Fashion – Page 52 – L'ensemble du jour

September 26, 2017 – Vaguely 60s (OOTD #121)

Published on October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 by lensembledujour6 Comments

I love vintage-inspired fashion.

Take a little glance through the “vintage” tag here on this blog and you’ll see – there’s no shortage of old clothes in my wardrobe. I love the exhilaration of a hunt for a good piece in the bargain bin of a second-hand shop; alternatively, I also love the feeling of walking into a trendy vintage shop full of high-end designer items. There are so many ways to enjoy vintage clothing; there’s no “one” way of doing vintage.

Unlike, say, trendy fashion, in which there is usually has a very clear and defined method of wearing the trend, vintage fashion throws the rules out the window. You can do whatever you want, as long as you make it work.

And how does one make it work? My preference is to pair them with contemporary pieces to create a remixed look that’s stylish without being too basic. Current trends tend to borrow from history, so, given the right vintage piece, it’s no trouble at all to make it look modern.

Take this outfit, for example. This dress comes from the greatest vintage fashion market I’ve ever seen – the Brick Lane Market in Shoreditch, London. I talked about it extensively on the blog from day that I visited there, and I have been talking about it extensively ever since. I’m pretty sure I’m going to still be talking about it when I’m on my deathbed.

Anyway, the dress is vintage, but the styling is not. My bag, thigh-high socks, sunglasses, and shoes are all contemporary, and thus, the outfit doesn’t come off as a 60s costume.

For extra flair, I went for the closest thing to a 60s-inspired Bridgette Bardot ponytail that I could get without a curling iron and without teasing my hair. In other words – it was a pretty sad excuse for a Bridgette Bardot ponytail, but it’s the best I could do. Do I get my participation medal now?

TL; DR: Vintage pieces are such a great way to stand out from the standard fashion trends, while still being stylish. I like them and you should too.

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!

Dress: Vintage

September 23, 2017 – How Do You Like Them Apples? (OOTD #120)

Published on October 1, 2017 by lensembledujour7 Comments

You know…I have absolutely no idea what that references.

Obviously, I’m sitting here in front of a computer, so I could totally look it up and solve the mystery (well, the mystery to me anyway), but I don’t really feel like it. It kind of spoils the magic of the thing. Ignorance is bliss, as they say…though I’m pretty sure that’s not how that saying usually is usually meant…

Anyway, I’m back with the photos that I wasn’t able to post on Friday! For a more detailed description of the conundrum, you can read my post from a few days ago, but the short version is that I had to post my outfit from September 25 before my outfit from September 23 because I hadn’t received the Sept 23 photos from the photographer yet. That’s all behind us now, though – on to the description of my apple-picking adventures.

As I mentioned in the Saturday Musings + Coffee post from September 23, I went out with a group of girls from my residence hall to pick apples at a local farm. And you know what? It was absolutely heavenly.

Okay…well…maybe it not. It was swelteringly hot, and that kind of ruined the “heavenly” effect, but it was still a lot of fun, especially considering that September 23 was actually the second day of fall. And what better place to spend the beginning of fall than a farm?

Maybe a farm with air conditioning, but that’s beside the point.

It wasn’t a huge farm, not like the kinds I’m used to in Kentucky, but it was charming anyway. As far as I could tell, they had a couple of rows of apple trees, some grape vines, and maybe some other fruits that weren’t currently in season. No pumpkin patch, corn maze, or hay rides, unfortunately. Guess I’ll have to wait for fall break when I’m back in Lexington for that.

But what they did have in abundance were good photo-taking opportunities, and you can bet that I took advantage of as many of those as possible. My roommate, Mariana (in the orange dress next to me in the second photo below) had her DSLR camera with her, meaning I was bothering her every three minutes to take pictures of me. I think she was perhaps more interested in taking pictures of the scenery and the plants…but she was still willing to indulge my narcissism every once in a while, and for that I’m grateful.

I’ll be sure to get her a nice Christmas present or something.

I wish we could have spent longer there, but sadly, the sun was getting higher in the sky and it was getting hotter with every passing minute. Honestly, you can probably even see the beads of sweat on my face in some of these photos. It’s okay though – it just makes me all the more excited for fall weather and for the chance to go home and do even more fall weather things.

