Month: June 2019

March 27, 2019 – Pink and Red (OOTD #483)

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A few years ago, I never would have tried to mix pink and red.

It’s one of those color combinations that can go really horribly wrong if you don’t do it well — think a bad homemade Valentine’s card crafted by a seven year-old. It has a tendency to look overly-girly and juvenile.

But if there’s anything I’ve learned over the last two years of keeping a fashion blog and trying to come up with new and creative outfits each day, it’s that rules are ridiculous and meant to be broken. Or rather, they’re decent guidelines, but they shouldn’t be held to all of the time.

Just like my recent realization that I can wear yellow despite being Asian and believing for years that yellow would never work with my skin tone, I’ve also realized that I can do whatever I want with what I wear. You shouldn’t wear black and brown together? Watch me. You can’t have a round face and get a pixie cut? Sounds fake. 

It doesn’t always work though — there’s been a handful of fashion choices that I’ve made and then published blogs on that I realize now were mistakes. So um…don’t always follow the rules kids, but sometimes do.

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)

Top: FreePeople

Trousers: J. Crew

March 26, 2019 – Work (OOTD #482)

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I like this outfit a lot.

Granted, I like most of the outfits I wear — hence having this silly little blog and posting about the outfits I wear on a semi-regular basis (emphasis on the semi). There are outfits that I wear that I don’t particularly like, that I either don’t post about or do post about and regret it later (hint: basically anything from spring semester freshman year).

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instagram vs reality

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Sometimes, though, I put together an outfit and it just really clicks. Some times, it might not be anything I’d really put a lot of thought into; other times, it might be an idea that I’d been tossing around in my head for weeks. At any rate, I put it on in the morning, and it just works. 

I don’t like to use the word “work” in the America’s Next Top Model, RuPaul’s Drag Race sense — like, oh, I’m really working this outfit. It just sounds silly and narcissistic to me. But if there were an outfit that I thought I worked — and not just that the outfit worked on me, but that I worked the outfit — I guess this would be one of them.

I think maybe this had to do with the fact that this was one of the warmest days we’d been graced with in South Bend for quite some time — even though we were in the post-spring break stretch, it had still been pretty chilly.  The actual sun came out for a few hours in the afternoon and honored us with her presence. I don’t think she’d visited our cornfield patch of the Midwest in weeks.

And by warm, I mean, I still had to wear a hat, coat, and long socks. It wasn’t warm as in “spring’s here;” it was warm as in “winter’s still here and isn’t leaving for another month but at least it’s not -40 windchill anymore.” We really don’t even get to experience real spring but for a week or two at the very end of the semester (and so honestly, why do we even call it “spring semester?” Spring in South Bend is fake), so this is about as “spring” as it gets.

Happy spring, everyone!

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

Coat: Forever21

Dress: Vintage (some boutique in Chicago)

Hat: Amazon.com |NYFASHION101 French Style Lightweight Casual Classic Solid Color Wool Beret

March 25, 2019 – Twirly (OOTD #481)

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There’s no shortage of stained glass at Notre Dame — but there is a shortage of stained glass that’s in a place where I can take pictures of it.

For one, a lot of it is in high places, where I can’t reach to stand to take a picture with it. For another, it’s usually inside a church or chapel — and there seems to be something weird to me about taking a picture in a place of worship, even if it’s completely empty and I’m the only one there. I have used an ND chapel for pictures once before on this blog, but to be honest, I still don’t know how I feel about it.

I don’t, however, have any issue taking photos outside of churches or other places of worship — just check out this Buddhist temple in Nepal, this mosque in Qatar, or this church in England that have all been featured on my blog. The ND basilica has shown up here once or twice as well. The architecture of these places of worship is meant to be admired — and as long as I keep my fashion photography on the outside, where no table-flipping Jesus can get mad at me for turning a church into a marketplace, I feel okay with myself.

