Tag: aerie

August 31, 2017 – It’s Casual (OOTD #100)

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I can’t believe I’ve never used that as a blog title before.

For real – blog titles are hard, and I’m not very good about being creative with them. Thus, my titles are usually some sort of dumb reference to pop culture that’ll probably be irrelevant within a few months, but mean that I don’t have to come up with anything intelligent on my own.

I spend most of my waking existence as a college student trying to fake being intelligent in class, so I figure this blog is a place where I can be myself, yeah? And  “myself” really just means being lazy and un-creative most of the time, lol.

Case in point – Thursday’s outfit. It was pretty much as simple as it gets – a white t-shirt and jeans. Granted, I like to think there was a little creativity in there, as layering the green barrette underneath and matching the suede choker to the suede shoes took some thought, but I’d be lying if I said I thought it was a masterpiece.

It’s not, and that’s okay! Not every outfit is a winner, and I’m happy so long as none of them are absolute losers. I’ve even already had some girls from my dorm start telling me that I “look nice everyday,” which is usually my goal when I move to a new place and have to establish myself as a fashion-conscious person. Gaining a reputation for being stylish is all about wearing consistently thoughtful outfits, while every once in a while throwing in a truly artistic one to remind people that you take fashion seriously, and every once in a while, having a dud because nobody’s perfect.

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life here at Notre Dame. 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: Target

Bralette: Aerie

Choker: Madewell

Jeans: J. Crew (thrifted)

 

August 18, 2017- First Day at ND (OOTD #88)

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Today I did what was, just a few days ago, practically unthinkable to me – moved into my college dorm room.

This was probably the bit I was most excited for in the whole beginning college ordeal. I’ve (or should I say, my parents) been buying things in preparation for this day for weeks. Granted, I’ve got some friends who have been preparing for months, and good for them, but I’m more of a “fly by the seat of your pants”  and “live in a state of denial whenever a big change is approaching” type of girl, so my excitement didn’t have that much time to fester.

But it did anyway, and every time I looked at my handprinted Indian bedding it festered (there’s your Scrabble word of the day) a little more. That’s really what got me through the ugly packing process followed by the 6 hour car drive up to South Bend on Thursday.

I’m not sure how I feel about this whole living situation at Notre Dame – I’m in a two-room quad, meaning there’s a little tiny back bedroom, where our four beds and four wardrobes sit, and then a much larger social space, with our desks and not much else. I actually don’t mind the space part, since I’ve managed to fit pretty much all the clothes I’d been wanting to bring (it’s still only about half of my full wardrobe), I’m just a little apprehensive about living with 3 other girls.

People exhaust me, and I need time by myself every day in order to restore my energy. How is that going to happen in this quad? I’m sure there will be plenty of secluded places for going off and studying in peace, but I really need a quiet, safe place where I can rest. I’m sure it’ll all turn out okay, the question is just when.

Another key issue: who’s going to take my OOTD photos now that I’m here? Fingers crossed that one of my roommates will be chill with it. Otherwise….maybe it’s time to invest in a tripod? Or make friends with an actual photographer? 😂

We’ll see. Hopefully it’s not long before I can connect with the artsy kids and we can mull over our own pretentious, artistic endeavors together.

On another note, it was perhaps a bad decision to wear a long white coat on an 80 degree day when you and your parents are hauling boxes across campus and up three flights of stairs, but I can’t help it – I just really want to look nice while I’m here. It’s not even so much the fact that it’s my first day on campus and I want to impress people; on the contrary, I feel like the first week of school is a terrible time to bust out your nicest outfits, since everyone’s distracted by the first day of school stuff. Plus, they’re probably a little nicer dressed than usual too. so it’s more difficult to stand out.

#PrayforMei – Lord knows I need it.

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!

Jacket: Vintage

Skirt: H&M

Bralette: Aerie

July 12, 2017 – Cambridge, CANbridge, CAN’Tbridge (OOTD #66)

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That was a dumb title, I know.

But hey, those are just a staple at this point at L’ensemble du jour. What is a blog post without a stupid, kind-of-but-mostly-not clever title?

By day 7, Amanda and I were growing tired of London. Its newness had worn off, and we were running out of neighborhoods and boroughs we wanted to see. Sue offered to take us out to see Windsor, but the admission prices were sort-of steep, and we are poor college kids who are only here in London by some rather lucky circumstances. Thus, we decided to take our Oyster cards and take a little day trip out to Cambridge.

You’ll notice I said “take our Oyster cards out to Cambridge,” and if you’re a London local, you’ll know that doesn’t work – Oyster cards only work on zones 1-9 throughout the Greater London area. But we are not London locals, and we did not know that wouldn’t work, so we wound up an hour and a half later at a platform in Cambridge with no way to swipe out to get into the actual town.


