style – Page 58 – L'ensemble du jour

August 1, 2017 – Socks Make Everything More Fun (OOTD #79)

Published on August 8, 2017 by lensembledujour6 Comments

I love the thigh-high sock trend.

It's been around since 2013, probably, and I've been into it since then. I remember sitting in my freshman Biology class, scrolling through Pinterest (what, you think I actually paid attention while Mrs. Smith played the same episodes of Bill Nye over and over?), and pinning dozens of outfit pictures to my fashion board of black thigh socks and how to wear them.

At the time, I didn't own any thigh-high socks, but I did have knee socks, which I would pull up over my knees and tape in place to create the look. I probably paired them with skater skirts and utility jacket – the height of 2013 fashion.

I hope I don't become one of those people who lives in the past and refuses to update her wardrobe 10 years down the line, but I'm still happy to wear the thigh socks trend even though it may be getting just the slightest bit dated. I feel like they make any outfit a little edgier, which is just what this plain floral shift dress needs.

In other news (I sure use that transition quite a lot, don't I?), my sunglasses have been missing for a few days now. You'll notice, I've worn my Fossil aviators and not my Ray Bans in the last few posts, and that's because I can't for the life of me find my dumb Ray Bans. I know they're in the house somewhere, but I've got no idea where.

I know they'll turn up, it's just a matter of when. Wish me luck hunting them down, yeah?

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!

Dress: Abercrombie

Socks: Hot Topic…maybe? Or perhaps Target? Lol I don't remember

Sunglasses: Not Ray Ban

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Taking Photos in a Mall Starbucks

Published on August 5, 2017 by lensembledujour5 Comments

My friend, Jane, giggled at me the whole time I was taking the photos for today's blog.

I've gotten used to taking photos in public – you put on your sunglasses so you don't have to make eye contact with anyone, and then pretend no one's judging you. It was weird at first, and I used to purposefully avoid public places for my photos, but I'm immune to the embarrassment now.

So it's funny when I hang out with friends who aren't used to my constant photo taking because they usually look confused and awkward when I whip out my Canon in the middle of a restaurant and start taking pictures of my coffee. Which is funny, you know, since we teenagers have no problem taking photos with our phones to post to our Snapchat stories – but pull out a real camera, and *Heath Ledger voice* everybody loses their minds!

To relieve Jane of her embarrassment (and also to get to a spot with better lighting), I scooted over to an empty table a few feet away to snap my photos for my Saturday Musings post today.

I dunno, there's just something really cute about a nice flatlay with some sparkly things, coffee, and a plain white background, and it makes for a really lovely Instagram post to break up all the OOTD photos. It makes the uncomfortable stares in public places all worth it.

Plus, since I suffer no embarrassment anymore from public photo taking, it's funny to watch my friends cringe and look like they don't know what to do when I start arranging all of my accessories on a table and snapping pictures.

Anyway, that’s it for today! 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.

July 30, 2017 – Yay Adoption (OOTD #78)

Published on August 4, 2017 by lensembledujour12 Comments

Odd title, I know, but I mean it – yay for adoption!

On Sunday, my parents and I went out for lunch in celebration of Gotcha Day – the day my parents "got" me from China.

I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but I was adopted from Hunan, China when I was a few months old. I mean, I guess you probably could've figured that – it is a white dude who's in my Father's Day photos - but I haven't discussed it formally. Not that I personally think there's much to discuss; it's not like I remember anything about China or my birth parents, and I've always considered myself much more American than Chinese, or even Chinese-American.

So in general, my adopted-ness plays very little role in my everyday life. The exception of course is Gotcha Day, my family's little celebration of, basically, the fact that we are a family. We usually go out to eat, and my parents get me a little gift; it's not unlike a mini birthday party. My grandmother sometimes joins us too. It's just a nice little way for us to bond, and of course, a nice little excuse for us to eat out.

This year, we ate out at Bella Notte, one of my favorite restaurants in all of Lexington. I adore Italian, and this is probably the best Italian I've ever had outside of Little Italy in New York. Everything tastes so fresh and flavorful, the décor is stylish and charming, and I don't even feel badly about eating the pasta with heavy cream sauce – it's that good. My dad and I always get the family-size Penne Gorgonzola to share, and we can nearly finish it off.

After lunch, we went out and did some shopping for my dorm room. There wasn't a lot we could get, since I haven't seen my room yet and don't really know how much space I've got, but I did pick out some nice sheets and a duvet cover. I'll have to do a Saturday Musings + Coffee post about it sometime and show it all off to you guys; I'm definitely excited about it all!

I know this is kind of a short post, but I think I'm going to end it here. Thanks again to my parents for being super cool and also making it so that I didn't spend the rest of my life in a Chinese orphanage!

