thrift – Page 22 – L'ensemble du jour

March 17, 2018 – Living On The Edge (OOTD #248)

Published on March 29, 2018 by lensembledujour6 Comments

Never thought “living on the edge” would take me to the edge of a building, but here we are.

#yolo, am I right?

I’m just kidding. Don’t put yourself in danger just for good pictures, kiddos. Safety first — don’t do it for the Gram.

On Saturday, the last day of my spring break, my friend Amanda and I went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant as our last hurrah before we both went back to school for another month.

Before we ate, though, we decided to hunt down a particular parking garage downtown that offers some really beautiful views of the city. We thought we’d just drive up, snap some photos, and be off to dinner within 20 minutes.

Not so much. Part of the issue was that it was St. Patrick’s Day (I know, I’m not wearing green — pinch me), and a lot of the streets were blocked off for the parade. Neither of us having any sense of direction, we ended up driving around in circles for quite some time just trying to orient ourselves.

And you know what? We never find the parking garage.

We glimpsed it from a distance a few times, but we never managed to actually figure out where in the city it was. I think the street it was on was closed, and we couldn’t figure out how to make it there there via other roads.

After driving to the top of several other parking garages and not finding the view we were looking for, we decided to stop by an opening “window” in one of them near an upper floor and take some photos anyway. It wasn’t quite the big, open view of the city we were hoping for, but it sufficed.

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!

Sweater: Hollister (thrifted)

Top: Zara

Jeans: Hollister

March 11, 2018 – Shocking Pink (OOTD #243)

Published on March 22, 2018February 23, 2019 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Now how’s that for pink and purple?

View this post on Instagram

do you have this in pink?

A post shared by Meilin || L'ensemble du jour (@lensembledujour) on Aug 24, 2018 at 6:00am PDT

Like I mentioned a few blogs ago, I’ve been trying to get more pink and purple color palettes in my OOTD posts for the sake of creating an appealing rainbow order Instagram feed.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bif8A7Mlj3B/

So when I came across this bright pink wall at a Mexican restaurant, I knew I had to use it as a background for these photos. I thought at first the vibrant pink would be too much, but I think it meshed well with my more deep-toned jacket and pants.

On Saturday, the first day of my spring break, my family went out to celebrate my mother’s birthday with lunch and an outing in Shelbyville, Kentucky. We saw a distillery tour and went to some antique shops — it was, on the whole, a very Scanish family day.

By that I mean I feel that eating and shopping around little local place in Kentucky is basically what my family does every time we have something to celebrate. Just look at what we did when my uncle came or visit last summer or when we wanted something to do together before I went back to school after winter break — it was basically the exact same thing.

The remarkable bit is that I don’t think we ever get tired of it. When I was a kid, I absolutely hated going to antique malls because there was rarely anything for me to look at, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to like antiques more.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg3tT5iH-F_/

Could it be because I’m becoming more and more like an antique each day? I’m practically an old lady at this point.

Jacket: thrift

Sweater: Forever21

Jeans: Hollister

March 6, 2018 – The Most Glamorous Location in the World (OOTD #239)

Published on March 16, 2018 by lensembledujour7 Comments

You know something I’ve noticed? My poses become significantly more dynamic when I take my photos by myself.

It makes sense, of course – it’s awkward to try out new, dramatic poses when someone else is looking at you from behind the camera. You don’t want to look stupid, flailing around your arms or gazing dramatically into the distance when someone else can see you, right? It’s better to test out new poses when you don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself.

So where better to go to prevent embarrassing myself than the privacy of the bathroom in the bookstore?

Yep, you heard it here — I’m actually standing in the bathroom in the bookstore for these photos. Admittedly not a very glamorous location shot, but I really liked the pale yellow wallpaper they had.

I set up my camera against the sink, and, keeping an eye on the door the whole time to make sure no one walked in on me while I was posing…for my fashion blog…in a public bathroom…that sounds pretty silly, doesn’t it?

It just goes to show how much improvisation goes on in these fashion posts I do — I hardly ever plan out where I’m going to do my photos, I just pray that I eventually find some place I can do them.

And sometimes, the place to do them is a bathroom with pale yellow wallpapered walls.

Jacket: Forever21

Shirt: thrifted

February 27, 2018 – Dress For the Weather You Want (OOTD #233)

Published on March 5, 2018March 6, 2018 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Sweaters in the summer, short sleeves in the winter — count on me to completely disregard the weather and then halfway regret it when I realize how uncomfortable I am but not enough to make me change my habits!

In fairness, last Tuesday was very nice for a day in late February, especially in South Bend — the sun was shining, the temperatures had made it beyond the 30s, and the last remains of the snow piles (including the 10 ft tall snowman who stood on South Quad for at least two weeks) had finally melted.

In celebration, I broke out this thin short sleeve Hawaiian shirt and even thinner trousers, and then immediately regretted it when I took a step outside and realized that just because the sun was out, did not mean it was summertime. Or even springtime, for that matter. It was still cold, and I’m still in Northern Indiana, and it’s still February.

But as I said repeatedly in the summer, when I wore sweaters and jackets in 80 degree heat, you should dress for whatever look you want and tolerate the (minor) discomfort of the elements. Nothing too extreme, of course, but you should take advantage of the fact that humanity has come so far and you live in a part of the world where the elements probably won’t kill you.

So I pretended I was a Hawaiian tourist for the day, even though nothing about the climate in February in South Bend suggests a Hawaiian vacation. I wish I were on a Hawaiian vacation. Actually, I wish I were just on vacation in general, regardless of where it was — anything so that I didn’t have to deal with my midterms.

That’s what spring break’s for though, right? Five more days.

Shirt: Thrifted

Pants: Forever21

February 26, 2018 – Snow More Snow Please (OOTD #232)

Published on March 4, 2018 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Look! It’s finally sunny enough for me to have my sunglasses on again in these pictures!

Ever since I transitioned to doing some of my pictures in the evening rather than the afternoon (owing to needing to accommodate to the schedules of my friends who do my pictures), I’ve been trying to avoid wearing sunglasses in my photos so much, since it looks silly to have sunglasses on when the sun’s nearly down.

But now that winter’s nearly over (thank goodness), it’s staying lighter for longer, and I can feel less weird about slipping on my shades at 6pm.

As much as I love winter, I’m very much glad for it to be nearly over. It’s rather overstayed its welcome for me, even though it was more mild than usual here in Chicago-area. Or so I’ve heard – I’ve never lived in this part of the country before, so it was definitely colder than I had ever experienced in my Kentucky experience, but from what I’ve heard from Chicago locals, it was actually quite a fair winter.

A few weeks ago, we had several feet of snow accumulate over the course of several days, melting and freezing over several times before it finally all melted away, and that was pretty much the end of my tolerance for this season. I’m usually a big fan of snow in any form, but by the time it finally all melted away, it had pretty much all turned to grey slush and wasn’t really much to look at any more.

Spring break is in under a week for me, though, so I’m excited to head back to Kentucky and experience some of that lovely sunny weather my parents have told me they’ve been getting.

Assuming I can make it through the rest of these midterms though – one exam, three papers, and one project still to go! Wish me luck!

Jacket: Thrifted

Skirt: Zara

Sweater: Kohl’s

February 25, 2018 – Styled By Riley (OOTD #233)

Published on March 2, 2018August 13, 2019 by lensembledujour3 Comments

A colorful door? At my Notre Dame? Most unorthodox!

Slowly but surely, the Riley art building is becoming my favorite building on campus.

No, it’s not the most beautiful building, or the most architecturally interesting, or the cleanest, or the comfiest, or the best lit – it’s not even really what I’d call charmingly dilapidated.