Jacket: Lilly Pulitzer

Top: ASOS

Shorts: PacSun

Photo creds: Mariana and her lovely DSLR camera

September 25, 2017 – I Have Pants On, I Promise (OOTD #119)

Published on September 29, 2017 by lensembledujour4 Comments

When will I ever stop posting my Friday OOTDs late on account of taking too long of an afternoon nap?

This time, at least, I woke up early enough to still be able to go to the dining hall for dinner. Last time, I made the mistake of sleeping until 8pm…and the dining hall closes on 7 on weekends. There was a very sad, very hungry Meilin that night.

Actually, I had ramen that night for dinner, so it was pretty chill. I’m never sad when there’s ramen around. The whole “starving college student who can only afford ramen” stereotype doesn’t bother me in the least.

Upon waking about 15 minutes ago, I immediately got to work on this blog – only to realize about three paragraphs in that I was missing the photos I needed for this date. Why? On Saturday, September 23, I went out apple picking with from some people in my residence hall, and I did my photos while out there. That shouldn’t be a problem, of course – except that my photos were taken from someone else’s camera, and I haven’t been sent them yet.

So rather than miss out on a blogging day, I figured I’d switch the dates, so that September 25 will come before September 23 in the order of release. I believe this happened some other time in the history of this blog (I can’t remember quite for what reason, though), so it’s a bit annoying, but not the end of the world.

Anyway, the outfit for September 25 – I swear I have pants on. See, you can tell if I lift up my arms so my jacket raises above the hemline of my shorts. I admittedly got a couple of second-glances today, likely on account of my pseudo pants-less outfit.

It wasn’t even my intent to look pants-less! I’ve actually done that look before, so I have no problem with it, but I found I was self-consciously pulling down at my shorts all day trying to make them look more in existence under my jacket. Eventually, I decided to just unbutton my coat so that my shorts were clearly visible, but of course, I didn’t think to do that until after I’d done my photos.

This post has been a mess…kind-of like my life lately. Wish I could stay and organize it a little more, but I’m scooting out to a pep rally in a few minutes. and I’m already late. Whoops.

Guess I shouldn’t be taking Friday afternoon naps.

Jacket: Forever21

Top: Aerie

Shorts: They’re from H&M…but why bother mentioning it? They’re barely featured in this post 😂<<<
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September 22, 2017 – Bright Sun, Wet Hair (OOTD #118)

Published on September 28, 2017September 28, 2017 by lensembledujour5 Comments

While in yesterday’s post, my hair looked odd because it was greasy, today it looks odd because it’s clean. And still wet.

But hey, at least it’s clean now. It’s unfortunate it wasn’t dry by afternoon when I did my pictures, but trust me, it would have been more unfortunate if it were still dirty.

Ho hum. I swear, one of these days, I’ll have a post where I don’t have any complaints to make about the state of my hair, the quality of the photo, or what’s going on in the background. I don’t know when that day will be, but I’m sure it’s going to happen eventually.

Actually, I have no complaints about my outfit at all in this set of photos – I’m legitimately pleased with how it turned out. I’m even more pleased that I managed to put it together in one of my before-class frenzies with no pre-planning at all. There’s something a little unconventional going on there with the layering of the halter bralette under the ruffled off-the-shoulder top, and the skirt is exquisite all by itself – no creative styling required.

In the end, it all just made for a nice outfit. I like to think all of my outfits are nice (if I didn’t, I probably shouldn’t have a fashion blog, right?) but this one is especially so.

As this was a Friday outfit, I actually only wore it for half a day. On Fridays, I’m done with classes by 11:30, so I bother a friend from my residence hall to snap a few pictures for me, and then I change into my pajamas. If I’m lucky, I even snag a nap! It’s too bad that such a nice outfit didn’t get more exposure, but that just means I’ll have to wear a variation of it again some time in the future. I try not to repeat outfits, but I have no problem with drawing inspiration from past ensembles.

Wish I could stay and write longer, but I’ve got two exams tomorrow that I haven’t studied much for, so I’m afraid I need to get going on that. Wish me luck!

Top: Hollister

Bralette: Aerie

Skirt: River Island

September 21, 2017 – The Catharsis of Complaining (OOTD #117)

Published on September 27, 2017 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Check out those greasy bangs.

It happens. Sometimes you’re rushing out the door to make it to your 9:25 Theo class and all you have time to do is throw your hair into a messy post-run ponytail. Your dry shampoo is located a whole 20 ft away in the other room, and while you could take the extra minute to grab it and spray some on your greasy roots, you might then only make it to Theo by 9:24, and sometimes your professor decides to start class early. 9:23 is much safer.