We had two options at that point – take the train out to the closest station where our Oyster card would allow us to swipe out, so we could buy tickets (which happened to be Broxbourne, the station we began at – and the station that I just mentioned was an hour and a half away) or find a railway worker, admit our mistake, and pay the penalty fee.

We opted for the former.

We hopped back on the Liverpool St train and prepared ourselves for a very long, very sad journey all the way back to Broxbourne. Thankfully, as luck, or perhaps God, would have it, we didn’t have to go all the way back to Broxbourne – the first stop the Liverpool train made was this little town called Shelford, which had a ticket dispenser machine right there on the platform.

In the end, it was probably only a 30 minute detour, but it felt much, much longer. It some ways, it was a happy mistake though – by using our Oyster cards to swipe out at Broxbourne, riding the train to Shelford, and then buying tickets for a ride from Shelford to Cambridge, we only had to pay about three pounds for the whole journey rather than the twenty-something it would have cost to ride from Broxbourne to Cambridge.

Finally in Cambridge, we were in desperate need of some refreshment, so we stopped in a Caffè Nero, the English equivalent of Starbucks. We got some well-deserved coffee, charged our phones, and rested up a bit before embarking on the 30 minute trek all the way out to central Cambridge.

Cambridge was a really beautiful town. It wasn’t exactly a small countryside village, but it almost felt like it; it was so different from the bustle of London. People were riding their bikes everywhere, the roads were uneven cobblestone, and I kept getting weird glances from the much more conservatively dressed locals because I was wearing a crop top.

We had wanted to go punting tour on the river in Cambridge, but unfortunately, we missed out on the final tour of the day due to some big group that was coming in later in the day. It was a bit disappointing, not being able to take this one actual guided tour we’d scheduled, but we still got to see the town and the school, so it was okay. We walked around some more, stopped in a pub where I got bangers and mash (very, very good by the way – but very, very heavy), and then got a rather overpriced Uber back to the station.

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!

Top: Aerie

Skirt: Street vendor in New York

Choker: Madewell

July 8, 2017 – Unconventional Pride Outfit (OOTD #62)

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London: Day 4


We told ourselves we were going to give ourselves a “relaxed” day today – it wasn’t. Now, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t still fun – but relaxing? You could probably cross that off the list of descriptive words.


We began by heading over to Waltham Abbey, a small, historic town just about 15 minutes away from Broxbourne. Amanda and I agreed, it was one neat little area. The oldest towns in America are only a couple hundred years old because, of course, our country is also only a couple hundred years old, but this, this just made Jamestown and Plymouth look like children. The church has been around since 1030 (or so the Wikipedia article says), and every building in town oozes with antiquity.


After walking around a bit there, we were dropped off at the station to catch a train into London….only to find out after Sue drove away that the Waltham Abbey station was closed. It was whatever, we were able to walk over to another one that was open, but it was 20 minutes of stress in my life I didn’t need.


We had originally wanted to go back to Oxford Street today, but, as we found out, the Pride Festival was going on in that area, so it was closed. That didn’t phase us though – we decided to go to Pride then, instead.

Since we didn’t know we’d be going, we didn’t have any rainbow attire, so we might’ve looked kind of out of place, but it was so packed and crowded, I doubt anyone was paying attention since the number one priority for most people was just to stay standing. I’m used to crowds, and I don’t mind them, but this was bad. There were moments I couldn’t move, I was so smushed up against other people. I’m sure they had really tight security, given everything that’s gone on in London in the least year, but it was an excellent place for a terrorist attack.


We got a few photos and decided to get out of there quickly.


After that, we hit up Buckingham Palace. We didn’t get to see the inside or anything, but the outside was enough. It was stately – beautiful, grand, and kind-of cold. I’m glad we saw it – it’s arguably one of the most British things in all of England, and as a tourist, it was fun to see – but it’s not like a museum you got to walk around. We got our photos, and within 20 minutes, we were done.


In my opinion – the best kind of tourist site!


Last on the agenda was to get some food and drink at a pub. We opted for this old one called The Camel, which, let me tell you, had the most delicious chicken pie I’ve ever tasted. I also bought a pint of ale, which I managed to get through maybe 3/4 of. The more I drank, the more I liked it – or, rather, tolerated it. I’m not an ale person, apparently.


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!

Shirt: Forever21

Bralette: Aerie

Pants: the LOFT

June 27, 2017 – Reggae and Calypso (OOTD #53)

Published on by lensembledujour9 Comments

…won’t you save me, San Francisco?

Had a great night last night with my friend Amanda at a Train concert in Cincinnati.

Admittedly, Train isn’t my favorite band on the planet. I like them well enough, and a couple of their songs – I’m thinking “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” and “Save Me San Francisco” – have been in rotation on my iTunes and Spotify playlists for years, but mostly, I wasn’t too familiar with their work. I actually had to create a playlist of their setlist the day before the concert so I could study up on their library more, since I wanted to be able to sing along at least to the courses of the songs I didn’t know.

