Tag: 2018

October 23, 2018 – Tree Hugger (OOTD #396)

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I’m really liking this particular tree.

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make like a tree and go dormant

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It’s fall, and I gotta take advantage of all of the fall colors for my Instagram. Thankfully, Notre Dame is good for getting fall colors. I guess it’s that Midwestern air that makes things colder than it should be earlier than it should be.

Hence, all of the posts featuring trees lately.

It’s not like there’s a lot else to take pictures with, and these trees wouldn’t make a worthwhile background if not for their colors. No offense to trees.

I always wonder how those fashion bloggers who get beautiful, interestingly-composed shots every day do it. I mean, I’m sure living in a beautiful city like New York or Paris, where there’s a lot of interesting architecture to work with, helps. But it’s not like you can just go out every day to a new location to get your pictures. I don’t know, maybe when you have a million followers and being an Instagrammer is your whole life, you can afford to do that.

I guess all I need is an artistic photographer friend and a city with an unlimited supply of visually interesting backgrounds. And maybe a million followers on Instagram.

I’m on my way, though. I’m nearly to 10,000. Just got to multiply that number by 100. Seeing as it’s taken me nearly two years to make it to 10,000, I should have my million followers in 200 years!

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!

Jacket: Zara

Top: Anthropologie

Jeans: Hollister

October 15, 2018 – The Continuing Adventures of Fall Break (OOTD #393)

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Fun fact: these photos happen to have been taken at the same Mexican restaurant as the photos from this post. 

Fun fact #2: these photos were also taken right after I got a haircut, which is the same as what happened after that same post.

Haircuts for me take a ridiculously long time. For one, I’m not just getting my hair cut — I’m also getting it bleached and colored. Even when I’m just having my roots done, it can take a long time to apply, then a long time to sit as I wait for it to have an effect, and then another long time to wash out. And then, an even longer time as I wait for the whole process to start over for a second time, since my hair is so dark that it requires two rounds of bleach in order to lighten it to blonde.

Haircuts are basically a whole-day affair. It’s worth it, and it’s so much better having it done than trying to do it on my own, but I can basically count on doing nothing else all day but sitting in the stylist’s chair and watching afternoon television.

So after my exhausting day of sitting in the stylist’s chair and watching afternoon television, it makes sense that I should reward myself for a job well done — hence the Mexican restaurant afterwards. I have to rejuvenate myself with nachos after working so hard all day.

Everyone criticizes my generation of being lazy, but I disagree — it’s hard work being a full-time student for three months straight. You never get to escape school. You live there, so it dominates every moment of your time on campus. Getting to go home, away from school, and indulge in sitting in a hair salon for an entire day without anything to do — that’s what break is made for.

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 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: Forever12

Sweater: American Eagle

October 14, 2018 – The Marvelous Ms. Meilin (OOTD #392)

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I’ve been watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime, and let me say — it’s got a great visual style.

Actually, by “I’ve been watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” I mean, I’ve seen the first episode. I’m not very good at actually watching television shows. I usually tend to begin them and then never find the time to continue them, even if I enjoy the first episode. 

With The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel though, I think I may actually continue  watching. Not only was the plot interesting, but like I said, the 1950s aesthetic was really gorgeous. 

I’m a sucker for historical fashion (being a history major, and all), and I’m always happy to incorporate some vintage pieces into my wardrobe. Case in point: this outfit.

I don’t know what era this dress actually comes from, but I could imagine it as something from the 50s. I know it’s not — it’s Don von Furstenburg, who didn’t come to popularity until the mid-70s — but with my coat, I feel like it evokes a late-50s vibe anyway. 

IMG_7758.jpg

Speaking of vintage, this coat is also practically vintage, at least in terms of my ownership of it. It’s probably the piece in my wardrobe that’s been in my possession the longest. If I remember correctly, I’ve had it since third grade — and even then, I bought it used off of a friend’s older sister. Who knows how old it really is.

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just some colorFALL leaves

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It was too big for me for several years, and by the time I grew into it, I’d stopped growing altogether. Hence, I still keep it in my wardrobe for days like these when it just really ties together an outfit. It doesn’t happen often, but when I do need it, I’m grateful that I have it. 

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 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: Diane Von Furstenberg (vintage)

Coat: Rothschild (thrifted) 

October 10, 2018 – The Longest Day (OOTD #389)

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I don’t normally tend to discuss my daily life in these blogs because there’s not a lot to talk about, but I’m going to do so for this day because I remember just how long it was.

In fact, I even remember what day of the week this was — it was a Wednesday. How often can you look back on a photograph that was taken a month ago and immediately place where it fell in the week? Not often. That’s how memorable this particular day was.

If I remember correctly, I had about three assignments due on this particular Wednesday before fall break, and one exam. Come Tuesday at midnight (er, I guess technically Wednesday at midnight), none of these assignments were done.

What was due? A paper for my theology class, a first draft of my study abroad essays, and my final project for my botany class, not to mention the looming exam for Russian literature, the class which I was doing the most poorly in.

I’m no stranger to staying up late to do work, but I legitimately wondered how I was going to get all of these stuff done. None of these tasks would have been particularly difficult to get done on their own, but put altogether, and with the added challenge of a time crunch — it wasn’t a fun night.

So flash forward to about 8AM Wednesday morning. I’ve gotten about a 2 hour nap from around 2-4AM, and I’ve been working ever since. My theology paper is done, my study abroad essays are done enough, all that’s left of my botany project is to cut out some pictures and glue them into my notebook, and I haven’t even touched my Russian lit studying. But that’s too bad, because I have a meeting in an hour at 9AM with the dean of my college to get approval for study abroad, and I need to look presentable.

I make it through my meeting with my dean alive, though I have to resist the urge to let out a primal scream when he asks how my day’s been going. I have about an hour before French begins to finish pasting all of my pictures into my botany notebook, and from there I’m in class nonstop until 3:15.

My Russian literature exam goes okay — not great, but not tragically either. I manage to turn in my botany project on time, and I hand in my theology paper when I get to class. By some miracle, I don’t fall asleep in theology, even though all we have to do for class is to watch a documentary.

These photos were taken shortly after I got out of theology and the busy part of my day ended. Do I look tired? I definitely was. After I got out of class, I just kind of sat by myself at the top of the steps in the pottery studio (for context, my theology class takes place in the haunted art building) and took a moment to breathe. It was raining out, which I could see through the sky roof, and that was nice.

The point of all of this? Midterms suck. Even more than finals suck. With finals at least, class ends, clubs stop meeting, and you have several days where campus is just sort of dead while everyone cries to themselves and prepare for the GPA crash. With midterms, nothing stops, but you still have exams and projects all due at once. Take it from me and my dirty hair and tired eyes in these photos: it’s lousy.

Thankfully, though, midterms are finally over. Writing from my current standpoint, nearly a month after October 10 happened, I can’t believe I somehow managed to make it through. Only five more rounds of midterms to go before I graduate.

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 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: Lilly Pulitzer (thrifted)

Jacket: Thrifted

September 29, 2018 – Washing Machine Queen (OOTD #384)

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This may be the most discordant collection of locations I’ve ever included in a blog.

First up, we’ve got some photos from the laundry room. That’s right: I posed with a washing machine for my fashion blog.

I’ve seen some Instagrammers get some really cool shots in laundromats, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Turns out, the laundry room in my dorm has some really flattering lighting. Who’d have thought?

Fun fact: the washing machine I’m sitting on here was actually running while I was doing these photos, meaning it was vibrating underneath me as I sat on it. That was a little weird. I’ve never had my fashion photograph backgrounds vibrate before.

After the washing machine photos, I have a few with this blue gate by the architecture building. How did I wind up at a blue gate by the architecture building? I saw it as I happened to go by, and I thought it’d make for a good background. I don’t know. Sometimes you just gotta jump on the good backgrounds, even if you’ve already gotten pictures for the day.

What’s next? Well, it was game day, so it was on to the game. I was a little concerned that I hadn’t gotten any game-related photos in my game outfit, so I decided to get even more photos outside of the stadium. Did I need them? No. Did I get them anyway?

Well…yes.

The moral of the story is that there was no point to me getting so many photos today because I wasn’t able to use them all, and I now I have a lot of photos on my phone that  I don’t know what to do with. As much as I like getting varied backgrounds for my OOTD pics, sometimes, the varied backgrounds don’t connect. And that makes for a rather disjointed blog post.