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: Unknown (thrifted)

Pants: The LOFT

Scarf: American Eagle

July 29, 2017 – Anything For a Good Photo (OOTD #77)

Published on August 3, 2017 by lensembledujour12 Comments

You know, I only spent about 10 minutes at this farmer's market today.

My mother and I were on our way to Starbucks when we passed this dinky little farmer's market/nursery, and we had a few extra minutes so we decided to stop in.

It was cute, but there wasn't much going on – some plants, organic groceries, random homemade crafts. They had some natural Amish butter, which looked good, but it was like $12 for a pound, and I am much too poor for that.

The truth is, I didn't actually buy anything there, or really, even hang around for very long. But from the cute photos I got, you might think I spent hours marveling at the plants and sniffing the fresh tomatoes or whatever, but nope. Got my pictures and then went.

Writing for a fashion blog is weird that way – it's your goal to present the best version of your life so that people will marvel at you and think you're super cool, but your photos aren't necessarily a fair representation of a normal day. In the case of these farmer's market photos, I thought it'd be cute to look like I had a charming farmer's market outing, even though I really didn't and actually spent most of my day sitting in my dining room. Is that insincere?

I suppose not, because I'm disclosing it here. Besides, the farmer's market made for a really adorable background to my outfit photos, and my Instagram could use more of those.

In other news, I really love this scarf thing I'm wearing here. I say "scarf thing" – I have no clue what it would qualify as. It's thin like a scarf, but it wraps like a shawl and just generally gives me 2012 dystopian Hunger Games Catching Fire vibes . It makes any outfit instantly more edgy, like this Urban Outfitters dress that I bought 2 years ago before the shift dress was super trendy and had oversaturated the mall fashion boutiques. Still like it though, especially its pattern.

Looks like that’s it for today, so 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!

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Scarf thing: Altar'd State

July 26, 2017 – Modeling For The Powell Spring/Summer 2017 Collection (OOTD #75)

Published on August 1, 2017January 8, 2020 by lensembledujour4 Comments

Yes, after years of waiting for my big break, countless headshots, and strict diets, I’ve finally landed my first serious modeling gig for a professional designer.

That…that’s sarcasm if you can’t tell. Sorry, I probably could’ve kept that joke running for longer, but it was so ridiculous that I felt uncomfortable, lol. The real story is that I’ve got a friend, Terence, who just this summer has picked up sewing as a hobby. He texted me and asked if I would be willing to be the model for what he was making, so how could I refuse?

If I’m not mistaken, I think this skirt is the second complete piece Terence has made, and while I don’t really know anything about sewing or technique, I must say, it’s pretty impressive. Certainly better than anything I could’ve made! I can do buttons and maybe mend torn seams, but that’s about the extent of my ability.

It was actually originally going to be a dress, but he unfortunately, he ran out of time trying to complete it. See, he really wanted me to wear it out for a show we were going to see in Cincinnati, but by the time Wednesday rolled around, all he had done was the skirt and some of the parts of the top. The judges on Project Runway might not have been impressed with his time management skills, but regardless, he managed to “make it work” (*prays for someone to laugh at that Tim Gunn joke*) by simply sewing and pinning the skirt until it was wearable on its own.

As for the styling of the outfit, that was actually a lot to do with Terence too. I brought several tops and jackets over while he was still sewing so we could figure out what would work best, and he chose this black dragon scale top out of all of the other pieces. And to be honest? I think he made the perfect decision.

The skirt is flowy and feminine, with this exquisite if slightly flashy pattern, so it contrasts nicely with the harsh, utilitarian look of the top. I call it my dragon slayer shirt, usually pairing it with similarly post-apocolytic-styled pieces , but it occurred to me as I was looking through my closet for something to complement the skirt that perhaps it could work as a juxtaposition piece as well. Terence evidently agreed, and we wound up with outfit consisting of a bright, tropical skirt, a dark, edgy top, and a belt with the sole purpose of hiding the pins holding the pleats together – perhaps one of the most interesting combinations I’ve ever worn.

And the whole outfit was a huge hit at our show! I got plenty of compliments on it (both the top and the skirt, sometimes together and sometimes individually), and with every comment, I was able to point to Terence and say “Actually, my friend here made it!” I think he was really pleased with the attention his work got – he’s not really the type of guy who likes the limelight, but he’s also hardly shy to some flattery.

Shirt: Unknown (gifted)

Skirt: Terence Powell

July 25, 2017 – When You Forget Your Sunglasses (OOTD #74)

Published on July 31, 2017 by lensembledujour2 Comments

I've had a blog about forgetting a shirt, and now it looks like I've got one about forgetting my sunglasses.

You wouldn't think sunglasses would be as big of a deal as a shirt – I, as a female, cannot really go out without a shirt on, especially not to work. But for me, doing this fashion blog thing and taking photos of my outfit every day, sunglasses are a huge thing, sometimes being just as necessary as a a shirt.

