Category: Fashion

August 8, 2017 – How To Be a Blonde Asian (OOTD #83)

Published on by lensembledujour16 Comments

Fun fact: I actually wrote my college admissions essay on being a blonde Asian.

Well, actually, it was more like I wrote about my experience being Asian while growing up in an almost all-white town and in an all-white family, and how that dysphoria manifested itself in wanting to change my appearance…but blonde Asian is a more succinct summary.

Anyway, if you couldn’t tell by my photos already, I recently bleached my roots! And if you couldn’t tell by the bright white of the top of my head, maybe you can tell by my broken, frazzled ends that I’m trying desperately to hide behind my back?

For real, I’ve been blonde(ish…it actually started out as more of an orange that I rocked for a month or two) for over a year now, and my hair’s definitely beginning to show it. Once upon a time, I had long, strong, healthy, and stereotypically black Asian hair, that practically needed to be washed twice a day to keep it from getting overly greasy.

Now, I have to be careful not to wash it much more than twice a week to keep it from getting overly dry.

Still, I don’t know if I’d trade my blonde hairs for the healthy brunette hairs of yesteryear. I rather like being blonde – I get a lot of attention for it, I’m sure largely in part to the whole “blonde” and “Asian” bit not typically going together.

One day I will have to dye my hair back to a normal color, chop off the broken ends, and return to life as a brunette, but as Aragorn from Return of the King said at the Black Gate, “it is not that day!”

I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

Top and skirt: Hollister

SaveSave

August 4, 2017 – I Don’t Even Like Donuts (OOTD #82)

Published on by lensembledujour6 Comments

No, really – I don't.

I've tried over and over again to like them. Every time I see a donut, I think to myself: look at that adorable little thing – it's like a cake bagel with icing. How can that go wrong? And every time I try one, I get three bites into it and then think: oh, that's right. Donuts are heavy and greasy and I don't like them. 

The only donut I've ever really enjoyed come from McMillans Bakery in Westmont, New Jersey. They've got these amazing cream-filled ones that are delicious and gooey and don't really even taste like conventional donuts  - and maybe that's why I like them. They don't even have holes in the center like donuts are supposed to, but I don't really care because they're just so good.

So why am I rambling about donuts? Well, Jane's friend, Kristen, invited the two of us to go with her to a donut shop in downtown Louisville that she had discovered during a music festival, and even though I don't like donuts, I'm always down to going out to eat in new places in unfamiliar cities. She picked us up around noon and drove us (blasting Selena Gomez all the while) to this little place called Nords Bakery, and wow, am I glad I agreed to go.

I did eat a donut while I was there – original, with a strawberry glaze – but that wasn't what I enjoyed best. It was the décor of the place – bright pinks and yellows covering the exterior, sprinkles on the door, and a big window in front of our table with beautiful afternoon lighting streaming in – that really impressed me.

Needless to say, I had a field day taking photos of my friends and myself sitting around the table.

I like Jane and Kristen. They're not weird about having photos taken of them, and better yet, they were happy to take photos of me and my outfit. It makes me wish I still lived near them or was going to the same college in the fall so we could take cute photos together all the time.

Speaking of which, here's to hoping I can find someone who's willing to take my pictures for my fashion blog once I get to Notre Dame! Fingers crossed that my roommates don't think I'm weird and super-narcisstic…?

I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

Dress: Vintage

Scarf: The Metropolitan Museum of Art's gift shop

Shirt: The LOFT

 

August 3, 2017 – Schoolhouse Rock (OOTD #81)

Published on by lensembledujour11 Comments

Guess what? There’s only one outfit in this blog post!

That doesn’t, however, mean that there are going to be any less photos for this one. Why?

Well, after a nice, long day hanging out with Jane involving walking around not one, but two separate malls and having Starbucks iced coffees at both of them like the basic (practically) white girl that I am, we decided to drop by my old elementary school, Liberty.

Some history about Liberty Elementary – it was constructed back in 1923 as a little one room schoolhouse, and was, if I’m not mistaken, the oldest school in the Oldham County school district until its 2015 closing. In fact, Jane’s grandmother even attended there, and of course, I did as well, from 2005-2010.

It was a nice little school, and I have a lot of fond memories from there, including winning a dance-off against a girl I didn’t like in first grade, accidentally breaking the finger of a boy I had a crush on while playing four square, and pretending to be a cat for like, a solid week in kindergarten.

So it was very nice when Jane agreed to hang out at the now abandoned Liberty Elementary that evening, even though she doesn’t really have the nostalgia for it that I do. It’s getting a little creepy and run down-looking, and the fact that it was getting dark by the time we got there didn’t help.

But you can’t really be afraid of the school that you went to as a kid, can you? Sure, the random hallways that still lit (emergency lights I guess?) and the giant X over the door of the playground entrance were kinda spooky, but I knew this place, and so the spookiness didn’t hit me that hard.

You could say that we weren’t exactly supposed to be there…especially given the signs that said “No trespassing” (in both English and Spanish, as Jane pointed out to me), but we caused no harm, and we didn’t even go in. There was no way to, actually, even if we’d really wanted to – the doors and windows were all locked.

How do I know that? I might’ve checked a few…or something. Not because I wanted to see inside, of course – just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any rain getting in, right?

Eventually, Jane got tired of me walking in circles and snapping photos of every other door and peering in every third window, so she went off to sit in the car. And since she was kind enough to entertain me for even that long, walking around some creepy old building that she probably didn’t care about, I soon followed.

I would definitely go back though! Maybe in daylight, for some clearer photos…and maybe with a crowbar…

I’m kidding, of course.

I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

 

August 2, 2017 – The Blog Post of 1000 Outfits (OOTD #80)

Published on by lensembledujour7 Comments

I’m going to apologize for two things here: 1) not posting a blog for a few days, and 2) returning to posting blogs with an obscenely picture-heavy post with about four separate outfits in it.

The four separate outfit thing is less directly my fault though – my dad and I went canoeing for the first part of the day, so I had the outfit I wore for that, then the bathing suit I wore underneath for when we stopped and swam in the river, then the outfit I changed into afterwards since my first outfit was wet and dirty, then the dress I changed into when my friend, Jane, and I went out to dinner.

So you see, the costume changes were all necessary to the day and totally not all due to me simply being an excessive person who likes excuses to change her outfit. What, you think I’d start a fashion blog and actually enjoy putting together outfits?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXseat9FBee/

Pshaw.

Anyway, my dad and I started out day at about 5:00 AM with a two-hour drive out to Milltown, IN in order to catch an 8:45 bus down to the Blue River for canoeing. This – canoeing on the Blue River –  is a tradition we’ve had since I was a kid, maybe third grade or so. It used to be that we’d go along with some of my friends and their dads, in sort-of a daddy-daughter thing, but over the years, people moved away, and the tradition sort of died off.

In truth, we hadn’t even done it for years ourselves. But, with me going off to college in a few weeks, we thought it would be a nice time to bring it back.

And I’m glad we did. Canoeing is a low-key kind of fun; there’s not a ton of screaming and laughing, and conversation’s quite difficult since you’re sitting one in front of another, but it’s a nice way to simply enjoy each other’s company. The part of the Blue River that we canoed (didn’t know that was a word) down was really pretty, and there were a couple of banks where we stopped to walk around the woods and wade in the river as a break from sitting.

Also, the sunglasses are back! Thank goodness. I wasn’t about to wear eye makeup while canoeing and swimming, and I also wasn’t about to be doing pictures without either eye makeup or my sunglasses.

About three and a half hours later, around 12 noon, we reached the end of our trip. From there, I took on my second costume change of the day (the first being changing from my canoeing clothes into my bathing suit while still on the river), changing one dirty, wet top for a clean, dry one.

We then stopped in Louisville in the Bardstown Rd. area (very cute and hipster, by the way – almost like a little Shoreditch) for lunch, and, though I didn’t intend to take any more pictures, I couldn’t resist when I saw this big beautiful wall with a colorful mural on it. Then, I ate a popsicle, and I thought that would make for a good shot too…you see now why this is such a picture-heavy post?

Up next, I met up with my friend, Jane, who lives in Louisville. Jane and I became friends in 6th grade, and a year later, I moved away to Lexington. Regardless, we’ve stayed friends through texting and social media (and before texting and social media were huge, emailing and IMing), and we visit each other a few times a year.

That leads to my next costume change of the day – a beautiful pale pink maxi dress Jane bought in France and gave to me since it didn’t fit her anymore. We were going out to dinner that night, and I thought, you know, why not change out of my slightly ratty canoeing/Bardstown Rd clothes and into this new dress?

Thankfully, that fourth time was also the last time I needed to change clothes for the day…unless you count the pajamas I changed into at Jane’s house. I guess that would’ve made for five? Oops.

I’ll see you in the next one! 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 1: Forever21

Shorts: Forever21

Coat: North Face

Shirt 2: Hollister

Dress: Unknown (gifted)

August 1, 2017 – Socks Make Everything More Fun (OOTD #79)

Published on by lensembledujour6 Comments

I love the thigh-high sock trend.