But on the plus side, I found two cool locations — the laundry room and the blue gate by the architecture building — that could potentially make for good backgrounds for future blog posts. So I suppose it wasn’t a total waste.

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 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: Chaps (thrifted)

Top: Notre Dame bookstore

Pants: vinage (thrifted)

September 28, 2018 – Overdress (in a T-Shirt) [OOTD #383]

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I love this shirt.

It says “Overdress” in huge bold letters, but get this — it’s a t-shirt. T-shirts aren’t dressy. You can’t be overdressed in a t-shirt. In fact, you’re more likely to be underdressed.

But it’s the silly irony of a shirt that proclaims the importance of overdressing while simultaneously being an inherently casual piece that I so love. I don’t know if anyone else loves it. I don’t know if people who see me wearing it think that it’s funny that a t-shirt would say “Overdress” or if they just think it’s stupid. I like it though.

You know what else I like? (This transition, which I seem to use a lot on this blog?)

Fridays. Interestingly, this outfit from September 28 was also a Friday, the same day as the one that I’m publishing it on a month later on November 2. I don’t know if I like Fridays enough to screen print it it on a t-shirt (or write an 2011 annoying song about it), but maybe enough to name a restaurant after it with really good chicken wings.

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On Fridays, I only have one class, which is only 50 minutes long and which meets late enough in the morning, allowing me to sleep in. Today, I had an exam, which was a little unfortunate, but after that, the rest of the day is free for relaxing and being a boring potato of a human being. Maybe I’ll do some work. No Friday night is complete without it.

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 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: Lilly Pulitzer (thrifted)

Top: Forever21

Pants: 

September 24, 2018 – Beginnings, Ends, and Instagram Posts (OOTD #381)

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I can’t believe it’s 2018 and I’m just now learning how to link an Instagram post to a blog.

I guess I’m just a little basic for a blogger. I write some words, I add some pictures, I throw in some links. In that sense, I’m not very advanced. It’s not like this is my full-time job —  I can’t necessarily take the time to learn all the SEO and marketing strategies that would get me onto the coveted first page Google spot.

I’ve carved out my tiny corner of the Internet, my few bytes of space, and I guess there’s a small group of people who like to visit me here. Half of those views are probably my mom. The other half might be me viewing from mobile. In other words, I have a very loyal fanbase.

I don’t know if I’ll ever find fame or fortune on the Internet, but I suppose that’s what college is for. So I can not find fame or fortune in the real world, all while spending $70k a year for it.

It’s funny for me to think, but when I began this blog, I never imagined continuing it into college. I didn’t really imagine anything for it — I’d just heard suggestions for years that I should start a fashion blog, and eventually, I decided to go for it. Somehow, though, when I began this thing spring semester of my senior year of high school, I figured I’d get bored of it and give on it before my freshman year even began. Now, it seems all of my blog posts revolve around college life and my exciting adventures at Notre Dame (read: exploring weird buildings at night and complaining about the weather).

How much longer will it go? I don’t know. I remember back in middle school, there was this makeup blog I used to follow super closely, Nouveau Cheap. The blogger, Giana, had a pretty decent following. I’m not certain how big her blog was,  but I know she would always have a ton of comments on her posts. One day, Giana just stopped posting, with very little indication why. She still hasn’t broken the silence — she just left.

I know everything comes to an end eventually, and I’ll quite possibly move on from this blog one day, but it’s hard to conceptualize. It’s a far cry from when I began here, when I could conceptualize the end, but not the continuation.

Anyway, I don’t know how I got to talking about this from Instagram posts. Hope everyone out there’s having a good day, and happy almost Halloween!

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 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

Top: The LOFT (thrifted)

Pants: Thrifted

September 15, 2018 – Football in a Baseball Jersey (OOTD #376)

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Not only have I got on a baseball jersey, but also a baseball hat — clearly, I don’t know my sports.

At least I got the team right. I love the Votre Père Complacent Scottish. Can’t for the life of me figure out why their logo is an interlocking ND, though….

This baseball top is once again an example of me getting something for cheaper by shopping in the children’s section of a store. It’s a little embarrassing, but I save money, so…I consider myself a winner here.

Notre Dame game day fashion is always fun for me. I like themed outfits, if you haven’t been able to tell, and so I like the challenge of trying to come up with new, creative ways to wear Notre Dame colors and logos. A lot of people just wear a generic t-shirt and jeans, but a lot of people also put in some legitimate effort to come up with some cool outfits.

It’s very different from Southern football games I’ve been to, where everyone dresses up, but in the same way they’d dress up for a day at the races or for Easter brunch. People here dress up too, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a casual dressed-up. The kind of dressed-up where you’re still in casual attire, but creative and fun casual attire.

Like I said, I love the challenge of it. How do I make myself stand out from a crowd of people all wearing the same blue, gold, and green colors?

Honestly, Notre Dame should just hurry up and hire me as their brand ambassador. I’m already clearly competent at distinguishing different sports uniforms. I’ll just show up to basketball games dressed for hockey and golf tournaments dressed for football, and I’m sure someone — Father Jenkins, the Leprechaun, maybe Touchdown Jesus himself — will notice.

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 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!

Baseball tee: Notre Dame bookstore

Top: H&M

September 14, 2018 – May I Take Your Order? (OOTD #375)

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Sometimes, an outfit just clicks.

And this is one of those outfits — even if I do look a little like a Hogwarts student or a waitress.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned my interest in ties before on this blog, but if I haven’t, take it from me now: I love ties. I’m 100% here for making ties for women a thing, and not just women at British boarding schools or women who work at Applebee’s.

This outfit combines a lot of my favorite outfit tropes — a short skirt, an oversized jacket, visible socks, and of course, a tie. I don’t normally like to brag on myself, but I think I really hit it out of the park with this one.

I’d been planning this outfit for a month by the time I actually got around to wearing it. I put it together before school even started, and I knew I wanted to wait for a special occasion to wear it.

 

Well, there aren’t very many special occasions when you’re a boring college student, so instead, I decided to wait for an occasion when I knew that I could at least get good pictures. And who takes the best pictures by my old man himself?

 

 

That’s right, my parents decided to pay a visit in mid-September for the Vanderbilt game, and what did I do when I first saw them but insist that they give me a ride, feed me dinner, and take pictures for my blog?

But really, look at these photos — my dad’s the best photographer. I’d have him come visit me every weekend if it meant getting him to take pictures for me. And that he and my mom would take me to dinner. And drive me around places.

Basically, being an independent adult is overrated, and I’ve got my heart set on moving into my parents’ basement and being a leach after I graduate. I’ll be a leach with good photos, at least.

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 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

Top: Banana Republic

Skirt: Zara

September 13, 2018 – The Secret Garden (OOTD #374)

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It still counts as secret if most people knew it existed, but I didn’t know about it for a whole year, right?

This little spot (which I’ve actually included in a blog before!) is the courtyard garden in the Hayes-Healey building. It’s really cute — and it’s only accessible from within the building, which adds to the mysterious quality. Seriously, like I said, I didn’t even know it existed for 99% of my freshman year. I’d heard whispers of a garden in the mathematics building, but since I had no math classes (shout-out to my AP Calculus teachers in high school, who allowed me to get a 5 and not take any math in college), I never had a reason to go and look.

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the ivy leagues are overrated

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Finally, at the end of my freshman year, some friends and I were trying to get some cute group pictures before summer break, and someone suggested the Hayes-Healey garden. It was actually all locked up when we tried to go, but we ended up getting some pictures with the giant globe in the building — another feature I never knew Notre Dame had.

I like how Notre Dame — a school that is notably not a part of the Ivy Leagues — has a hidden ivy garden. As the guy from the Incredibles would say, “Coincidence? I think not!”

It’s actually probably a total coincidence. The Ivy Leagues are overrated anyway — it’s not like Columbia was my dream or anything…

I’m at a total loss for how to end this blog today, so I Googled a joke for you — “How many Harvard students does it take to change a lightbulb?”

“One. He holds the lightbulb still, and the whole world revolves around him.”

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 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!

Top: Free People

Jacket: Forever21

Skirt: J. Crew (thrifted)