Walking in at 9:24 is by no definition evil – in fact, you’re still definitely on time – but, in the case that your professor does start lecturing early, you’ll have to walk past him to get to your seat, and by then, everyone’s eyes are focused on the from of the room. Even if they don’t notice your greasy hair, they’ll notice the disheveled state of your ponytail, and perhaps even the fact that you haven’t quite stopped sweating from your run.

Without any better ideas, you put on a headband, in hopes that it will somehow conceal how dirty your hair is. Unfortunately, the headband is too thin to make much of a difference, and it’s not even very visible because it’s the same goldish-silver color as your hair.

It also doesn’t help that you’re wearing wedges that slow your walking speed by about 25%. They look really cute with the buttons of your sweater, sure, but they’re definitely not going to help you get to class any faster…which is a problem when you’re running late as is.

My point? I like complaining – it’s cathartic. Also, maintaining a daily fashion blog means I have to take pictures of myself even when I don’t look my best, such as when I have greasy bangs. Rather than try to pretend they’re not there, though, I like to point them out – especially when I have no better ideas for how to start a blog. Complaining’s a good way to get the ball rolling fast enough to blast through the writer’s block.

Oh, and I guess I could also say that recognizing one’s own flaws is particularly relevant in today’s society, where technology allows us to remove our flaws with photo editing programs and thus present to the world a more perfect image of ourselves than what exists. But I’m a college student, and I already have enough essays where I have to say clichés like “in today’s society,” so this point’s just going to be stuck here at the end as an afterthought, okay? Don’t want to sound too preachy.

Sweater: The LOFT

Shirt: Vintage (thrifted)

Jeans: Abercrombie

September 20, 2017 – Wake Me Up When…You Get the Point (OOTD #116)

Published on September 26, 2017 by lensembledujour4 Comments

…when September ends?

I do hope you got the point, at least. If not, then you weren’t a proper emo kid from the early 2000s. Actually, I wasn’t even an emo kid in the early 2000s…I was just a kid. What is my point here?

“Wake Me Up When September Ends” is a good song, I couldn’t think of a better blog title, and it would have been a crime to let September pass without referencing it once in this blog.

September, for a long time, has been one of my least favorite months. Even as a kid, I kind-of despised it – September meant that awkward period after the end of summer break when you were stuck going to school in the sweltering heat, you hadn’t yet established who your best friends for the year were to be yet, you didn’t have a feel for how difficult your teachers and classes would be, and all the stores start putting out their Halloween decorations even though it’s not nearly cold enough to feel like “fall” yet. Even into high school, the same pattern of awkwardness and anxiety stuck around. For my senior year in particular, September was stressful because I was trying to get all my Common App college applications done in time for the November 1 early action deadline.

But guess what? For the first time in years, I don’t hate September. I don’t know what is is, but for some reason, the perpetual background anxiety I would feel for the entire month hasn’t reared its head. Maybe it’s because I’m so busy adjusting to college life that I haven’t had the time to feel sorry for myself? I’m not sure.

In fact, September’s been…almost nice?

At any rate, I enjoy not hating September for once. I hope I don’t end up hating October in its place now, lol. October is too lovely of a month to hate.

In celebration of my lack of hatred for September and of the start of fall, I went for a fall-like outfit. And by fall-like, I mean I just wore an orange dress and brown shoes. There have been, perhaps, less obvious interpretations of the standard “fall outfit,” but that’s for the Project Runway designers to think up, not me. Hey, I could have been wearing leaves and pumpkins, but I’ve got a touch more subtlety than that.

Also, I’m bitter, because the choker I’m wearing here broke when I took off. It was one of my favorites too. You’d think being from Madewell and costing like $15 it would last a little longer than a few months.

To quote the joke that both my mother and my friend Amanda made when I sent them a picture of the broken clasp: “…guess it wasn’t…made well!?!?”

Dress: Forever21

Sweater: Altar’d State

Choker: Not made well

September 18, 2017 – Plum and Fuchsia (Or Purple and Pink) [OOTD #114]

Published on September 24, 2017 by lensembledujour4 Comments

What did I tell you? I said flowers were going to feature much more heavily in the background of photos on this blog, and what do we have here?