And so that’s where these photos come from — the outside of a chapel within one of Notre Dame’s buildings. It’s not the most stunning chapel on campus, nor is it the most stunning exterior architecture or stained glass, but you have to admit that it goes nicely with my outfit.

I even figured I’d give the dress a bit of a twirl, which I almost never do because of a) how difficult it can be to get a good shot and b) how ridiculous it looks to passers-by. I’m already stood outside of a chapel in a classroom building taking pictures of my outfit — I don’t need to look any sillier.

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

Dress: Francesca’s

Bralette: Aerie

March 24, 2019 – Transition Fashion (OOTD #480)

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Late-March in South Bend is weird.

You know how the saying is “in like a lion, out like a lamb?” Well, South Bend March can’t decide which one it wants to be — so it comes in and out like both a lion and a lamb multiple times. Sometimes in the same day.

Such was the case with this outfit. It was cold enough that I wanted to wear my big yellow blanket scarf, but warm enough that I could go in bare legs under my skirt. It rained, but didn’t snow, and then once you had gotten wet, the chilly winter wind would come and rip through you.

I was also breaking in a new pair of ballet pink penny loafers, which were painful to wear and left my feet bleeding at the end of the day. Just like real pointe shoes, I guess.

The point of all of this is to say that I don’t necessarily know what to do with my outfits in late-March. Do you keep up like it’s winter, keeping your hopes down in case another frost comes in April? Do you dress for spring, hoping for a warm day and the sunshine to melt away the last piles of dirty ice lingering in the parking lot?

Hence, the title of this blog “Transition Fashion.” In recognition all of the awkward moments we’ve all had when we can’t decide what to wear because the weather is crazy during the transition between seasons.

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

Dress: American Eagle

Jacket: Forever21

March 23, 2019 – Branding (OOTD #479)

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I’ve discussed this before, but color can be rather hard to come by at Notre Dame.

Our buildings are pretty much all the same tan-gold brick — which is still very pretty and really gives the campus a sense of cohesion, however, it makes for rather dull backgrounds in fashion photography. Most of the year, the scenery is pretty colorless too — especially in the winter, when campus is covered in snow 65% of the time.

And naturally, the majority of classroom buildings are on the plain side as well. That’s not a huge complaint of mine — I don’t need a rainbow mural adorning every single wall — but when it comes to trying to find interesting and diverse backgrounds for my blog pictures, it can sometimes be a challenge. I’ve used everything from bathroom walls to stairwells to

And now, a new background enters the scene — this large colored poster from the student government office.

The student government office has turned into one of my favorite places to study on campus because I can usually guarantee that it’ll be empty. When there are no meetings in session, the space normally sits vacant — making it a great place to set up shop and get work done. There’s even free coffee from the Keurig.

There’s also this poster, which I’ve been eyeing for quite some time to use as a background for an OOTD post. My only hesitation has been just how student government-centric it is — my blog isn’t an advertising space for other organizations (unless they’re paying me, and even so, that’s usually reserved for Instagram posts), and I don’t really like to feature logos prominently unless it’s something specific to fashion.

But it was cute and colorful, and I thought — why not? I’m not against Notre Dame’s student government, and I am technically a part of it (albeit a very small one). It’s a small price to pay in order to get a colorful background in early spring at Notre Dame on my Instagram feed for once.

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: Vintage (thrifted)

Dress: Thrifted

March 22, 2019 – Missed Busses and Long Walks (OOTD #478)

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So this semester, I thought it’d be a good idea to give myself off of classes on Fridays.

I figured with how hard I work in school, it’d be nice to give myself a treat and build my schedule around three-day weekends. When it came time to select classes for this semester, I purposefully avoided classes that met on Fridays — and lo and behold, it worked! I got off from class every week by Thursday afternoon.

The idea was that even though I’d have a heavier course load Monday-Thursday, I’d make up for it with my built-in long weekends.

Naturally, of course, that’s not what ended up happening.

What ended up happening was that I was so excited about my whole day off from class each week, that I decided to pick up a weekly shift again at the tutoring center of the homeless shelter on my day off. It’s only a two hour commitment, and I legitimately enjoyed going all fall semester, so I figured it’d be nice to be able to continue it into the spring. Besides, I’m able to sit and do homework whenever no one needs my attention (which is often), so it’s a productive way to spend time off-campus.

Then, on top of that, I heard about the internships that the Political Science Department offers, and I thought that might also be a good way to spend my Fridays off. Through that program, I started working at the Special Victims Unit of the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office: six hours a week, split between Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.

So in the end, my Fridays were never really off days at all — they were very busy days. I had to leave campus at 12:15 to catch the bus to get to my internship by 1, then I worked there until 4 in the afternoon. I then walked to catch a different bus to get to the homeless shelter by 4:30, where I stayed until 7:30 at night. In the end, I was away from campus for a total of about eight hours every Friday.

Like I said, normally, I took the bus in between the SVU and the homeless shelter, but on this particular day, I missed it. I got caught up finishing a project at my internship, and I lost track of time, forgetting that the Friday afternoon bus comes a lot earlier than the Wednesday morning one.

Thankfully, the SVU and the homeless shelter are in walking distance of each other — if barely. It ended up being about a 45 minute walk, making me 15 minutes late still for my shift at the shelter.

It was a nice, pretty day though, and I got to walk along the St. Joseph river and see downtown South Bend (the nice part, not the run-down part where the SVU and homeless shelter are), which is a rare occurrence. And I got some OOTD photos from somewhere other than on-campus — so it was a win in my books.

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)

Top: Zara

Skirt: Banana Republic

March 21, 2019 – Empty Buildings (OOTD #477)

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I’ve got a fascination with abandoned buildings.

As many people do — I’m not trying to claim that that’s a unique feature of mine. I love following urban exploration photographers on Instagram and subreddits like r/AbandonedPorn.

In reality, though, I’ve visited very few abandoned places in my life, mostly out of the concern for the legality of trespassing and the potential of meeting unfriendly junkies. I went to my old elementary school once with a friend, but that’s it. I’d like to actually visit some of these cool places I see online, but I also don’t want to die/get arrested, you know?

As it turns out, though, Notre Dame has (at least for now) an abandoned building of its own. Or rather, it’s not really very abandoned — it’s in a pretty central location on campus and it’ll likely be repurposed and functioning again by the start of the next academic year. I suppose empty is the better word.

It’s the old architecture building, which, since the beginning of the spring term 2019, has been out of commission. They recently opened up a brand new architecture building (which I literally visited for the first time just a few days prior), and so the old one has been sitting empty for a month or two. I think they’re in the process of moving some office buildings in, but at the time of me taking these pictures, it was pretty much vacant.

Honestly, I’d love to see it turned into a new building for the art and design students. I’ve discussed the dilapidated art building extensively here, and while I do believe the state of dilapidation adds to the charm, Notre Dame could really use to offer its studio art students a nicer space. The design building, West Lake Hall, is honestly worse. It’s way off at the edge of campus, and most people believe it’s a maintenance building for storing lawn mowers. Not really a good image for the design department.

You’d think that the old architecture building, which is already set up with studio spaces, would be an excellent place to move the A/AH/D (art, art history, and design) department, but I guess Notre Dame has other plans.

Anyway, Father Jenkins — or anyone in ND administration — if you happen to be reading this, you know what my ideas are.

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!

Dress: Vintage (thrifted, Brick Lane Market)

Jacket: Thrifted (Goodwill)

March 20, 2019 – LinkedIn Headshots (OOTD #476)

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These didn’t actually turning my LinkedIn profile pictures, but they really could, couldn’t they?

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coming soon to a linkedin profile near you

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My only concern is that my dark, grown-out roots would look too unprofessional. I actually rather like them like this, but I’m still not sure they’re the image I want for myself on a website like LinkedIn.

Not that I use LinkedIn that much or that I’m some kind of expert in how to appear employable. Notre Dame has a Career Development Center, which I’ve visited a few times for help with my resume and cover letter, but I’m very much still a rookie at the whole thing. Less so than some of my peers, though, who’ve never even had a lousy service industry job in high school — so I do pride myself on that.

I love this part of the math building for pictures. I’ve used it before (many, many, times) as a background in my fashion pics because it’s such a lovely hallway with excellent lighting, especially in the afternoon. I just swing by around 4 or 5pm after the bulk of classes have let out (so it’s not too busy while I’m trying to get pictures) and I’m always satisfied with the results.

Who would have that that the math building would become one of my most-frequented buildings on campus this semester? For a person who has no math classes — and hasn’t had one since high school —  I tend to hang out there a lot. It’s practically become my new Riley art building — which I have barely visited at all this semester, sadly. They took away my 24 hour card access, and so now I have no easy way to get in if I want to study late at night (the only time I ever study).

No worries, though — I’m not going to become a math major anytime soon. Hanging out in the art building couldn’t turn me into a studio art major, and I actually like art.

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: Ann Taylor (thrifted)

Blouse: Unknown (some boutique in London)

Trousers: Banana Republic Sloan

March 18, 2019 – Archie (OOTD #475)

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“Archie” (pronounced Ark-KEE)  is the Notre Dame nickname for architecture students.

Notre Dame’s got four major colleges for its undergraduates — Arts and Letters (the best college, hands-down), Science, Engineering, and Architecture. Architecture is by far the smallest program, and as a consequence, they’re also a very closely-knit community. Their degree actually takes five years instead of the normal four, and one of their five years is spent abroad in Rome. Because of how close the architecture students are and because of how few of them there are, they’ve got their own name — the archies.

The reason I’ve named this blog post after the archies is because these pictures were taken in the new architecture building. Bond Hall, the old architecture building, is being repurposed for offices, and the architecture students now have this new one for their classes and studio space.

The new building has gotten mixed reviews, at least as I’ve heard from the architecture students. It’s kind of got a weird shape that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of ND’s gothic style. It’s also way off on a somewhat distant part of campus, which I imagine is pretty annoying since they have to take all of their classes there. For reference, it took me a solid 15 minutes (and probably more like 20 if it were icy or I had a lot of books to carry) to walk there from my dorm, which is fairly centrally-located.

I see why there are complaints, but I do rather like the inside. There’s a lot of natural light, which not every building has (I’m looking at you, O’Shag), and I think they did a good job of mixing the austerity of an academic building a warm, homey color palette.

That’s coming from me, though, a person who knows nothing about architecture or interior design. To my untrained eye, it’s a nice building to be in. And good for pictures, which is what’s important to me.

Jacket: Thrifted (Goodwill)

Top: Free People

Skirt: J. Crew (thrifted)

March 17, 2019 – Pinch Me (OOTD #474)

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It was St. Patrick’s Day, and somehow, I didn’t wear green.

Now, to be fair, I had to spend a significant portion of my day traveling, and when I travel, I tend to concern myself more with comfort and practicality than fashion. It completely slipped my mind that it was St. Patty’s Day, and that I was supposed to wear green.

In fact, not only did I not wear green, but I wore the opposite of green — red. Red’s opposite green on the color wheel (and hence, they’re complementary colors), and so I guess you could say I committed a particularly offensive faux pas.

To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I took the time to make sure I wore green on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s not a holiday that’s a huge deal in Kentucky, as we don’t necessarily have a ton of people with Irish heritage. And at Notre Dame, where we do have a ton of people with Irish heritage (the consequence of being a Catholic school, I suppose), we still don’t do much since St. Patrick’s Day usually falls during spring break, and no one’s around campus.

One of these days, I’d like to go into Chicago for St. Patrick’s and see the Chicago River turned green. There isn’t a lot in Chicago that I have’t seen yet and that I really want to see — but that’s probably on the bucket list.

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!

Coat: J. Crew

Sweater: Abercrombie

Blouse: Forever21

Trousers: J. Crew