It’s a very strange building, I guess, is how I’d describe it. Because it needs a lot of large studio spaces for the various art classes, I suppose they had to get creative with the configuration of rooms to make space for the spaces they needed. There are hallways that lead you in circles, doors marked “Emergency Exit Only – Alarm Will Sound” that you’re required to use to get to certain parts of the building, and a mysterious locked door that prevents you from getting to the fourth floor. I think one of the strangest things is that there are certain classrooms that you have to walk through to access other parts of the floor. So sometimes, you’ll be sitting in class, working away at your piece or listening to your professor talk, and someone will just walk through because they’re trying to get to another section of the building.

I’m not sure if it’s artistic, or just really really bad design.

Since I’ve been spending so many late nights in the art building as a) a means of actually trying to get my art homework done and b) a way to get some time to myself, since it’s usually pretty empty at night, I’ve been able to go wandering around to find out what all there is. And the other night, I discovered a new studio in the basement for the installation art classes.

And get this – there’s a painted red door!

You might ask, what’s so off about that? Painted doors are hardly anything to get excited about. But the thing is, it is at this school. For as pretty as Notre Dame is, there are very few rooms, or buildings, or really just any indoor spaces at all that incorporate colors other than neutrals. If I had to describe Notre Dame in a single color, I’d have to go with beige, because I’m pretty sure that’s the color of a solid 3/4 of the buildings here, inside and out.

So yeah, I got excited for the photography possibilities that come with the discovery of this red door. Expect to see it again on this blog.

Dress: Kohl’s

Jacket: Thrifted

February 22, 2018 – Midterm Misery (OOTD #231)

Published on February 28, 2018 by lensembledujour1 Comment

Up next on Meilin Explores the Art Building at Night: an art history seminar classroom!

The evening I did these photos, I was at work on a paper of application, so I popped in this empty classroom for some peace and quiet. To my delight, the room had this fun print hung on the wall, making it the perfect place for my OOTD photos.

If anyone actually knows what this piece is or what’s supposed to be going on, please tell me in the comments below. I feel like it’s probably something super metaphorical, but I can’t really even make out what’s supposed to be happening in the scene, let alone what everyone is supposed to represent.

Anyway, despite not having any idea what this piece is, it’s art, and that’s enough to satisfy me. It’s also a fairly colorless background, which I appreciate for the sake of the aesthetics of my Instagram – I like to have some more plain photos to intersperse with more colorful ones to maintain a sense of balance.

Midterms are in full-swing here at school, which is admittedly not making my existence very enjoyable. I’m pretty sure after I finished my photos and the homework I was doing for this post last Wednesday, I laid my coat out on the floor and took a nap. I say “pretty sure” because I’ve been falling asleep in strange places with increasing frequency these last few days, and it’s getting difficult to distinguish between one late night and another.

It goes without saying that I’m excited for spring break to just chill and relax and catch up on my sleep. I’m just going home, which sounds unexciting, but that’s what I’m grateful for. How do the college kids who go out partying at Panama Beach or Tijuana or wherever do it? At the risk of sounding dorky, I can barely manage to occasionally drag myself out of my room to go out one night over the weekend. I can’t imagine going somewhere and partying for an entire week, and then immediately returning to schoolwork. When do you rest?

Jacket: thrifted

Undershirt: ASOS

Pants: J. Crew (thrifted)

February 21, 2018 – Yellow Bellied (OOTD #230)

Published on February 27, 2018 by lensembledujour2 Comments

Get it? Because my shirt is yellow and I’m about to go into a post about how midterms are scary?

Okay, so maybe “scared” isn’t really the word to describe my mental state right now, but certainly “anxious.”

Midterms are next week, and I am very much not in support of it. How on earth did I manage all oft his stress and work last semester? Did I even manage it at all, or did I just just self-combust way back in October and now I’m living in a state of imaginary limbo?

For real though, I always hear complaints about finals week, how that’s the true bane of a college student’s existence, but I’d contest that midterms are worse. You have all the stress of big, important tests with the added pressure of having to continue attending classes and going to meetings. Finals are truly that – final, so there’s something almost comforting about their decisive conclusiveness that midterms do not offer.