But I love concerts, and I will happily drop all of my spending money to go see them, regardless of how much I know about the band. There’s something really spectacular about being in a room full of people connected by music, and whether I love the music or not, I love the vibe.

My first concert, Demi Lovato, was back when I was in fourth grade, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I even remember the outfit I wore to see Demi Lovato – black boots, denim skirt, green henley, denim vest, white jacket, green scarf, straw fedora-like hat. Tacky and awkward as it sounds, I remember feeling really fashionable for 2008, and I actually remember getting a lot of compliments.

Not wanting to be passed up by my fourth grade self, I had to put together an outfit worthy of a summer concert. I feel like Train has an almost country vibe to their music, and I wanted to reference that in my look. But I don’t really have any country-looking clothes, and regardless, I’m not really a country person, so I went for a boho summer festival look instead. Close enough…ish?

But for real, I do like my outfit today. I spent forever trying to find a bralette that layered nicely under the high neck of my tank top (as it turned out, a high neck bralette was perfect for the job), and I layered a sheer kimono on top for “warmth.” Or maybe just fashion. I don’t know, practicality and aesthetic run together in my head sometimes.

I topped it all off with a layered choker and a gold headband, and I felt like I was almost cool enough to stand in the parking lot of Coachella and direct traffic. Almost. Hey 

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

Shirt and shorts: H&M

Kimono: Hollister

Bralette: Aerie

Headband: Altar’d State

 

 

 

June 2, 2017 – Not Quite Pastel Grunge (OOTD #35)

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I’ve always liked the concept of pastel grunge.


Ever since I was 12, setting up my first Tumblr and Pinterest accounts and getting into the world of Internet fashion, I found that the concept of pastel grunge was glamorous. It was such a fascinating concept – blending the soft, feminine look of pastels with the hard, dark look of grunge. Though I like not to associate myself with any particular style (it’s no fun being only a “preppy” style blog, or just a “hipster” blog; why put those limitations on yourself?), pastel grunge is probably up there with my favorites.


So today’s outfit is inspired with my middle school obsession with pastel grunge, which, by the way, I never got to fully embrace, as middle school for me was spent wearing exclusively Abercrombie and Aeropostale – no other brands were socially acceptable. I called it “not so” pastel grunge, though, as I figured it wasn’t quite a Tumblr-level quality of the aesthetic, as I lack the Doc Martens or flower crown that is necessary for the look.


But what I lacked in flower crowns and Doc Martens I made up for in floral skirts and layered chokers! Today’s outfit was all about the accessories, as without the high-neck black lace bralette peaking under the pink sweater, the layered choker worthy of a Hot Topic employee, and the black booties, it would be a pretty vanilla outfit. But that’s what pastel grunge is all about – making a soft look more edgy. 


Today’s outfit was also rather focused on comfort, as I spent my day resting at home recovering from the accident and waiting for a refrigerator repairman to show up. My neck is still sore, but in all honesty, I was expecting much worse for the second day. People always say the days after a car wreck are the worst in terms of soreness. All I feel is some achy bones and a minor headache, as if I got a really terrible night of sleep on the floor.


That’s it for today – it was a pretty uneventful day, with very little to report. I hope you enjoyed the outfit, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Sweater: Altar’d State

Chokers: Hot Topic (I wasn’t kidding about them being worthy of a Hot Topic employee!)

Skirt: Aeropostale

Bralette: Aerie

April 28, 2017- Springtime in New York (OOTD #8)

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New York City: Day 2

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An oldie but a goodie #throwbackthursday

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Another long day has passed, and lemme tell you – I am exhausted.
Today’s agenda has included a visit to the The Today Show, The Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Little Italy, Chinatown, a Yankees game, and the Empire State Building.

If that sounds like a long day to you, believe me it was.

It was a ton of fun though!

The best parts were when me and a small group of friends were able to split off from the main group and explore the city in our own, such as our excursion to Little Italy.

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Street art is cool! (New York edition)

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I had the best food at a restaurant there called La Bella Vita. The pasta almost brought tears to my eyes, it was so delicious. Another bonus: our waiter had beautiful hair and an even more beautiful accent.
The outfit for today was built for both style and comfort. A high neck bralette layered under a lightweight canvas jacket meant I was prepared whether it was a sunny afternoon or a chilly morning (we experienced both). High waisted jeans meant I had more skin protected from the dirty New York surfaces, and my old black booties with a squat heel was comfortable to walk in.

That doesn’t mean my feet didn’t still feel like lead at the end of the day.

Jacket:

Bralette: Aerie

Jeans: Hollister

Also, be sure to check out my new Instagram! I just started it a day or two ago, and I’d really appreciate a follow! I follow back 😀

April 24, 2017

Published on by lensembledujourLeave a comment

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…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTSMxVQDLb9/

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.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTTv3gHjbFx/

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: