been out so late last night, and worked on this blog. I set up a Twitter account for L’ensemble du jour, which I highly suggest you check out. I admittedly don’t have much in terms of posts yet, but I’m sure I’ll get a hang of it soon! Social media shoudln’t be that difficult of a challenge to conquer for a Millenial like myself, right?


No news on a job yet, but that’s okay. Worst case scenario, I know places like Panera and Home Depot are always hiring, so I’m sure I could get in somewhere like that if I was desperate enough.


Which I’m not, yet. Something will come up, right?


Since my life today consisted of sitting at home on the couch and eating ramen noodles, it wasn’t a particularly fancy day in terms of fashion. I did, however, find it rather appropriate to go for my classic yellow raincoat and forest green rain boots. Now, I’m not cool enough to have actual Hunter rain boots, but I do have these nice Michael Kors ones, so I’m still trendy. Kinda, sorta?


The rest of the outfit was fairly simple – some black leggings, a printed sweater that reads C’est la vie (I’m a fan of French, can you tell?) and a sparkly J. Crew necklace to dress things up. Can’t be too casual, even on a lazy day off!


For real though, that’s it. I wish I could tell you about all my exciting adventures and all the crazy things I did today, but in truth, it was just a lazy, sit at home and watch the rain fall type of a day. It was nice.


Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one! Shout out to my dog, Juliet, for being an excellent model.
Coat: North Face

Necklace: J. Crew

Sweater: Forever21

Boots: Michael Kors

And don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com

May 24, 2017 – ConGRADualations (OOTD #28)

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This might be a long one.


Welp, I made it! Four years later, and here I am, walking across the stage and taking my diploma. It’s a little crazy to think about; I’m not positive I’ve fully processed it yet.


Actually, my graduation for me was a little more nerve-wracking than average, as I had a speaking role. Now, admittedly, it wasn’t huge, clocking in probably at around two minutes, but I’m not huge on public speaking. I do believe I’m better than average though – I don’t fear it, and I’m capable of doing it when I need to, but I don’t exactly consider it fun.


Anyway, my speech – thankfully, we’d been drilling our parts for a month, so I knew it very well. I did the opening welcome bit. I did almost stumble once, but I recovered, and I think it was okay! I didn’t have the funniest speech, or the most entertaining, or the most emotionally moving, but it was short and sweet. And honestly, when graduation ceremonies feel like they last forever, short and sweet is definitely ideal!


So yeah, I did get pretty bored sitting there after my part was done. It was very nice getting the most nerve-wrecking part out of the way at the start, but it did also mean I had about an hour and a half just to sit there and do nothing.


Nothing that is, but listen to the speeches of the other class officers. And they were great speeches – I’ve just heard them over and over again, maybe 20 times each, in our after school practices over the course of the last month of school.


The last month of school – I really can’t believe it. Like, really can’t believe it. It felt like high school was never going to end, and yet somehow, I was walking across Rupp Arena in a black robe with my tassel on the left of my cap tonight.


I grinned dorkily the whole way.


After the ceremony, I got some pictures with my friends. Or tried to – it was pretty dark out, not to mention chilly and rainy, so they weren’t really ideal photography conditions. But it’s whatever, it’s the principle of taking photos with a friend that counts! Thankfully, I got all of my ootd photos done earlier in the afternoon, so I didn’t have to worry about that.


As for outfit, I went for the classic white summer dress. Actually, I put a lot of time and effort into figuring out what to wear for graduation; originally, I had thought I would just wear something I already owned, but my mother convinced me to go out and buy something more traditional with the white. I paired it with some tan wedges (added height without the discomfort of heels!) and some gold earrings – I had to keep it pretty simple because of the gown, cords, and stoll I had to put on top.


Also, my parents were super lovely and even got me a huge bouquet of flowers to pose with!


I think that’s it for me this evening! It’s like, 2AM as I write this and I’m super hungry, even though I got ice cream and cake after the ceremony was over.


