Month: December 2018

December 14, 2019 – Hiss, Hiss (OOTD #422)

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 Harry Potter seems to be a recurring theme in this blog.

Maybe it has to do with how part of the reason why I came to Notre Dame was South Dining Hall, which looks like the Great Hall from the Harry Potter films. Maybe it has to do with all of the collegiate gothic architecture, which makes me feel like I go to school in a castle.

Or at least, I feel like I go to school in a castle until I actually go inside the buildings. Then I see the facilities that haven’t been updated since Bill Clinton was president, the cockroaches that live in my room, and the brown water in DeBart, and the illusion dies pretty quickly. Hogwarts probably has its problems — a lake monster, an evil tree, a prankster ghost — but I doubt they have mold like us.

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hiss hiss bish

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Granted, I’m not convinced the art building isn’t haunted by a ghost itself, as well.

Don’t get me wrong — Notre Dame has the money to fix this stuff. They’ll just spend it on everything else they consider more important first: a new practice facility for the football team, perhaps.

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wow, you guessed it — i’m a gryffindor

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Anyway, back to Harry Potter: I love to bust out my Slytherin scarf whenever I can, especially around Christmastime, because I appreciate it as a more subtle way to show off some nerd pride. Nerd pride? Harry Potter is so mainstream I wonder if it even counts as nerdy anymore.

I feel like wearing Hogwarts House-themed attire out in public counts as nerdy though. I got a nerdy-looking guy in Au Bon Pain to tell me he liked my scarf (after like, three awkward attempts to get my attention) so I suppose it caters to that crowd.

Hiss, hiss, I guess. #slytherinpride

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Forever21

Sweater: H&M

Skirt: Forever21

December 11, 2018 – The Best Time to Wear a Christmas Sweater (OOTD #421)

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…is all the time!

This is one of my favorite sweaters in my wardrobe, and yet I only get to wear it a few times a year!

That’s the sad thing about Christmas sweaters. They’re so fun to have around for the month of December, and then they’re basically useless the rest of the year. Leave it to capitalism to force us to buy stuff that we only need once or twice a year. Gotta love it.

In truth though, Christmas sweaters are one commercial aspect of Christmas I can definitely buy into (get it?) I mean, the really authentic ones you need to buy secondhand anyway, so it’s not that awful for the environment, or for your wallet. I’m happy to reuse other people’s old crap in the name of the Christmas spirit.

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i think yule like this one

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These photos were taken shortly after I took my very first final about two weeks ago. It doesn’t feel like two weeks ago. It was the hardest one I had — Russian literature — and afterwards, I was just about dead. I actually had one more to go in the afternoon, but it was one that I was significantly less worried for. After I finished up my Russian lit final, I dragged myself to the math building to do pictures. I looked too cute to just let the outfit pass without Internet recognition, you know?

I’m a firm believer in the “dress well, test well” principle, unless I’m exhausted and I wind up sprinting to my exam in my pajamas. Those are the two testing modes I have — completely put together, made-up, and refreshed, or stumbling, sleep-deprived mess. At any rate, for this first final at least, I managed to keep it together. Sort of — I still made an A- on the stupid thing, and in the class. RIP my 4.0, 2017-2018. She will be missed.

My exam location wasn’t far from the math building, so after I finished up, I strolled over to get some stairwell photos. I had gotten some pics in the math building earlier in the month, so I knew there were some cool locations, and I was not disappointed by this staircase and its fabulous lighting. Might be my favorite one on campus now — even beating out this one, which I’ve used many, many times.

Unfortunately, though, I think I’ve just about exhausted my photo locations in the math building — I’ve done the hallways, the foyer, the stairwell, and the secret garden now, and I’m running out of pretty places. Onto bigger and better buildings, I guess?

Anyway, it’s 10PM right now in Doha, Qatar as I write this, and Christmas Day is just now drawing to a close. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you guys reading this, wherever you are and whatever time it is. Thanks for another great year with this silly little blog of mine.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Sweater: Thrifted (Goodwill)

December 9, 2018 – Playoffs and Pray-offs (OOTD #420)

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It’s not playoffs time yet, but it’s time to get ready.