Sunglasses obscure my eyes, which, for me, are my biggest problem when it comes to getting good smiling photographs. I'm Asian, so the plane of my face is rather flat, with my eyes being on the same level as my nose bridge and cheekbones, causing my eyelid creases to change shape depending on the day as they're not created by depth in my facial structure. This means that when I smile and my eyes scrunch up, my eyelids might also change shape, sometimes causing my eyes to look smaller or even lopsided.

That's where sunglasses come in to cover that all up and save the day. Plus, you can wear sunglasses to hide the fact that you have no eye makeup on, meaning they're great for a lazy soul like myself. Good sunglasses can even hide a few pimples on your forehead.

So anyway, I forgot my sunglasses, and I had done no makeup because I assumed my sunglasses would be covering up half of my face. I didn't really want to do my pictures without sunglasses, but I also didn't want to skip on doing pictures at all, since I still had a blog-worthy outfit (or as blog-worthy as a typical hardware store work outfit gets for me).

Luckily, in the car were my father's old sunglasses. I put them on and they were…less than flattering, but they did the job of covering my makeup-less face, and that's all I needed them to do.

In other news, I really need to have my hair redone. Look at those roots, haha! I'm trying to hold off because I want my color to look fresh for when I move off to college, but it's definitely getting a bit messy looking. I'd originally planned on doing it before I went off to London, but…welp, coming from a girl who wears sunglasses, not because she's concerned about damaging UV rays, but because it means she can wear less makeup, it wan't likely I was going to muster up the motivation, yeah?

Looks like that's it for today, so 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: Target

Necklace: Forever21

Sweater: The LOFT

July 23, 2017 – I Got Your Picture, I’m Coming With You (OOTD #73)

Published on July 28, 2017July 28, 2017 by lensembledujour3 Comments

…dear Maria, count me in…

All Time Low is one of my favorite bands, so when I got to see them in concert on Sunday, you can say I was just a little hyped. I did my hair and makeup up all nice, took a few selfies, and then I hopped in the car with my friend Amanda (the same one I did London with), and prepared myself for the 3 hour-long drive up to Columbus, Ohio.

About an hour and a half into the drive, we hit our first issue – a traffic buildup just outside of Cincinnati. Thankfully, I was using Waze, which was able to give us another route around the the traffic, but we still lost about a half an hour. And we had to drive through Covington, Kentucky, one of the sketchiest places I've had the misfortune of driving through (it's right up there with Camden, New Jersey – my dad's hometown), where I glimpsed more shirtless old men than I have ever cared to have seen.

Anyway, we finally made it to the venue, Express Live, where we were greeted by a pleasant surprise – it was a pretty small venue! That's always a good thing for concerts because it means, in a free admission seating arrangement like we had, you're more likely to be able to get up close to the stage.

On the other hand, being a smaller venue, there was no kind of overhead coverage to protect the audience from the weather. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but of course, it rained.And rained and rained and rained. It began right after the second opening act left the stage. Amanda and I had moved down into the pit and were standing there in the drizzle kicking ourselves over not bringing in our raincoats (and we couldn't go back and get them either – no re-entry) when the rain began to pick up, as it does in storms. We spent about 15 minutes running around, trying desperately to find some place where we could take shelter – there was literally nothing like, anywhere, not even a merch tent – before we finally found a bathroom that we could hide in.

And that's where we stood for the entirety of the third opening act, smushed up against the bodies of other soaking wet and miserable girls, shuffling around every once in a while when someone needed to get to the toilet, and listening to muffled sounds of the band through the brick.

Finally, about 40 minutes later, the rain let up. But by then my hair and makeup was pretty much ruined, so much so that I even considered not bothering to do photos today. I really loved my outfit though, so I forced Amanda to get some shots as quickly as she possibly could while trying to keep as much of the camera as possible under her rain poncho.It was all a very interesting experience, not unlike the adventure we had in the Atlanta airport (which, might I add, is abbreviated ATL – the same way as All Time Low…suspicious…). As for the All Time Low itself? They were great! Definitely a band I would go to see again, no question. Getting to hear songs I love like "Missing You" and "Weightless" in person was lovely and well-worth getting soaked just an hour prior.

