June 29, 2017 – Like An Onion (OOTD #55)

Good layering is the key to any good outfit.

For real, I put so much value on being able to create interesting layers in my clothing that I sometimes ignore the fact that it’s too freaking hot to be wearing a jacket and just do it anyway. 

With layers, you create intrigue because there’s a hint of mystery as to what’s beneath the jacket/scarf/sweater/whatever. It’s must like choosing to make your subject in a picture go off the page – you can’t see everything, so you’re naturally drawn in look closer at what is there. 

Granted, you can still have a good outfit without layers – it simply requires that the pieces themselves be intelligent enough designs that they are fascinating to look at. And often, that costs more money. And, since I don’t have a lot of that, I usually prefer to rely upon layers to carry my outfits rather than the design of the clothes.

(That does also mean that when I do see a piece of clothing that has an interesting design – one that “speaks” to me, you could say – I’m eager to snatch it up, especially if it’s a good price).

Today’s outfit is probably my go-to for the fall. Or the winter. Or even the summer or spring, because let’s be honest – I almost never pay attention to the weather when I’m making up my outfits. A jacket, a flowy top, skinny pants, a necklace or scarf, and my favorite pair of boots – you can bet that on pretty much any day I’m too lazy to come up with a more unique outfit and/or shave, I’ll be wearing some variation of this.

Everyone needs their safety outfit, and this is mine. It’s particularly good for days when I want to wear leggings because it relies upon the contrast between the oversized clothes on the upper half of my body and the form-fitting clothes on my lower half.

Do you have a go-to outfit? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you wear when you feel like you have nothing to wear!

Jacket: Forever21

Pants: Abercrombie

Shirt: Altar’d State

June 22, 2017 – It’s Raining, It’s Pouring (OOTD #50)

Well, it is.


Mother Nature sent us Kentuckians a respite from the miserable heat today in the form of some rain. Thank goodness – we needed it. 


Of course, rain also means cloudy, dreary skies, but I don’t mind. When it’s dark and brooding outside, I like to make my outfit match the mood – so in other words, I like to dress like I listen to My Chemical Romance and run an aesthetic Tumblr blog.


And actually, the former of those is true.


This t-shirt, in particular, I feel is rather integral to the whole look. When I first got it, my mother actually hated it – she thought it was baggy and sloppy looking. But that’s what I love about it; it’s my “starving artist” shirt that somehow manages to look chic and disheveled. There are no embellishments on it – no holes, no fringe, no acid stains – nothing that you would think would convey any aesthetic at all except for plain, and yet, it’s one of the most aesthetic pieces in my wardrobe.


Actually, it reminds me of Fabio from season 10 of Project Runway. Anyone remember him? He seemed like a pretty chill guy – definitely had the starving artist look.

The pants, on the other hand (I feel like there’s a pun I ought to be making here…), are full of embllishments. I searched for forever for these things on Poshmark. I was actually looking for a replacement for some motorcycle leggings that I’d gotten from Macy’s years ago with leather kneepad-looking details, but this was the closest I could find. I got them in a small, thinking it would be okay, but of course, when you’re barely 5 ft tall, things don’t always fit as you think they should. So, instead of motorcycle leggings, I wound up with more like motorcycle slacks, which is okay in my book.

And then what quasi-edgy look would be complete without a choker from Hot Topic? 

There wasn’t much color going on in my outfit today, but sometimes, it’s more fun that way. It allows for the designs of the pieces themselves to shine without the distraction of color. Speaking of color, I made this little layout today – some flowers, a coffee mug, and a silly little self portrait I drew while I was bored at work.

Who is the First American Home Buyers Protection Corperation ? I don’t know. But I should thank them for giving me something to doodle on.

Shirt: Abercrombie

Pants: Nasty Gal

June 16, 2017 – When You Forget a Shirt (OOTD #45)

Exercise is a great thing. 

Went for a lovely 2 mile run this morning, and I must say, while it kind of hurts and feels gross while I’m actually running, I feel so great when I’m done. That’s kind of funny, I guess – that my favorite part about exercise is it being over, but the feeling is addictive enough that I keep doing it. Hooray for my laziness that actually kind of motivates me to work out?

 

But here’s the not-so-great thing about exercise: it means you get hot and sweaty, and you have to change after you’re done. Normally, that’s no problem – I run near home, in the neighborhood park, so when I’m done, I just walk up to my room and put something else on. Today, I had the brilliant idea to go running while away from the house and just pack some clothes to change into in a gym bag. Sounds okay, right?

 

Not if you’re an idiot like me and forget to pack a shirt.