I actually won’t even be in the country for the playoff game that Notre Dame’s in — I think I’ll be in Qatar, or otherwise traveling from Qatar to France. Since I won’t be in town to go to the game or to even watch it at home, I figured I’d get my Notre Dame spirit out of my system early.

I was also tired, and finals were about to begin, so I was perhaps hoping that by wearing the garb of the Notre Dame gods, I would earn their favor. Who cares about a playoff when you can have a pray-off, am I right?

Listen, I like Notre Dame football, but I don’t follow it that closely. I don’t know what are odds are to make it to the National Championship, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

So in case we lose horribly in the next few days and my Notre Dame spirit turns out to be for naught, I can at least say that this is just a Christmas outfit — it is Christmas Eve the day I’m writing this, after all. I’m actually sitting in the Munich airport waiting to head to Qatar right now.

So Merry Christmas Eve to you! I’ve actually already celebrated Christmas with the family because I knew I would be out of town for Christmas day, but I hope you’re having a good time celebrating the holidays on a normal schedule like a normal person. Eat some good non-airport food for me!

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Sweater: Notre Dame bookstore

Skirt: Forever21

December 7, 2018 – A 20th Century Christmas (OOTD #419)

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There nothing that “20th century” about this outfit except maybe the hat — and the hat’s not even mine!

For this post, my friends and I decided to all go out and take a family Christmas photo together. We had initially thought we’d make a Christmas card to send out to our families, but then we remembered how much work that would take and how stressed we were with our finals, and we decided just to take the picture without worrying about the card.

And I’m pretty satisfied with the result! We did them right before we exchanged secret Santa gifts, so we were all feeling festive.

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a six chick christmas

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I do wish I had an ugly Christmas sweater so I could have matched my friends a little better. I have a lot of Christmas sweaters — check them out here and here and here — but none  of them are ugly. Like, really ugly and wacky. They’re almost all too…cute?

Ugly Christmas sweaters are all super trendy, and while I’m normally hesitant to buy into trends, but I like this one. There’s something fun about purposefully being ugly — that is, as long as it’s authentically ugly. I’m not so much a fan of ugly Christmas sweaters that people just buy at Walmart. There’s no fun in that! You’ve got to go out and actually find something in a secondhand shop — or if you’re super crafty, make something.

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#sleigh, girl, sleigh.

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That’s why I love the ugly Christmas sweater market my school holds in late November. I didn’t actually buy anything this year because they raised their prices, and I don’t really feel justified spending $20 on an old ugly sweater I could get for a lot less money at a Goodwill, but I like the idea. I hope that perhaps next year I can find an ugly sweater that makes the $20 price tag worth it.

Or better yet, maybe I’ll find something at a vintage shop or a Goodwill the next time I’m home. I love the hunt that a secondhand store entails — it’s even more of  a hunt than my school’s secondhand Christmas sweater market!

Anyway, Merry Christmas from everyone here in my dorm room at Notre Dame! I don’t know for certain that they actually want to wish my readers happy holidays, but I assume they do. They’re nice people. They probably want you all to have a nice life.

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🌲

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That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Thrifted

Sweater: Abercrombie (thrifted)

Shirt: Banana Republic

Skirt: J. Crew (thrifted)

Hat: borrowed from a friend

December 6, 2018 – I Heart Repeated Titles (OOTD #418)

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I was about to title this “I heart Santa” but apparently, I titled a blog that the last time I wore this sweater. 

I like this sweater, but it’s not really me, you know? I got it from a friend for a Secret Santa exchange and…don’t tell her, but I don’t think I would have bought it for myself. I’m happy to wear it because I have it now, but it’s not my style to declare my love for someone on the front of my shirt, even if that someone is Santa.

Santa’s just the OG sugar daddy. Change my mind.

You might notice a new on-campus location with this blog! In fact, it is somewhere new. I took these photos right after I got out of my French oral exam, which was probably my most stressful final exam. Speaking to someone for a whole 30 minutes in French? Without stuttering and staring blankly at my professor when I realize I have nothing to say? I can barely do that in English!

Anyway, after my exam got out, all I really wanted was to walk around for a little to decompress. I had just finished up all of my classes for the semester, and even though I had plenty more finals to worry about still, they weren’t coming for several more days. I had time to relax.

So after I escaped my professor’s office, I went for a walk. I decided I wanted to go somewhere I’d never been before on campus to see if I couldn’t scope out some new photo locations, and I happened on this little courtyard by the business school.

I’m pretty sure all the business students could see me posing and taking pictures though a window as I stood there like an idiot outside in the courtyard without a coat on, but if they did, they probably forgot about it by now. That’s my preferred way of comforting myself when I realize someone’s seen me taking pictures of myself. Most people probably forget that they saw some random girl posing and using a camera remote to take pictures of herself for her fashion blog within a few hours, so there’s no reason to feel embarrassed.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Sweater: Secret Santa exchange

Skirt: Vintage (thrifted)

December 5, 2018 – Christmas at Hogwarts (OOTD #417)

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There are plenty of buildings at Notre Dame that look like they could be a part of Hogwarts.

South Dining Hall is probably the most notable. Some of the arches of the Rock and certain dorms can lean that way too. It’s that collegiate gothic style of architecture — gotta love it, because it makes going to class in the buildings and living in the cockroach-infested rooms a little more bearable.

These pictures were taken in the math department’s building, a building which I never venture into, in part because I have no math classes, and in part because math is terrifying. I made sure to test out of college math for a reason — contrary to the Asian stereotype, I rather hate math.

I so hate it that for the majority of my time at Notre Dame, I’ve tried to completely avoid the math department building out of fear. That was, until last semester, when some friends convinced me to go inside for some pictures.

Turns out, the math building (or at least, half of it) is actually really beautiful and makes for great photos. In fact, I’ve gone to the ivy garden courtyard many times this year for photos because I love it so much.

This was the first time I ventured up to the second floor to look for photo locations, and as you can see, I was not disappointed. I think the second floor might be even more lovely and Hogwarts-like than the first. Don’t be too surprised if I wind up taking pictures again sometime soon.

I guess math really is magical?

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: thrifted (Goodwill)

Sweater: Abercrombie

Skirt: Forever21

December 4, 2018 – Pop Punk Christmas (OOTD #416)

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Is this punk? I’ve got my Docs on. That makes something punk, right?

Or at least, if it’s not punk, it’s pop punk — a slightly more mainstream and easily digestible version of the real thing. That’s a pretty accurate description of me. It’s also a description of my music taste.

I can’t believe it took me this long to think to pair my Docs with this dress. I mean, a dress purchased at a vintage shop in Shoreditch, the most hipster neighborhood of London, plus Doc Martins, the most British (though technically German) punk-looking shoes to exist? How did I not see the connection?

Anyway, I finally saw the connection with this outfit. And I threw on my vintage Christmas jacket purchased at last year’s Christmas sweater market for emphasis.

As much as I love this dress, it’s one of the most unflattering pieces in my closet to photograph. I have to be really careful of how I pose and at what angle I’m being shot at. These were the best pictures that I took, and being honest, they still don’t necessarily make me look the best. I mean, I’m a small, skinny person, and yet in photos, this dress makes me look like I have a beer belly.

I’m happy to let you see it though. The one thing I never edit in my photos is the actual shape of my features. Just goes to show that photos can make you look great — or not-so-great — at different times.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Vintage (thrifted)

Dress: Vintage (thrifted)

Shoes: Doc Marten

November 28, 2019 – Bowties Are Cool (OOTD #415)

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A long, long time ago, back in the Stone Age that was 2013, I tried to get into the Superwholock fandom.

I was really into Tumblr at the time, like many young teenage girls, and there was nothing hotter to me than Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock. And back then, you couldn’t look at anything Sherlock-related without also coming across content for Supernatural and Doctor Who; for some reason, the fandoms often overlapped.

And so, for a person who’s never really been interested in Supernatural or Doctor Who, I know a lot about their fandoms by extension/ And by “know a lot about their fandoms,” I mean I know some of the major catchphrases and references — notably the 11th Doctor’s quip, “Bowties are cool.”

2013 was the age of hipsters: hipsters with horn-rimmed glasses, oversized sweaters, and bow ties. I’m not yet sure if I’m proud to admit that I bought into the trend. Somewhere out there on the Internet are probably images of me with fake hipster glasses, an infinity scarf, and a Starbucks coffee. In five more years, it’ll be horribly dated, and in another ten, it’ll look classy and vintage.

Anyway, this outfit was my tribute to my brief Doctor Who phase and the “bowties are cool” meme. Should outfits be based around  years-old memes? Maybe not. The last thing this blog needs is a Grumpy Cat or Rage Face outfit.

But Karamo Brown himself complimented my outfit, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad inspiration. He was here at Notre Dame giving a talk (a talk that I helped organize, I’ll mention), and afterwards, a few of us from student government got a brief meet-and-greet. Little did he know, my outfit was based on 2013 Matt Smith. I’m not sure if he would have been so complimentary had he know that.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Shirt: Banana Republic

Skirt: River Island

November 27, 2018 – Pacing (OOTD #414)

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I wore this sweater in a post from just a few days ago.

I normally try to avoid repeating pieces so soon like this — not that I think many people would notice, unless I said something, but it’s just not as fun to wear the same things over and over. Plus, I like to actually wear the clothes I buy. It’s wasteful just to let things sit in the closet.

In fairness, the actual amount of time between wears for this sweater was longer than this blog makes it seem. In truth, it was ten days in between wears — and Thanksgiving beak was a part of that time —  though it was only four blogs.

If you’ll notice, I’m also getting caught up on blogs again. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing — good in that now my blogs should line up a little more with the actual calendar dates, but bad in that that puts more pressure on me to get content for my blogs  more often.

It’s a little frustrating, because I get more views on LEDJ when I publish new content every day. But publishing new content every day is hard — I don’t wear cute clothes every day, and even if I do, I don’t always have an easy way to photograph them. Publishing blogs every day while also taking photos every day leads to blogs of lower quality — something I’ve definitely been guilty of before —  and I don’t want to do that again if I can help it.

I guess that’s a reality that every Internet content creator deals with — of course you’ll get more views when you’re churning out new content. But since I’m still such a small Internet presence that I don’t really get much readership at all if I’m not posting, so I try to post every day.

I think that’s just something I’ll have to learn to deal with though. As I’ve learned, forcing myself to post and photograph my outfits literally every day is bad not just for the quality fo content I put on this blog, but also for my enjoyment of the writing process. This is still just a hobby after all.

Any other bloggers out there with how to pace oneself with how often to upload content? I’ve been doing the daily blog thing for so long, it would feel unnatural to stray from that — but I think maybe it’s getting to be time to find a regular upload schedule that’s not quite so chaque jour, as it were. I want to still post often, but avoid the burnout of a daily schedule. Thoughts?

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Matching bra and underwear set: TomboyX

Sweater: Forever21

Jeans: Abercrombie

November 23, 2018 – Beginning To Look A Lot Like… (OOTD #413)

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…Christmas! This blog will start like fall and end like Christmas.

The day after Christmas — Black Friday — is officially the day I start listening to Christmas music. It’s been a tradition of mine since back in middle school, when Black Friday actually meant something, and my dad and I would go out shopping late at night/early in the morning. Once the clock struck midnight, I’d get out my iPod (or iPhone, depending on what year it was) and start listening to Christmas music.

Anyway, Black Friday doesn’t really mean much anymore, since it seems the sales aren’t even that great anymore, and — the worse offense — stores don’t even hold weird late night hours. That was the fun of the whole experience! It was so cool getting to wake up at 2AM to go shopping at 3, and then get breakfast on the way home when it was all over.

That era of Black Friday shopping seems to be over, sadly. I still like to go out, but usually just in the afternoon. I still like seeing the crowds. For as much of an introvert as I am, I like navigating crowds, assuming I don’t have to wait in long lines.

This set of photos was taken by my father while we were at the mall, and they’ll likely be the last set of fall-themed pics I post this year on this blog. From this point on, I’ll be making an effort to do Christmas- and winter-themed outfits.

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hey thanks for the pic @zdhall2699

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Like these Christmas- and winter-themed pics here! Yep, these are all from the same day, just later at night. Some friends and I went out driving to check out the neighborhood’s Christmas decorations, and this house always goes all out. They went so all out that some photography seemed to be in order.

Shout out to my buddy Zach for getting these. He did a pretty good job, admittedly. Art students, am I right?

Jacket: Forever21

Sweater/skirt set: Vintage (Thrifted — Street Scene Vintage)

Shoes: Doc Marten