Tag: thrift

December 11, 2018 – The Best Time to Wear a Christmas Sweater (OOTD #421)

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…is all the time!

This is one of my favorite sweaters in my wardrobe, and yet I only get to wear it a few times a year!

That’s the sad thing about Christmas sweaters. They’re so fun to have around for the month of December, and then they’re basically useless the rest of the year. Leave it to capitalism to force us to buy stuff that we only need once or twice a year. Gotta love it.

In truth though, Christmas sweaters are one commercial aspect of Christmas I can definitely buy into (get it?) I mean, the really authentic ones you need to buy secondhand anyway, so it’s not that awful for the environment, or for your wallet. I’m happy to reuse other people’s old crap in the name of the Christmas spirit.

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i think yule like this one

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These photos were taken shortly after I took my very first final about two weeks ago. It doesn’t feel like two weeks ago. It was the hardest one I had — Russian literature — and afterwards, I was just about dead. I actually had one more to go in the afternoon, but it was one that I was significantly less worried for. After I finished up my Russian lit final, I dragged myself to the math building to do pictures. I looked too cute to just let the outfit pass without Internet recognition, you know?

I’m a firm believer in the “dress well, test well” principle, unless I’m exhausted and I wind up sprinting to my exam in my pajamas. Those are the two testing modes I have — completely put together, made-up, and refreshed, or stumbling, sleep-deprived mess. At any rate, for this first final at least, I managed to keep it together. Sort of — I still made an A- on the stupid thing, and in the class. RIP my 4.0, 2017-2018. She will be missed.

My exam location wasn’t far from the math building, so after I finished up, I strolled over to get some stairwell photos. I had gotten some pics in the math building earlier in the month, so I knew there were some cool locations, and I was not disappointed by this staircase and its fabulous lighting. Might be my favorite one on campus now — even beating out this one, which I’ve used many, many times.

Unfortunately, though, I think I’ve just about exhausted my photo locations in the math building — I’ve done the hallways, the foyer, the stairwell, and the secret garden now, and I’m running out of pretty places. Onto bigger and better buildings, I guess?

Anyway, it’s 10PM right now in Doha, Qatar as I write this, and Christmas Day is just now drawing to a close. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you guys reading this, wherever you are and whatever time it is. Thanks for another great year with this silly little blog of mine.

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!

Sweater: Thrifted (Goodwill)

December 7, 2018 – A 20th Century Christmas (OOTD #419)

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There nothing that “20th century” about this outfit except maybe the hat — and the hat’s not even mine!

For this post, my friends and I decided to all go out and take a family Christmas photo together. We had initially thought we’d make a Christmas card to send out to our families, but then we remembered how much work that would take and how stressed we were with our finals, and we decided just to take the picture without worrying about the card.

And I’m pretty satisfied with the result! We did them right before we exchanged secret Santa gifts, so we were all feeling festive.

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a six chick christmas

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I do wish I had an ugly Christmas sweater so I could have matched my friends a little better. I have a lot of Christmas sweaters — check them out here and here and here — but none  of them are ugly. Like, really ugly and wacky. They’re almost all too…cute?

Ugly Christmas sweaters are all super trendy, and while I’m normally hesitant to buy into trends, but I like this one. There’s something fun about purposefully being ugly — that is, as long as it’s authentically ugly. I’m not so much a fan of ugly Christmas sweaters that people just buy at Walmart. There’s no fun in that! You’ve got to go out and actually find something in a secondhand shop — or if you’re super crafty, make something.

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#sleigh, girl, sleigh.

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That’s why I love the ugly Christmas sweater market my school holds in late November. I didn’t actually buy anything this year because they raised their prices, and I don’t really feel justified spending $20 on an old ugly sweater I could get for a lot less money at a Goodwill, but I like the idea. I hope that perhaps next year I can find an ugly sweater that makes the $20 price tag worth it.

Or better yet, maybe I’ll find something at a vintage shop or a Goodwill the next time I’m home. I love the hunt that a secondhand store entails — it’s even more of  a hunt than my school’s secondhand Christmas sweater market!