 

I remembered a jacket, a pair of pants, a pair of shoes, socks – but no shirt. Of course, I didn’t realize that until after I had gone running and sweated through the t-shirt I wore, leaving that practically unwearable due to the scent it must’ve carried. And of course, I had to go to work in 30 minutes, and of course, I lived too far away to drive back home.

 

Thankfully, there was a grocery store just around the corner, and they recently made the (slightly unusual, but I’m not complaining!) choice to begin selling clothing, My wonderful mother slipped in and grabbed a cheap tank top for me to put over my blue sports bra, and I made it to work with 2 minutes to spare.

 Never a dull day in the life of a fashion blogger.

That’s it for today! 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

Jeans: Abercrombie

Jacket: American Eagle

Shirt: Kroger?

Shoes: Juicy Couture

June 1, 2017 – What to Wear When Your Crash Your Father’s Car (OOTD #34)

I don’t mean that title ironically, folks.

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Though I wish I did. Yeah…so I had an interesting phone call or two to make today. Long story short, I was involved in a car crash this morning while I was headed into Louisville for Lexington. It was a scary experience, but thankfully, I’m alright.

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The car’s definitely not though 😅. I can’t really go into any details here, of course, but let’s just say I’ve had better days. Though, in truth, as car crashes go, it was about one of the best car crashes to have. I got out of the car with nothing but a minor burn on my hand and some whiplash, which is, as I understand with car crashes, something to be very thankful for.

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So instead of heading into Louisville, as I had planned (and as I had dressed up for), I ended up spending about half of my day sitting in the Emergency Room, as the doctors wanted to make sure I was alright and hadn’t suffered anything more serious, talking with the insurance company, and the second half sitting in bed watching YouTube videos and doing some work on the computer. In particular, I watched Shrek 2, which is a much cleverer movie than I remembered.

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Anyway, outfit – sadly, this ensemble didn’t get much visibility today, unless you count EMTs, cops, firefighters, and a few kind people who stopped on the road to help.  Which is really too bad, because it’s a pretty cute outfit. This faux suede skirt from Abercrombie is probably one of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe, as it instantly makes any outfit more trendy and more classy. I paired it with this fun mesh top with a twisted pattern along the chest, mixing both sheer and opaque fabrics for a look that’s just a touch sexy (oh, and btw, that’s a nude bra underneath to keep things modest). To finish it all off, I matched some camel-colored suede booties to my skirt and felt like I was ready for a very stylish day.

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Whoops.

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But okay, who am I kidding? I can’t complain about my cute outfit being seen; I’m alive, and that concept’s actually quite exciting to me at the moment.

Welp, thanks for reading! Sorry if today’s post sounded a bit like a downer, I’ll try to be a bit more chipper in the next one. In fact, there’s a lot to be chipper about in terms of this blog – I’ve seen a huge increase in page views the last few week, and of course, it’s due to all of you wonderful readers. See you in the next one!

Shirt: Unknown. It’s got no tag, sadly

Skirt: Abercrombie

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

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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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

Shirt: H&M

Shorts: Abercrombie

Choker: Charlotte Russe

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

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May 19, 2017 – My Last Day of High School

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

…good riddance. 


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


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


Welcome to the real world, I guess?


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


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


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


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


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


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

Shirt: Notre Dame Store

Shorts: Abercrombie

May 12, 2017 – Digging Myself

I’ve gotta admit – I’m a huge fan of today’s outfit.
And it’s a pretty simple one – just a blue military jacket over an orange sweater – but somehow, it just turned out really nice. Maybe it was the way I styled my hair (there were definitely some Daenerys vibes going on there), or maybe it was the contrast of the blue and orange, but whatever it was, I was feeling it today.


It happens that way sometimes. Some of the nicest outfits can be the simplest, and some of the most complex outfits can fall flat on their face and look gaudy. On the flip side, sometimes simple outfits are boring and the complex outfits are the real eye-catchers. It can be hard to tell.


Today, I got to go check out one of my art pieces that was featured in a show. I was in AP Studio Art this year, and while it was definitely stressful and miserable at times, it was also one of the most rewarding classes I got to take. I had to push myself pretty hard to meet the deadlines, and I always wished l had more time to perfect my pieces, but sometimes, that’s what you need as an artist to improve.


Here’s the piece I submitted, as well as me posing next to it. I know I’m not good enough to ever do it professionally, but I certainly am thankful to have this talent that I can use to express myself though. It’s a nice hobby.


Since the show I was at was downtown, I got a few pics around the neighborhood. Most of the pictures I take for this blog come from around my home, so any chance I get to take pictures in a different location, I take.

That’s it for today. See you in the next one!
Dress: Forever21

Jacket: Abercrombie

Bonus mirror selfie:

May 8, 2017 – Don’t Wear Green Hiking

Hey again!


Though I almost always look at the end of the weekend with sadness, I’ve begun to look at start of the week more positively. Why?


This blog, actually. I’m not really a preachy, advice-giving sort of a person, so I’m not going to go on too long here, but since I’ve started writing this blog, I find I actually look forward to getting to pick out my outfits for the week and photograph them for you to see. I’ve gotten such lovely feedback from people, in particular on Instagram, and I’d just like to say thanks. It makes getting through school and work a much more pleasant experience.


So blogging makes Mondays less painful, but let’s be honest – Mondays still kinda suck. This Monday in particular though, was actually kinda sweet.


Today was “Senior Shadow Day” – AKA Senior Skip Day. Unfortunately, as the Vice President of my class, I got left behind st school this morning so I could meet with the other class officers for a mandatory meeting about graduation speeches. No, it wasn’t fun, and I was a little bitter I didn’t get to miss the whole day, but it’s kinda hard to complain when you still get to leave at 11:30.


So once my graduation speech work was done, I headed out with three of my good friends for lunch and then hiking at some trails near a local university.


And what does one wear hiking? Not green, I can tell you that! Unfortunately, I didn’t really think things through when I picked out my outfit for today, as I failed to realize that wearing a green vest with a grey shirt would make me rather blend in to the trees and rocks around me. Regardless, even if my photos weren’t the greatest I’ve ever taken, I was very comfortable!


Here’s some pictures from our adventures today:


I love hiking, but this trail definitely wore me out at the end. It wasn’t long, but it was super steep, making it so I was panting and out of breath by the time we got to the car. Still beat going to school though!
Vest: Anthropolgie

Shirt: Abercrombie

Leggings: Forever21

Necklace: Hot Topic
Bonus mirror selfie: 

May 5, 2017 – Derby Fashion

Happy Derby weekend!


Here in Kentucky, the Derby’s a pretty big deal. There are two weeks worth of festivals and celebrations in preparation of it, schools are closed the day before, and you had better not plan on going out the day of unless you’re willing to spend a long time sitting in traffic. I have a lot of fond memories as a kid of the Kentucky Derby Festival – the Thunder over Lousville fireworks show, the bed races, the balloon glow…there were some fun times.


I’ve moved from Louisville since then, and while I’m no longer in the same area as Churchill Downs, you can still feel the excitement of the Derby here in Lexington.


So what am I doing here today as a Kentuckian celebrating the Kentucky Derby? Going to a party? Betting at Keeneland? Attending the Derby itself?


Why none of those, of course. I’m sitting at home studying for my AP Calculus and AP French exams on Tuesday.


But that doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate the Derby here at home with my choices in clothing! I wanted something distinctively equine-looking for today, something totally different from the ripped jeans with fishnets I did yesterday. With my navy Chaps blazer, blue striped button down, red silk scarf, and white skinny jeans, I definitely felt like I could’ve walked out of a Polo ad.


Even though I’m mostly too poor to afford anything by Polo.


As for horses, I’m betting on Hence. Not because I’ve actually read the statistics and know what I’m talking about – I just like the name. Not all of us Kentuckians can be horse experts 😅
Jacket: Chaps

Shirt and jeans: Abercrombie

Bonus mirror selfie:

April 24, 2017

I’m afraid to say, my friends, that I have been struck with plague.

The priest is coming at sundown to administer the last rites. I only hope he arrives before it’s too late…

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Of course, I’m exaggerating. But this cold I woke up with this morning certainly feels killer – stuffy nose, sore throat, pounding headache – the works

So what’s a teenager to do when she wakes up with a minor cold? Why, stay home from school of course.

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Now, I don’t consider myself an overly lazy person – I always do my work on time, even if it sometimes only gets done at the last minute due to procrastination. Still, today felt like a pretty good day to take off, since I’m still reeling from the stress and exhaustion of prom (which was lovely, by the way. A wonderful way to wrap up senior year).

I say I’m not an overly lazy person – and that applies to even my lazy, sick day outfits. Even though I just sat around the house and no one but my dad saw me today, I still wanted to put a stylish spin on comfort clothes. I wore sweatpants, but I made sure they were well-fitting sweatpants. I wore a cheap camisole, but I layered it over a bright bralette to keep things interesting. I wore an oversized cardigan, but I made sure it was the only baggy thing I wore I could have the contrast  of tight and loose.

I couldn’t resist just wearing my ratty old fuzzy slippers though. Not everything has to be stylish.

Here’s to hoping I feel better soon.


 

Sweater: Forever21

Sweatpants: Abercrombie

Bralette: Aerie

Bonus mirror selfie: