Tag: lily pulitzer

April 6, 2019 – A 50s Dinner Party (OOTD #488)

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Sometimes, it’s the little things that motivate you to get dressed up.

In this case, it was the fact that my hair was still curly following a school dance the previous night. Because my hair is bleached, I don’t have to wash it every day — in fact it gets dried out if I wash it every day. So when I curl it, the curls can actually last a few days.

So when I woke upon April 6, hair still curly from the night before, I felt a little fancier than usual. Rather than just throw on a sweater and leggings like I normally might on a weekend where I have a lot of homework to do, I decided to put on a dress and pearls. Very 1950s Southern dinner party.

I don’t often dip into my Southern heritage for fashion inspiration when I’m at school in the Midwest. Lilly Pulitzer and Vineyard Vines aren’t exactly crowd-pleasers here the same way they are at home in Kentucky. That’s not even to say that I’m really into the Southern prep look when I’m home in Kentucky — I just like to have a diversity of aesthetics to work with.

And in fact, one of the things I like best is to switch up the aesthetic in unexpected and unusual ways. Sometimes, that means dressing like a 1950s housewife. Sometimes, that means dressing like a Catholic bishop.

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 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, Clothes Mentor)

Coat: Thrifted (Goodwill)

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 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: 

May 23, 2018 – Sweet Southern Heat (OOTD #289)

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iPhone X photos are weird.

Sometimes, the image quality and lighting is gorgeous — all those ads that show amateur photographers taking beautiful portrait-mode works of art are perfectly accurate to how it actually works. And sometimes, the images are grainy and barely any better than what I got on my old iPhone 4.

I’m exaggerating a little, of course — the worst iPhone X photos are still much better than my iPhone 4 photos. It is interesting though, how much variation there is in the photos I get. Sometimes they’re great, sometimes they’re so-so.

Anyway, I feel like these are a little more so-so, which is too bad, given how much I like the outfit. It’s bright and colorful and cheery, just like a good summer (spring, technically, I guess — though it doesn’t much feel like it with how hot it is) outfit should be.

Speaking of which, this weather is not making me cheery. I complain about this every summer I spend in Kentucky, but it’s horrifically humid here, and I am not a fan. It makes me miss the Notre Dame snow, which I probably also complained about.

I’ll be interested to see how I handle the heat of Nepal later this summer when I go with my school. Apparently it’s monsoon season, which sounds to me like even more hot and even more humid.  It’s amazing that I’m from southern China and grew up in the southern United States, because I cannot handle the humidity at all.

I’m a wimp, what can I say.

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 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: Zara

Dress: Lilly Pulitzer

May 2, 2018 – Suddenly Spring (OOTD #278)

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I had expressed back in mid April when the temperatures in South Bend were still hitting freezing (freezing! In April!) that I was afraid I might completely miss the spring flowers at Notre Dame, but thankfully, I was wrong!

I’ve never seen foliage come back to life so quickly! Back in Kentucky, the coming of spring is a slow process — first, you have a couple of warm days in early March to get you excited; then, the first trees begin showing buds; then, finally, the home/garden stores start opening up their greenhouse sections and you know that spring is in full swing. The whole process takes about a month.

In South Bend, though, spring came in about a week. One week, it was cold, rainy, and freezing; the next, the flowers were blooming and we were hitting 60 consistently.

It’s been a jarring transition, but one I don’t wholly mind making. I loved winter in South Bend, even with the cold and the snow, but I’m glad it’s still over. I want my winter to end in mid-March (you know, the whole “in like a lion” proverb), not mid-April.

To celebrate the start of spring (and the last full day of classes!), I wore my springiest outfit. It reminded me of something Southern and preppy, like what I might wear back in Kentucky. There’s not a lot of Southern prep going on at Notre Dame, for better or for worse. While it’s not my favorite style ever, I don’t mind it every now and again.

Dress: Lilly Pulitzer

Shirt: Altar’d State

April 19, 2018 – Happy One Year! (OOTD #268)

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Can you believe it’s been one whole year since I started this blog?

I certainly can’t. I’ve come a long way since my very first post here. When I began LEDJ, I meant it as a hobby I would play around with every once in a while. I didn’t really mean to commit to it every day (not that I’m always perfect at the everyday posting schedule — I do try though), and at best, I figured I’d do it for a few months over the summer and give up once I made it to college and had more important things to worry about.

Surprisingly though, I’ve managed to keep it up! Like I said, I’ve gone several days — even a week or two — without posting, but otherwise, I usually manage to put something out there every day.

How do I stay motivated? Part of it is simply that I enjoy this — forget the fact that I get free stuff from sponsorships (rarely — but it’s nonetheless super exciting!), forget the kind and lovely comments I get on my Instagram posts and blogs — and still, I just like to write. I always have, and it’s nice to have an avenue for more casual writing since most of the stuff I do for school is very formal and academic.

Blogging is also a really great way for me to keep a record of my outfits and how I felt when I wore them — in a way, it’s basically like journaling. In fact, it’s kind of strange because it’s almost like having my diary out there on the Internet for anyone to read — including people who actually know me. It’s always a little weird to have my parents mention something I wrote about in a blog but that I didn’t tell them otherwise.

It would be wrong for me to talk about this blog without also mentioning my gratitude for anyone who’s ever give me a view, a like, a comment, a retweet, or a follow. You guys are part of what makes this blog worth it, which keeps me motivated even after I’ve had a long hard day of schoolwork.