I just still can’t believe it’s all over! Not to be cliche, but it’s like something out of a dream!
Dress: Guess

Phew! That was long! Thanks for reading to the end!

 

And don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com

May 23, 2017 – I Still Need a Summer Job

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Seriously.


I need a job. I wish I had been able to start searching for one earlier, but, having been laid off unexpectedly, I wasn’t really aware I was going to be needing to look for one. 
I had another interview today, but again, I don’t know how it will turn out, seeing as I can only work for the summer. No one really seems to want a kid with a high school diploma as just a temp, you feel? And I can understand why, it’s awkward to train someone just to have them leave in two months. 


But I’m not here to sit and complain – today was actually quite nice, albeit exhausting. After my interview at 9AM (right after an interview I’d had at 6PM the night prior, mind you), I had about an hour to sit at home before I had to head back to the high school I’d just graduated from for more speech practice. Our actual graduation ceremony is tomorrow (about 5 days after our last day of school), so all of the class officers met to run through our parts one more time. 


My goodness, I can’t wait for it all to be over so I can finally relax.


The class sponsor got us all food though, which was totally unexpected and so kind. I was starving after my busy morning, so the french fries, quesadillas, and macaroni was definitely welcomed. 


As for outfit, it may be the second day of my summer vacation, but I have not had a day yet where I can just dress casually in shorts and a tank top! I’m not complaining though – I love to get dressed up. Since I had my interview so early in the morning, I ended up spending the day dressed in my most professional-looking J. Crew dress (that I actually got at Goodwill for like $5!) and a peplum jacket from H&M. 

So hey, here’s to hoping I find a summer job – one that’s forgiving to the idea of me only working for summer, and one that’s cool with me taking two weeks off to travel to London. 


Yeah…you could definitely say it’s a long shot.

Dress: J. Crew

Jacket: H&M

May 22, 2017 – First Day of Summer Break

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Okay, maybe it’s not the actual first day of summer (that’s June 21), but it was good enough for me!
Today was my first day of summer break, and it certainly feels lovely. I had nowhere in particular to be until the evening, I got to sleep in, and I even got to go running this morning. I’m doing a 5K with my friend this Friday, so while I haven’t exactly been training for it very hard, I do want to be prepared.
But in truth, it was also a lazy day. There was a dishwasher to unload, which I didn’t do, some clothes to put away, which I didn’t do, and my room could use a cleaning, but I also failed to do that. In part, I was just excited to have some time to myself now that school is out, but the other part, I’ve been preparing for an interview.
So that is what my fashion today was all about – this interview, for which I took to heart the quip “dress for success” Admittedly, I am no expert at job interviews, and I definitely don’t feel experienced enough to discuss what people are looking for in potential employees, but I do know how to dress to make myself look more impressive than I am.
Today, I opted for something bright and colorful, to show that I have a bright and colorful personality. My skirt has a vibrant pattern, which I highlighted through the bright color of my coral blouse. To look extra classy, I layered on top my mother’s pearl necklace.
Wish me luck on this interview! I’ve actually got another tomorrow, so I do have another option going if this doesn’t pan out, but of course, it would be wonderful if I had some choice.

Skirt: Ann Taylor

Shirt: Altar’d State 

May 19, 2017 – My Last Day of High School

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It’s exactly as the title says folks: today was my last day of high school!

…good riddance. 


No, I’m kidding. Sort of. Like everything in life, high school has had its ups and its downs for me, but on the whole, I think it was a positive experience. I made a lot of friends, learned plenty of new things, and found that I can push myself harder than ever. It had its painful moments, and I am ready to go, but there are without question some things I’ll miss – Cultural Society, the band hallway, 3rd period AP World Histoey with Mrs. Williams…


Today, we actually were only in the actual school building until 11:30. They made us run through some graduation practice, served us some cheap breakfast (bagels and donuts from Kroger sort of a thing), and then kicked us out. There was no crying, no nostalgic reminiscing – they just shooed everyone out and locked the door.