Anyway, Merry Christmas from everyone here in my dorm room at Notre Dame! I don’t know for certain that they actually want to wish my readers happy holidays, but I assume they do. They’re nice people. They probably want you all to have a nice life.

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🌲

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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: Thrifted

Sweater: Abercrombie (thrifted)

Shirt: Banana Republic

Skirt: J. Crew (thrifted)

Hat: borrowed from a friend

December 6, 2018 – I Heart Repeated Titles (OOTD #418)

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I was about to title this “I heart Santa” but apparently, I titled a blog that the last time I wore this sweater. 

I like this sweater, but it’s not really me, you know? I got it from a friend for a Secret Santa exchange and…don’t tell her, but I don’t think I would have bought it for myself. I’m happy to wear it because I have it now, but it’s not my style to declare my love for someone on the front of my shirt, even if that someone is Santa.

Santa’s just the OG sugar daddy. Change my mind.

You might notice a new on-campus location with this blog! In fact, it is somewhere new. I took these photos right after I got out of my French oral exam, which was probably my most stressful final exam. Speaking to someone for a whole 30 minutes in French? Without stuttering and staring blankly at my professor when I realize I have nothing to say? I can barely do that in English!

Anyway, after my exam got out, all I really wanted was to walk around for a little to decompress. I had just finished up all of my classes for the semester, and even though I had plenty more finals to worry about still, they weren’t coming for several more days. I had time to relax.

So after I escaped my professor’s office, I went for a walk. I decided I wanted to go somewhere I’d never been before on campus to see if I couldn’t scope out some new photo locations, and I happened on this little courtyard by the business school.

I’m pretty sure all the business students could see me posing and taking pictures though a window as I stood there like an idiot outside in the courtyard without a coat on, but if they did, they probably forgot about it by now. That’s my preferred way of comforting myself when I realize someone’s seen me taking pictures of myself. Most people probably forget that they saw some random girl posing and using a camera remote to take pictures of herself for her fashion blog within a few hours, so there’s no reason to feel embarrassed.

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!

Sweater: Secret Santa exchange

Skirt: Vintage (thrifted)

December 5, 2018 – Christmas at Hogwarts (OOTD #417)

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There are plenty of buildings at Notre Dame that look like they could be a part of Hogwarts.

South Dining Hall is probably the most notable. Some of the arches of the Rock and certain dorms can lean that way too. It’s that collegiate gothic style of architecture — gotta love it, because it makes going to class in the buildings and living in the cockroach-infested rooms a little more bearable.

These pictures were taken in the math department’s building, a building which I never venture into, in part because I have no math classes, and in part because math is terrifying. I made sure to test out of college math for a reason — contrary to the Asian stereotype, I rather hate math.

I so hate it that for the majority of my time at Notre Dame, I’ve tried to completely avoid the math department building out of fear. That was, until last semester, when some friends convinced me to go inside for some pictures.

Turns out, the math building (or at least, half of it) is actually really beautiful and makes for great photos. In fact, I’ve gone to the ivy garden courtyard many times this year for photos because I love it so much.

This was the first time I ventured up to the second floor to look for photo locations, and as you can see, I was not disappointed. I think the second floor might be even more lovely and Hogwarts-like than the first. Don’t be too surprised if I wind up taking pictures again sometime soon.

I guess math really is magical?

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: thrifted (Goodwill)

Sweater: Abercrombie

Skirt: Forever21

December 4, 2018 – Pop Punk Christmas (OOTD #416)

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Is this punk? I’ve got my Docs on. That makes something punk, right?

Or at least, if it’s not punk, it’s pop punk — a slightly more mainstream and easily digestible version of the real thing. That’s a pretty accurate description of me. It’s also a description of my music taste.

I can’t believe it took me this long to think to pair my Docs with this dress. I mean, a dress purchased at a vintage shop in Shoreditch, the most hipster neighborhood of London, plus Doc Martins, the most British (though technically German) punk-looking shoes to exist? How did I not see the connection?

Anyway, I finally saw the connection with this outfit. And I threw on my vintage Christmas jacket purchased at last year’s Christmas sweater market for emphasis.

As much as I love this dress, it’s one of the most unflattering pieces in my closet to photograph. I have to be really careful of how I pose and at what angle I’m being shot at. These were the best pictures that I took, and being honest, they still don’t necessarily make me look the best. I mean, I’m a small, skinny person, and yet in photos, this dress makes me look like I have a beer belly.

I’m happy to let you see it though. The one thing I never edit in my photos is the actual shape of my features. Just goes to show that photos can make you look great — or not-so-great — at different times.

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: Vintage (thrifted)

Dress: Vintage (thrifted)

Shoes: Doc Marten

November 23, 2018 – Beginning To Look A Lot Like… (OOTD #413)

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…Christmas! This blog will start like fall and end like Christmas.

The day after Christmas — Black Friday — is officially the day I start listening to Christmas music. It’s been a tradition of mine since back in middle school, when Black Friday actually meant something, and my dad and I would go out shopping late at night/early in the morning. Once the clock struck midnight, I’d get out my iPod (or iPhone, depending on what year it was) and start listening to Christmas music.

Anyway, Black Friday doesn’t really mean much anymore, since it seems the sales aren’t even that great anymore, and — the worse offense — stores don’t even hold weird late night hours. That was the fun of the whole experience! It was so cool getting to wake up at 2AM to go shopping at 3, and then get breakfast on the way home when it was all over.

That era of Black Friday shopping seems to be over, sadly. I still like to go out, but usually just in the afternoon. I still like seeing the crowds. For as much of an introvert as I am, I like navigating crowds, assuming I don’t have to wait in long lines.

This set of photos was taken by my father while we were at the mall, and they’ll likely be the last set of fall-themed pics I post this year on this blog. From this point on, I’ll be making an effort to do Christmas- and winter-themed outfits.

Like these Christmas- and winter-themed pics here! Yep, these are all from the same day, just later at night. Some friends and I went out driving to check out the neighborhood’s Christmas decorations, and this house always goes all out. They went so all out that some photography seemed to be in order.

Shout out to my buddy Zach for getting these. He did a pretty good job, admittedly. Art students, am I right?

Jacket: Forever21

Sweater/skirt set: Vintage (Thrifted — Street Scene Vintage)

Shoes: Doc Marten

November 21, 2018 – Short Girl, Tall Grass (OOTD #411)

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I love to get pictures in this spot at the park by my home.

If you’ve been keeping track, I’ve used this location for photos many times — here and here, for example. Perhaps you’ve also noticed that the photos from the two linked blogs are definitively summer- and winter-themed. It makes sense then that this one is so fall-themed, right?

There’s something about standing in the tall grass that makes a photo look adventurous and whimsical. Throw a dramatic filter on top of that, and you’ve got a background worth a Lord of the Rings elf cosplay.

Realistically, though, I suppose I’m more of a hobbit than an elf. I’m short, lazy, and like to eat. Just call me a Baggins.

I suppose I also like the tall grass because there is no tall grass on Notre Dame’s campus. Why would there be? It’s a university campus, where everything, including the landscaping, is always neat and manicured. You hardly even see leaves on the ground in the fall.

So when I go to a park that has more “natural”-looking landscaping, even if it is only a little patch of unmowed grass around a small wetland, it’s a welcome sight. It’s little things like that that I hardly notice that I miss when I’m at school, but that I realize I really appreciate when I go home.

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. 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: Target

Sweater: Vintage (thrifted: Street Scene Vintage)

Shoes: Target

November 15, 2018 – Neckwear (OOTD #409)

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Hey look. I have a scarf on. Am I French yet?

My first exposure to the world of scarves for fashion and not just warmth was Hannah Montana. I remember she used to wear these sequin-covered, long, skinny scarves that she’d wrap around her neck or tie like a necktie. Honestly, they looked more like long stingy pieces of yarn tied around her neck than an actual scarf.