If I ever become the president of a school, I think I would treat midterms much like finals – cancel classes for that week and then even offer a reading day or two before they begin.

On a more positive note, I believe that part of my stress has to do with attending fun events and doing things with my friends more often than I did last semester. I’ve been to a few concerts, I ran (and was elected) as the Student Union Board representative for my dorm, and I’ve applied for some study abroad and internship opportunities for the summer. It’s been a good busy.

What’s been a bad busy is that I just realized I have an essay due in two days that I didn’t even realize was due, and I haven’t slept properly in…a while. What’s been a bad busy is that I’m writing this blog in the margins of my notes while listening to my professor lecture because I don’t know if I’ll have time to write at any other point today.

Two more weeks until spring break.

Shirt: Thrifted

Dress: American Eagle

February 20, 2018 – Low Light (OOTD #229)

Published on February 26, 2018February 27, 2018 by lensembledujour7 Comments

I made this a caption for one of my posts on Instagram recently, but I’ll say it again – I think stairwells may just bit the new doorways.

A little context – I’ve said, many, many times on this blog that doorways are pretty much the only structures I get in the backgrounds of my fashion photography. For one, the shape of a door usually just makes for a very nice way to frame the subject in general (that subject being me). Additionally, Notre Dame just has a lot of really pretty doors throughout campus (there are some exceptions – I think Riley’s doorway and LaFun’s doorway are pretty average), and I like to show them off. Maybe one of these days I’lll to a list of the top 10 best doorways at Notre Dame.

Anyway, I’ve been getting tired of constantly standing in front of doors, so I’ve been trying to shake it up a little by exploring the various buildings of ND when they empty out at night for good photography locations. Thankfully, now that I’ve discovered the remote camera feature that allows me to balance my phone somewhere but then actually take the photo on my watch, it’s been easier for me to get pictures done since I don’t have to rely on having someone to be my photographer.

As you’ll see here, when I posed in a stairwell in the campus ministry building, stairwells can make for good substitutes for doors, especially if that stairwell has a window that will let some natural light in.

Unfortunately, when tried to replicate that here in these photos in a different set of stairs in a different building, I didn’t have quite as much luck, as it was too dark out to get much natural light. Instead, I got a (kind of dingy) overhead light.

While I wouldn’t say these shots are particularly glamorous, they are moody, and there are a few in here that, when I put them on the B/W filter, give off some film noir detective vibes.

Will I be returning to this set of stairs for anymore photos? Probably not, especially if it’s dark out. Like I said, I do like some of the things I got here though, so it was still worth it to me.

Jacket: Ralph Lauren

Top: Free People

February 12, 2018 – Playing With Proportions (OOTD #225)

Published on February 18, 2018 by lensembledujour2 Comments

I really feel like a Project Runway contestant in this one.

You know, the “edgy” “artsy” drama queen who uses really pretentious words and consistently dresses in dark colors? I feel like that was me in this outfit.

I really wish Notre Dame had a fashion design class, and that I had the time to take it (assuming it existed), because I would love to learn to make clothes. I can do some basic sewing, buttons and the like, but nothing beyond that.

As a kid, I loved making clothes for my American Girl and Barbie dolls, and I think in some alternate reality, I might have taken that interest and turned it into a real career. I think I’m too far down the road now to really to get into real fashion design, but I like to think that I would have been good at it if I had ever seriously tried it. Maybe when I’m retired (or, alternatively, when I become so fabulously rich that I never have to work a day in my life), I’ll have the opportunity to take some sewing classes.

Anyway, I just really enjoy the way proportions are balanced in this outfit. It’s hardly uncommon to see a collared shirt paired with a sweater, but I think the fact that both the shirt and the sweater are oversized, and the way that the shirt’s left unbuttoned at the bottom makes this a little more unusual than average.