Welcome to the real world, I guess?


Speaking of school, my outfit was based around my Notre Dame football jersey again. Normally, I don’t like to wear the same piece so quickly after it had recently been worn, but I had to this time – the senior class decided that for the last day of school, we’d all wear shirts for our colleges. I do think I managed to get it styled in a completely different way though – with white and gold shorts that just barely peeked over the jerseys, calf-high socks, and a simple choker, I channeled a sporty chic vibe.


After graduation practice, two friends and I headed to down town Lex to get lunch, do some shopping, and walk around. We headed to the Woodland Triangle area, and lemme tell you – I made out like a bandit. For under $50, I wound up with a coat, gloves, shoes, and pants! 


How did I do it, you ask? Carefully scanning for sales and hitting up thrift stores!
It was a ton of fun. My friends and I couldn’t help but marveling every few minutes at the fact that we had actually finished high school. That we didn’t have to go back. That, except for graduation on Wednesday, it was finally all over.


And that evening, my parents and I hit up the Living Arts and Sciences Center where I had a piece in display for Gallery Hop. Like I’ve said before, I don’t consider myself a good enough artist to ever do it professionally, but I’m happy to do it as a hobby in my free time. We only stuck around for a few minutes because it quickly got pretty crowded, but I did manage to get a picture with my piece.


After that, we visited the Maserati Mingle, an annual car show that my dad absolutely loves. This is me next to a Porsche Boxter, my favorite car in the show. It just has such a sexy design – I would love to own one one day, or at least, get to ride with someone who did.


That’s it for today. It was super-busy, but all in a good way. I can’t wait to get some sleep though!

Shirt: Notre Dame Store

Shorts: Abercrombie

May 18, 2017 – I Probably Wear Too Much Black

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I feel like it was just yesterday I was writing a blog yapping about how I was kind of stupid for wearing all black in mid-May, but apparently, I didn’t learn my lesson, because here I am again.

 

I just can’t help it! Black is such a cool and confident color. Plus, it’s one of the only colors that you can even wear all by itself, monotone, without looking stupid.

 

Today I was significantly less hot though, as I had my arms and legs bare. Hooray for my school’s lax dress code that lets me wear practical clothing in the summer!

 

The focus of today’s outfit is definitely the jacket. Can you believe I actually got this at a thrift shop? I adore thrift shops – there was once a time in my life, back when I was a self-entitled, snot-nosed middle schooler, when I believed I was much above second-hand clothes, but those days are long gone. I’m a poor high school/college kid now, and there’s no room for pride when you want cool clothes but you have no money! 

Back to the jacket though – I’m not familiar with the brand myself, but I would definitely buy from them again. It’s such a fabulous concept – the structure of the large bow and the architectural collar definitely makes it something you’re not just going to happen upon at your local Forever21. Unique clothes that you can tell a designer put genuine thought behind are my favorite.

 

As for a bottom, I definitely didn’t want to upstage my wonderful swing jacket, but I still knew I needed something that wasn’t totally basic to compliment it. Luckily, I had the perfect piece already in mind – this layered Zara skirt, which also came to me second-hand. I bought it off of a vendor on Poshmark for an outfit for the second day of this school year, and I have not regretted it. I wear it so much because it’s a basic black skirt that goes with everything, yet its clever design makes it so much more interesting than that. In this outfit, I found that it perfectly accompanied my jacket, peeking just underneath it to add to the architectural flair.

 

Also, today was my last full day of school. I kinda expected it to be bittersweet, but mostly, it was just boring, since a lot of my friends have just been skipping. Tomorrow, it’s all over though! At least until graduation, one week later.

 

That’s it for today! See you in the next one!

Jacket: LelaRose

Skirt: Zara