One of these days when I’m not a poor college student, assuming I’m still going at this, I’ll do one of those nice giveaways that I see other bloggers do for anniversaries. I wish I had the resources to participate in those sorts of things, but I don’t right now.

I would however be happy to offer shout outs to anyone who leaves a comment here on an upcoming blog! I know it’s not much, and I’m not a huge blogger, but maybe it can help direct a little traffic to your corner of the Internet.

Again, happy first birthday for LEDJ, and here’s to many more to come!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life 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!

Jacket: Lilly Pulitzer (you might notice it’s the same one featured in the April 19 blog of last year, the very first post I dd for this blog!) 

Shirt: J Crew (thrifted)

Jeans: Hollister

November 21, 2017 – Southern Soccer Mom Style (OOTD #165)

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Christmas in July? More like…July in Christmas.

Yesterday’s outfit was the sendoff to fall, so logically, it follows that today’s outfit should be a sendoff to summer. Since, obviously, summer comes after fall, and summer didn’t end like, three months ago.

No, the real reason behind why this outfit is so summery (and also kind of like a rich Southern PTA-attending mother) is because on this day, I was heading home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and I knew I wasn’t going to have much use of a neon Lilly Pulitzer jacket and a when it’s 20 below in South Bend, Indiana. So, to save space in my suitcase, I just wore them home, and then I left them there.

And in their place, I brought all 8000 of my Christmas sweaters.

Sure, it looked a little weird dressing so out of season, and sure, I looked more like I was going Memorial Day shopping than getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, but I don’t mind. It also looked a little weird to have my short grey hair and black Hot Topic earrings that I forgot to take out (and which you can’t see here – probably for the best) paired with such a preppy outfit, but when has that ever stopped me?

It’s uh…eclectic, not erratic, yeah?

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!

Jacket: Lilly Pulitzer

Dress: Vintage (thrifted)

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

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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.

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!

Jacket: Lilly Pulitzer

Top: ASOS

Shorts: PacSun

Photo creds: Mariana and her lovely DSLR camera

August 24, 2017 – In Which Meilin Looks Like a Southerner For Once (OOTD #94)

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How Southern am I?

Well, for starters, this dress is Lilly Pulitzer.

It’s funny – for the longest time, I’ve detested the title of “Southerner.” I hate sweet tea, country music, and I don’t have the accent (actually, ask some of my friends, and they think I sound vaguely British – but I don’t).

For context, my father is from Philadelphia and my mother is from Chicago, so neither of them are really “Southerners,” and they made no attempt to raise me as one. Even in my elementary school (which I visited recently – check out the blog I wrote about it) , most people were not really Southern into culture, despite the fact that we were in a rural part of Kentucky. I might have had one friend growing up who had the stereotypical accent.

But when I moved to Lexington in seventh grade, everything changed – suddenly, everyone had that “Southern belle” quality about them. All the girls wore Vineyard Vines and carried Lilly Pulitzer planners and got excited about going to University of Kentucky football games in the fall.

Now, I have an appreciation for Southern culture, don’t get me wrong – I love Lilly Pulitzer (in moderation), I think fried chicken is delicious, and I love how the people all smile at you when you pass them on the street. But that was never me, and I think that was mostly because it was never my parents either. They were city people, and even though I’ve never lived in a real city, I think I am too – or at the very least, will be someday.

So it was weird when I came here to Notre Dame and there were actual city people here, actual people who could claim to be from cool places like New York and Chicago and LA. Southerners are actually a minority here – maybe because the snow that South Bend gets scares them off – and I find that I’m actually missing them quite a bit. It’s odd because for so long, I couldn’t wait to get out of the South (for the record, Kentucky’s not even that Southern – it’s not like the Deep South), and now, I want to go back. I still don’t call it “home” – the closest thing to that would be New York, and I’ve never lived there – but I felt myself craving a little Southern charm here in South Bend.

So today, I wore my Lilly Pulitzer dress in honor of being a pseudo-Southerner and kind-of-sort-of-missing it. It’s bright and colorful and feminine, everything a typical Southern belle girl at my high school was. I don’t know if any of the South Bend people were impressed with it (one girl told me I looked like a stylish kindergarten teacher…I think that was a compliment?), but it reminded me of Kentucky and that’s all I needed.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life 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: Lilly Pulitzer (thrifted)

Jacket: vintage

 

April 19, 2017

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

Outdoor lighting is both a blessing and a curse.

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Hey there Internet, my name is Meilin (pronounced: MAY-lin – it’s okay, no one really gets it right the first time), and this is my blog. I’m making this blog in order to keep, for my own records, a journal of all of the outfits I wear each day of school. And hey, if other people are interested in checking out my outfits, that’s cool too.

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Pretty original, right? No one’s ever done an outfit of the day fashion blog before!

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Today’s outfit is built around the jacket – a bright, floral Lily Pulitzer piece that I thought was perfect for the start of spring. From there, I pulled from the yellow in the jacket and incorporated a bright yellow sweater layered under a white wrap skirt. Pretty simple, but I figure with the busy jacket, it’s best that way.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Jacket: Lily Pulitzer

Sweater: Forever21

Skirt: Pitaya

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Bonus: here’s a classic mirror selfie! I’ve been taking one of these every day since my junior year of high school to document all of my outfits. I’ve got a photo album on my phone with all the photos. Maybe one day I’ll share them here.

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