Top: Unknown (thrifted)

Shorts: Abercrombie

July 21, 2017 – Let’s Do The Time Warp Again (OOTD #72)

Published on July 27, 2017 by lensembledujour3 Comments

As promised from yesterday's blog, here's the blog post for Friday the 21st, posted a day after the blog for Saturday the 22nd due to technical difficulties and writer idiocy.
More on that here.
On Friday, my dad and I went out hiking to Red River Gorge, a beautiful canyon system in Central KY. We both got the day off from work and made it into something of a father-daughter thing. Actually, we'd initially planned on doing a canoeing trip on the Kentucky River, but that had to be canceled and rescheduled as there hadn't been enough rain in the week prior for the water levels to be high enough.
Hiking's pretty cool though, so no complaints from me there. I will always prefer to hike in the fall (pretty leaves, cooler temperatures, yada yada), but I admit, it wasn't bad at all. We left the house at like, 7:30 in the morning and got to the trails by 9 or 10, so it hadn't gotten blisteringly hot yet, and it was a cloudy day, so we didn't really have to deal with the sun beating down on us. Plus, for extra protection, we opted for a trail that was down in the canyon and surrounded by trees, so it was nice and shady.
My family and I went hiking a lot when I was a kid – Cumberland Falls, Red River Gorge, Gatlinburg – if it's in the Midwest/Southeast near Kentucky, I've probably been there. I used to absolutely hate it though – the bugs, the heat, the physical exertion – it wasn't really my style. I guess it's still not quite my style, as I still hate bugs and heat, but I do have a greater appreciation for the natural environment you get to experience when you hike.
Our trail led us to something called Whittleton Arch, a nice little rock formation about a mile and a half from the road. I, of course, took immediately to climbing it and posing on top of the rocks, letting my dad get some cool photos like this:
For real though, I like hanging out with my dad, and I wish I got to do it more. He's a pretty cool dude, and I'm not just saying that because he has the patience to take a decent chunk of the photos for this stupid blog, including the ones from this trip. I'll miss him when I go off to college, and that's what made our time together hiking so nice.

Want to read more about my Red River Gorge adventure, and how it affected my fashion choices for the next day? Part 2 of the epic saga is already up here!

Jacket: Adidas (thrifted)

Top: Forever21

Shorts: Target

July 22, 2017 – Miguel’s Pizza Should Pay Me to Wear This (OOTD #71)

Published on July 26, 2017July 26, 2017 by lensembledujour3 Comments

So I uh…messed up.

I'm writing this blog on my phone as I sit in a car on my way up to Cincinnati, meaning I'm using data rather than WiFi. That's really not a big deal by itself, except that it means I'm limiting to posting only the pictures I have stored locally here on my phone; I can't access anything I have stored on my camera or laptop, and I can't AirDrop anything to my phone without Internet.
Unfortunately, the photos for the blog that was supposed to go up today were taken on my dad's camera, which I've left at home. If I were an intelligent human, I would have uploaded them from the SD card to my laptop and AirDropped them to my phone so I could post them from here, but um…yeah, I didn't.
Luckily, I have the photos from Saturday on my phone, so I can write that blog post now and post Friday's blog tomorrow, you'll just have to bear with me as we travel forward and then back in time for these next few days.
Anyway, this outfit is fun because I got this shirt from a tiny, dive-like pizza joint in Red River Gorge, a canyon system with some beautiful hiking trails in Kentucky. My dad and I went on Friday (more on that tomorrow), and afterwards, we got pizza from Miguel's. We both adored the dinky but charming atmosphere, so we bought shirts with the logo on it because we're hipsters like that.
Anyway, on Saturday, I was so excited about my dumb hipster pizza shirt that I decided to wear it. With the black tie-dye going on, I was definitely getting some vintage rocker vibes, so I tried to emulate that in my outfit and hair.
I say that like my hair was intentional, and that I actually spent time on it, but in actuality, I just had my hair in braids when I went hiking and I was too lazy to take them out. Or uh…wash it.
But it's okay, because I wound up with these really lovely beach waves that photographed really nicely and blew in the wind dramatically.
Lazy day hair in a nutshell, right? Or…the good lazy day hair days, at least.
Shirt: Miguel's Pizza
Shorts: H&M
Arm band: Altar'd State

July 20, 2017 – Infernal Kentucky Heat (OOTD #70)

Published on July 25, 2017July 25, 2017 by lensembledujour9 Comments

I feel like I do a lot of complaining about the weather here.

For real, it’s quite possible that every other blog post on this silly little website has a reference to my outfit being impractical for the humidity and heat that we get in Kentucky, and yet, I have made no efforts to change my habits. From my unconventional summer solstice outfit to my shameless reliance upon layering, not for warmth, but for fashion, it’s clear that summer is simply not my season.

In fairness, I did just start this blog in the late spring, meaning all you guys have gotten to hear about are my summer outfits, and with them, my relentless complaining about summer weather. It’ll get better in the fall and winter, I swear! 😉

Still, it must come as no surprise to you that on a day like this, with a heat index at 100 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity at some ungodly high percentage, I’m wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a polyester jacket – in other words, I’m begging for death via heat stroke.

On another note, I got to do my pictures today in this lovely park not far from my house. It’s really nice because they leave part of it, some wetlands and the area around them, unmowed and wild, meaning I got to do this fun shoot in the tall grass, making me look cooler than I actually am.