This lovely set of purple-y bushes are right outside of my residence hall, making them nice and convenient for photos. They are also, apparently, very convenient to the campus’s hornet population because they’re always covered in them. I had to be careful not to get too close to the bushes actually, while I was doing this set. I can’t wait for fall/winter to come and for the bugs to finally get lost.

The heat is really beginning to pick up here, hence the short sleeves and the skirt. I hate it. I thought we had finally gotten over the summer temperatures – in fact, at the time of these pictures, the autumnal equinox (and thus, the last day of summer) was only a few days away. And a week previously, it had been beautiful – dare I say, chilly even – and now it feels like mid-July again.

I’m not a fan.

I wish I were, though. Maybe then it wouldn’t be so blistering hot in my dorm room. All we’ve got right now is a pathetic little box fan that we stole from the hallway, and that you can only feel if you stick your face right up next to it.

In other words, I’m basically taking every opportunity possible to hang out in air conditioned rooms and buildings and avoid my own room – but that’s not actually terribly different from how it was before the heat wave struck.

I don’t know, I don’t mind my room, and my roommates are all pretty cool, but I feel like I’m usually more easily distracted when I’m there. There’s nothing like looking at the dead silent nerds in the dead silent library to motivate you to do work. And thus, I spend an obscene amount of time there, soaking up the AC and the nerdy vibes.

Anyway, I probably ought to get back to work now. It never ends.

Top: Zara

Skirt: Rue21(Bonus: sometimes, when your photographer is taking a rapid succession of pictures, you wind up with gems like this as you transition from one post to another)

September 15, 2017 – I Think They Call This A Misnomer (OOTD #113)

Published on September 21, 2017 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Today, I am Speedy.

I’m actually not sure what Speedy refers to – was Speedy particularly fast at doing his job? Did he eat his lunch quickly? Was he a track star in high school? Only Speedy knows the answer to these questions, and sadly, the only thing I know about Speedy is that he dropped off this shirt at a Salvation Army in Kentucky for me to come along and buy sometime later.

I love work shirts with someone else’s name on them. In fact, this is my second outfit featuring the misnomer shirt trend – the first one, which I featured on this blog back in June, labeled me as Oscar, and came in the mail as a surprise gift from my uncle who also enjoys lying about his name on his shirts.

I don’t know, there’s just something stupidly funny about the whole thing. The shirt is ill-fitting, made of cheap fabric, features no interesting design elements, and can’t even get my name right. It’s so unfashionable – but that’s what makes it kinda cool.

In other news, check out that shot of the Golden Dome in the background! I still haven’t quite gotten over my enchantment with Notre Dame’s campus. Maybe, in a few months when it’s freezing and Notre Dame is covered in a layer of dirty, half-melted slush, I’ll come to loathe the sight of Golden Mary because it means I’m still a solid 5 minute walk away from my dorm, but for now, she’s still pretty cool.

The only campus landmark I’m really not a fan of is Touchdown Jesus. Sorry Jesus, but not even your giant face can distract from the fact that the design of Hesburgh library is literally nothing but a giant rectangle. Sure, it’s kinda neat to see this giant mural of Jesus and his disciples peaking up from above the trees, and it’s really great from orienting yourself when you’re on a more unfamiliar section of campus, but view Hesburgh from any angle other than the one featuring TD Jesus, and it’s just an ugly brown box.

How did I even get to ranting about Touchdown Jesus here? I guess I just have a lot more feelings about the library’s design than I thought I did. Maybe I’m just bitter because I spend so much time there, and I can attest to the fact that it is in desperate need of more windows.

Speedy agrees.

Shirt: Salvation Army (thrifted)

Jeans: Abercrombie

September 14, 2017 – Goth Kid at Catholic School (OOTD #112)

Published on September 20, 2017September 20, 2017 by lensembledujour5 Comments

I spent a decent portion of my adolescence complaining about public school, but I have to give it this – it made for a nice, diverse collection of people.

You want art kids? Public school has those. You want jocks? Public school has those. You want people who fit any racial, cultural, or stereotype imaginable? Public school has you covered.

And the nice thing about my high school was (wow, never thought I’d use those words together…), you never had to stick to any particular group – people were pretty free to float around the different social categories at will. And there was really no such thing as rivalries between the groups – no Jets vs Sharks stories here. Or, I don’t know, maybe we did have gang fights with choreographed dance sequences, and I just never realized. It’s entirely possible that I just never learned the social structure of my high school in the four years I was there – just like I never learned anything about physics or how to pay taxes.

But here I am now at private Catholic school, and gone are the diverse social groups. I mean, I’ve only been here for a month, and maybe I just haven’t gotten a feel for them, but it’s definitely less likely that I’ll encounter anyone in a Black Veil Brides t-shirt or with rainbow hair here than I was in high school. And I miss that.

The typical Notre Dame kid is probably athletic, white, well-dressed (but not creatively dressed…I went to a party once and all I saw were Kylie Jenner wannabes), the son or daughter of an alumni, and from one of the suburbs of Chicago. If it’s a dude, he’s probably named Jack. If it’s a girl, she’s probably a Katie.

(Also, if I hear one more Midwestern kid with that nasally Chicago accent talk about which suburb they’re from, I’m gonna lose it. Why isn’t anyone from like, the actual city of Chicago? Do people even live in Chicago?)

Anyway, fed up with the perceived normalcy of my peers, I just had to go for an outfit that had a darker edge. You know, the commercial, non-offensive version of “darker edge” – basically, nu goth.

Essentially, I dressed in all black and put my hair in Wednesday Adams braids. Simple, but effective – I was basically edgiest kid on campus. Which, if you ask me, if pretty sad, considering a blonde girl in braids and a black hat is hardly edgy or goth. The architecture at Notre Dame is more goth than 99% of the student body, meaning I’m pretty sure the architecture would have the better taste in music than the student body – goth kids have great taste in music.

Top: Unknown (thrifted)

Pants: Altar’d State

Jacket: Forever21

Hat: Target

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September 13, 2017 – My Pants Story (OOTD #111)

Published on September 19, 2017 by lensembledujour5 Comments

Pardon the tragically late post today – I just woke up from a three-hour nap.

I knew I needed one, but I definitely didn’t intend for it to go on so long. I had pulled a late night the night before, so I had every intent of taking an hour-long snooze after classes let up. Then one hour rolled into two…and two into three…you get the picture.

I guess I should’ve set an alarm, but it’s okay – for once in my time here in college, I’m not super bogged down with homework. I mean, I am, but less so than I have been for weeks. I fee like this is probably some kind of “calm before the storm” experience…but I don’t know what kind of storm to expect or when to expect it.

Good thing I have this totally not flimsy scarf to protect me!

Wednesday’s outfit was one of those ones that I did not plan out the night before, and outfits like that tend to be hit-or-miss. This one, I feel, is a hit. It might be a little top-heavy with all the red, but I don’t think it’s too bad. There’s also the fact that I’m wearing my most flattering pair of jeans – I think these high-waisted dark-wash skinnies have the ability to make anything I wear instantly more chic, whether it actually is or not.

There in high school, I was more of leggings kind of a person, but now in college, I think I may just transition back into a jeans person for the first time in years. Perhaps the first time ever, actually – I hated to wear jeans as a kid, growing up. I thought they were stiff and never breathed well, so I had a phase from about 1st grade to 3rd grade where I refused to wear jeans. In fact, I basically refused to wear anything that wasn’t a skort from the Children’s Place.

Then, in middle school, the leggings-as-pants trend kicked in, but it was against my school’s dress code – you weren’t even allowed to wear yoga pants, not even the bootcut ones. At that point, I started wearing skinny jeans from Hollister and Abercrombie, and while they sort-of fell out of use in high school when I realized the joys of leggings, I mostly haven’t looked back.

And, I think I may have arrived at the inception of a new era of Meilin’s pants-wearing history – the revival of the jean. The fact is, jeans always look classier than leggings, and they’ve gotten to the point now with all the spandex in them that they’re almost as comfortable as leggings. Basically, jeggings have taken over the market – though I doubt anyone would call them that. Whenever I think of “jeggings” I usually have war flashbacks to a pair of Justice “jeggings” I had in fifth grade that didn’t even have real pockets, just printed-on ones. I do believe that’s what they call a crime aganist fashion.

Anyway, I should never be allowed to take three-hour naps in the middle of the afternoon. I just used “inception of a new era of Meilin’s pants-wearing history” in a sentence. Something tells me none of my professors would be impressed.

Scarf: Stolen from my mother’s closet (Mom, if you’re reading this, I demand $1,000 paid in cash or you’re never seeing it again)

Jacket: Forever21

Shirt: H&M

Jeans: Hollister