It's been around since 2013, probably, and I've been into it since then. I remember sitting in my freshman Biology class, scrolling through Pinterest (what, you think I actually paid attention while Mrs. Smith played the same episodes of Bill Nye over and over?), and pinning dozens of outfit pictures to my fashion board of black thigh socks and how to wear them.

At the time, I didn't own any thigh-high socks, but I did have knee socks, which I would pull up over my knees and tape in place to create the look. I probably paired them with skater skirts and utility jacket – the height of 2013 fashion.

I hope I don't become one of those people who lives in the past and refuses to update her wardrobe 10 years down the line, but I'm still happy to wear the thigh socks trend even though it may be getting just the slightest bit dated. I feel like they make any outfit a little edgier, which is just what this plain floral shift dress needs.

In other news (I sure use that transition quite a lot, don't I?), my sunglasses have been missing for a few days now. You'll notice, I've worn my Fossil aviators and not my Ray Bans in the last few posts, and that's because I can't for the life of me find my dumb Ray Bans. I know they're in the house somewhere, but I've got no idea where.

I know they'll turn up, it's just a matter of when. Wish me luck hunting them down, yeah?

I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

Dress: Abercrombie

Socks: Hot Topic…maybe? Or perhaps Target? Lol I don't remember

Sunglasses: Not Ray Ban

 

July 30, 2017 – Yay Adoption (OOTD #78)

Published on by lensembledujour12 Comments

Odd title, I know, but I mean it – yay for adoption!

On Sunday, my parents and I went out for lunch in celebration of Gotcha Day – the day my parents "got" me from China.

I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but I was adopted from Hunan, China when I was a few months old. I mean, I guess you probably could've figured that – it is a white dude who's in my Father's Day photos - but I haven't discussed it formally. Not that I personally think there's much to discuss; it's not like I remember anything about China or my birth parents, and I've always considered myself much more American than Chinese, or even Chinese-American.

So in general, my adopted-ness plays very little role in my everyday life. The exception of course is Gotcha Day, my family's little celebration of, basically, the fact that we are a family. We usually go out to eat, and my parents get me a little gift; it's not unlike a mini birthday party. My grandmother sometimes joins us too. It's just a nice little way for us to bond, and of course, a nice little excuse for us to eat out.

This year, we ate out at Bella Notte, one of my favorite restaurants in all of Lexington. I adore Italian, and this is probably the best Italian I've ever had outside of Little Italy in New York. Everything tastes so fresh and flavorful, the décor is stylish and charming, and I don't even feel badly about eating the pasta with heavy cream sauce – it's that good. My dad and I always get the family-size Penne Gorgonzola to share, and we can nearly finish it off.

After lunch, we went out and did some shopping for my dorm room. There wasn't a lot we could get, since I haven't seen my room yet and don't really know how much space I've got, but I did pick out some nice sheets and a duvet cover. I'll have to do a Saturday Musings + Coffee post about it sometime and show it all off to you guys; I'm definitely excited about it all!

I know this is kind of a short post, but I think I'm going to end it here. Thanks again to my parents for being super cool and also making it so that I didn't spend the rest of my life in a Chinese orphanage!

I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

Top: Unknown (thrifted)

Pants: The LOFT

Scarf: American Eagle

July 29, 2017 – Anything For a Good Photo (OOTD #77)

Published on by lensembledujour12 Comments

You know, I only spent about 10 minutes at this farmer's market today.

My mother and I were on our way to Starbucks when we passed this dinky little farmer's market/nursery, and we had a few extra minutes so we decided to stop in.

It was cute, but there wasn't much going on – some plants, organic groceries, random homemade crafts. They had some natural Amish butter, which looked good, but it was like $12 for a pound, and I am much too poor for that.

The truth is, I didn't actually buy anything there, or really, even hang around for very long. But from the cute photos I got, you might think I spent hours marveling at the plants and sniffing the fresh tomatoes or whatever, but nope. Got my pictures and then went.

Writing for a fashion blog is weird that way – it's your goal to present the best version of your life so that people will marvel at you and think you're super cool, but your photos aren't necessarily a fair representation of a normal day. In the case of these farmer's market photos, I thought it'd be cute to look like I had a charming farmer's market outing, even though I really didn't and actually spent most of my day sitting in my dining room. Is that insincere?

I suppose not, because I'm disclosing it here. Besides, the farmer's market made for a really adorable background to my outfit photos, and my Instagram could use more of those.

In other news, I really love this scarf thing I'm wearing here. I say "scarf thing" – I have no clue what it would qualify as. It's thin like a scarf, but it wraps like a shawl and just generally gives me 2012 dystopian Hunger Games Catching Fire vibes . It makes any outfit instantly more edgy, like this Urban Outfitters dress that I bought 2 years ago before the shift dress was super trendy and had oversaturated the mall fashion boutiques. Still like it though, especially its pattern.