But I thought they were the coolest things ever — I even bought a green sequin-covered one to match the one she wore on the cover of her debut album.

Hannah Montana was quite possibly my first fashion icon, not including my mother, whose taste I’ve always admired. My mother, however, never dressed quite as sparkly as Hannah Montana did — and I wound up being quite a fan of sparkles, though not quite so much now as I was when I was in third grade.

(Actually, as I write this, I am wearing a Christmas sweater with rhinestones on it, so clearly, the sparkles interest has not died down.)

My usernames for a lot of accounts when I was younger actually used to be sparkles-related: for example, pinkglitter or crystalchic. Who knows, maybe you happened upon me in a Webkinz or Howrse chatroom back in 2008. I was there quite a lot.

But for real, I’d be open to an early-2000s fashion resurgence. I always liked the flared jeans and Abercrombie cardigans. I probably even still have some of the ones I had in middle school, and they probably still fit. They’re authentic vintage at this point.

I think I may even still have my old sparkly green Hannah Montana scarf somewhere. Maybe I’ll put together a Hannah Montana-inspired outfit one day for this blog — everything comes back in style eventually. Maybe it’s 2006’s time.

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!

Sweater: Forever21

Pants: Thrifted (Salvation Army)

Scarf: My Uncle Tim, who gave it to my grandmother for Christmas, who then gave it to me

November 12, 2018 – Layers Upon Layers (OOTD #406)

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As Shrek once wisely said, “I’ve got layers like an onion.”

Shrek was referring to his identity as an ogre in that scene, but I’m referring to my clothes. I don’t think I’m an ogre…or ogreish?

Those of you who have been around for a long time might remember that I’ve used the “like an onion” quote before to describe an outfit with layers. I was back on OOTD #55 at the time, and Shrek memes were still relatively fresh. Now, I’m significantly less original, not to mention less culturally relevant or funny.

I really like this outfit, though. It wasn’t my idea, however. A friend forwarded me something on Pinterest with a turtleneck layered under a striped button-down to ask what I thought of the style. I was a big fan — so much so that I decided to copy it.

To add to the look, I paired the turtleneck/button-down combo with my ripped black skinny jeans with fishnets layered underneath. Hence, the title — layers upon layers.

The lighting is darker here than I would like, so you can’t really see the fishnet texture in every photo, unfortunately. I just really didn’t have any time to get pictures before after it got dark on this day.

It was a Monday, and on Mondays, I’m usually busy until 6:30pm. With daylight savings, it’s now solidly dark by 6:30pm, which is unfortunate for me trying to get pictures of my outfit in decent lighting. I tried to make up for it by going inside of a building and getting pictures with the artificial lighting, but it just doesn’t compare to natural.

Oh, well. It’s a cute outfit anyway, and it shines on its own, no light required.

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!

Turtleneck: The LOFT (thrifted)

Button-down: Abercrombie

Jeans: Hot Topic

Belt: Not Gucci, unfortunately

November 9, 2018 – Swan Song of Autumn (OOTD #405)

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Looks like fall’s just about over now.

The day I wore this outfit, we got our first snowfall of the season. You can actually sort of see the flurries in the photo here.

It wasn’t enough snow to accumulate, but it was there and it was exciting. I love the snow; winter is my favorite season because of it. Even Notre Dame and the horrible amount of snow that we can get in January/February/March haven’t managed to make me dislike snow yet.

Not yet, at least. This is only my second winter here. I suppose there’s still a chance for me to become weary of the winter weather.

I love the transition from fall to winter, when you get beautiful leaves like this mixed with light snowfall. We never really got that in Kentucky — first off, we didn’t get nearly as much color in the autumn, and secondly, we also never got snow so early in the season. It’s exciting for me to see the combination here. Fall and winter are my two favorite seasons. Put them together, and I’m a happy person.

Happy finter, everybody.

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: Chaps (thrifted)

Sweater: thrifted

Pants: unknown