Looks like that’s it for today, so I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Scarf thing: Altar'd State

 

 

July 28, 2017 – Liebster Award (And Also OOTD #76)

Published on by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Fun fact: when I first typed “Liebster” here, it autocorrected to “lobster.”

I’d take a lobster award though, if it meant getting to eat some lobster. That stuff’s tasty.

3and3quarters.net_.png

So here it is, my first blogging award for L’ensemble du jour! I was nominated by the lovely Anya W, of Anya’s Journey, and the fabulous Joanna, of Jersey Fabulous. Being relatively new to the blogging sphere, I wasn’t really sure what a “Liebster” award could possibly mean, so I consulted the all-knowing Google and discovered that “liebster” has German origins and means something along the lines of “kindest” or “sweetheart.” Apparently, it’s a pretty common award, not unlike a chain email, that circulates among us bloggers often.In addition, I’ve also got an OOTD post for you, so we’re hitting two birds with one stone.

THE RULES OF THE LIEBSTER AWARD

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
  2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you
  3. Nominate at least 5 bloggers, but no more than 11 who deserve the award
  4. Tell those bloggers you nominated them
  5. Create 11 original questions for the nominees to answer.

MY 11 QUESTIONS FROM ANYA’S JOURNEY

  • Where are you from?

I was born in Hunan, China, but I was adopted by American parents when I was just 8 months old. I feel kind of badly; sometimes Chinese people will ask me about living in China, or try to speak to me in Mandarin – you know, as a way to connect – and I always have to tell them I really don’t remember anything about my life there.

  • What made you start your blog?

It came out of a desire to document all of my outfits. I used to keep a little photo album on my phone of all the different outfits I’d wear in a week to school, and one day, my dad suggested that I take the fashion photos I was already taking and share them online…and here we are.

  • How would you describe yourself in a few words?

Introspective, pretentious, happily self-depricating

  • What’s your favourite dessert? 

To be honest, I’m not much of a dessert person – I’d much rather just eat seconds of whatever meal I was having! But I do rather have a soft spot for good ice cream, particularly buttermilk flavor.

  • If you could choose anywhere in the world to live, where would it be?

New York City, no question.

  • What’s your current favourite TV show? 

You’re gonna laugh, but I’m kinda loving the new My Little Pony series. I grew up with the pandering, early 2000s versions, so it’s nice to see that they’ve updated the franchise to be more modern and mature.

  • What’s a goal you wish to achieve in the next few years?

Graduate from college with some good friends and good grades.

  • What’s your favourite makeup product?

Hm…probably my Skin79 Super+ Hot Pink BB Cream. I’ve been using this product for 5 years – since I was 13 – and I keep coming back to it. It can be built from light to medium coverage without ever looking cakey and can even be stippled in concentrated areas to make a concealer. I love this thing, so much so that I’ve pretty much stopped wearing foundation.

  • What are 3 things that have made you happy today?

I picked flowers and put them in a little mason jar, my skin looked nice, and I did some doodling at work.

  • What’s one of your biggest pet peeves?

When people play videos or games in public and don’t silence their phones or use earbuds

  • Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Night owl. I’m most productive at 2AM, when everyone is asleep and it’s nice and quiet.

MY NOMINEES

I nominate anyone reading this who would like to participate in this award! If you do choose to answer the questions I’ve posed, please link to me, lensembledujour.wordpress.com, so I can read your answers!

Here are a few blogs that I have been loving

Brownkittycat

Honey Lemon Chai

Goldhände

Peculiar Porter

Missmaichi

MY 11 QUESTIONS TO THE NOMINEES

  1. What do you like best about blogging?
  2. What’s your favorite article of clothing in your wardrobe?
  3. What’s your favorite song, and what memories do you associate with it?
  4. Where all have you traveled in the world? What’s been your favorite place to visit?
  5. What’s the last thing you ate? Was it any good?
  6. What’s the last concert you went to? Or, if you haven’t been to a concert, who would you most like to see?
  7. Coffee or tea?
  8. What’s your favorite school subject?
  9. What’s your favorite word?
  10. What’s your family’s heritage?
  11. Have you got any pets? If so, what are their names? If not, would you like any?

Looks like that’s it for today, so I’ll see you in the next one! 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!

Top: HotTopic

Pants: The LOFT

Headband: Altar’d State

Choker: Madewell

July 26, 2017 – Modeling For The Powell Spring/Summer 2017 Collection (OOTD #75)

Published on by lensembledujour4 Comments

Yes, after years of waiting for my big break, countless headshots, and strict diets, I’ve finally landed my first serious modeling gig for a professional designer.

That…that’s sarcasm if you can’t tell. Sorry, I probably could’ve kept that joke running for longer, but it was so ridiculous that I felt uncomfortable, lol. The real story is that I’ve got a friend, Terence, who just this summer has picked up sewing as a hobby. He texted me and asked if I would be willing to be the model for what he was making, so how could I refuse?

If I’m not mistaken, I think this skirt is the second complete piece Terence has made, and while I don’t really know anything about sewing or technique, I must say, it’s pretty impressive. Certainly better than anything I could’ve made! I can do buttons and maybe mend torn seams, but that’s about the extent of my ability.

It was actually originally going to be a dress, but he unfortunately, he ran out of time trying to complete it. See, he really wanted me to wear it out for a show we were going to see in Cincinnati, but by the time Wednesday rolled around, all he had done was the skirt and some of the parts of the top. The judges on Project Runway might not have been impressed with his time management skills, but regardless, he managed to “make it work” (*prays for someone to laugh at that Tim Gunn joke*) by simply sewing and pinning the skirt until it was wearable on its own.

As for the styling of the outfit, that was actually a lot to do with Terence too. I brought several tops and jackets over while he was still sewing so we could figure out what would work best, and he chose this black dragon scale top out of all of the other pieces. And to be honest? I think he made the perfect decision.

The skirt is flowy and feminine, with this exquisite if slightly flashy pattern, so it contrasts nicely with the harsh, utilitarian look of the top. I call it my dragon slayer shirt,  usually pairing it with similarly post-apocolytic-styled pieces , but it occurred to me as I was looking through my closet for something to complement the skirt that perhaps it could work as a juxtaposition piece as well. Terence evidently agreed, and we wound up with outfit consisting of a bright, tropical skirt, a dark, edgy top, and a belt with the sole purpose of hiding the pins holding the pleats together – perhaps one of the most interesting combinations I’ve ever worn.

And the whole outfit was a huge hit at our show! I got plenty of compliments on it (both the top and the skirt, sometimes together and sometimes individually), and with every comment, I was able to point to Terence and say “Actually, my friend here made it!” I think he was really pleased with the attention his work got – he’s not really the type of guy who likes the limelight, but he’s also hardly shy to some flattery.

Looks like that’s it for today, so I’ll see you in the next one! 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: Unknown (gifted)

Skirt: Terence Powell

July 25, 2017 – When You Forget Your Sunglasses (OOTD #74)

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

I've had a blog about forgetting a shirt, and now it looks like I've got one about forgetting my sunglasses.

You wouldn't think sunglasses would be as big of a deal as a shirt – I, as a female, cannot really go out without a shirt on, especially not to work. But for me, doing this fashion blog thing and taking photos of my outfit every day, sunglasses are a huge thing, sometimes being just as necessary as a a shirt.

Sunglasses obscure my eyes, which, for me, are my biggest problem when it comes to getting good smiling photographs. I'm Asian, so the plane of my face is rather flat, with my eyes being on the same level as my nose bridge and cheekbones, causing my eyelid creases to change shape depending on the day as they're not created by depth in my facial structure. This means that when I smile and my eyes scrunch up, my eyelids might also change shape, sometimes causing my eyes to look smaller or even lopsided.

That's where sunglasses come in to cover that all up and save the day. Plus, you can wear sunglasses to hide the fact that you have no eye makeup on, meaning they're great for a lazy soul like myself. Good sunglasses can even hide a few pimples on your forehead.

So anyway, I forgot my sunglasses, and I had done no makeup because I assumed my sunglasses would be covering up half of my face. I didn't really want to do my pictures without sunglasses, but I also didn't want to skip on doing pictures at all, since I still had a blog-worthy outfit (or as blog-worthy as a typical hardware store work outfit gets for me).

Luckily, in the car were my father's old sunglasses. I put them on and they were…less than flattering, but they did the job of covering my makeup-less face, and that's all I needed them to do.

In other news, I really need to have my hair redone. Look at those roots, haha! I'm trying to hold off because I want my color to look fresh for when I move off to college, but it's definitely getting a bit messy looking. I'd originally planned on doing it before I went off to London, but…welp, coming from a girl who wears sunglasses, not because she's concerned about damaging UV rays, but because it means she can wear less makeup, it wan't likely I was going to muster up the motivation, yeah?

Looks like that's it for today, so I’ll see you in the next one! 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: Target

Necklace: Forever21

Sweater: The LOFT