Tag: vintage

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

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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.

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!

Sweater: The LOFT

Shirt: Vintage (thrifted)

Jeans: Abercrombie

September 1, 2017 – Is It Fall Yet? (OOTD #101)

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Shoot, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?

I haven’t posted anything here since last Sunday – in other words, it’s been four days since my last blog post. I think that’s still a little shorter of a hiatus than the one I took when I was in London…but yeah, it’s been too long.

College has been treating me well enough. That said, it hasn’t exactly been easy either – for example, I spend more time than I would like hanging out in the upper floors of the library writing papers, and less time than I would like writing blog posts. Still, I enjoy the freedom, the fewer hours spent in classes, and the exercise I get walking around campus.

It’s interesting: now that I’m living on a college campus, where there are so many people moving from place to place 24/7, I’m not sure when it’s appropriate for me to change out of my “school clothes” and into my “lazy clothes.” In high school, I wore nice clothes during the school day, and when I got home, I changed into comfy clothes (which sometimes just meant pajamas). But now, I’m pretty much always at school because my home is school. So when do I get to stop being fashionable and start looking lazy?

Speaking of fashion, this coat has quickly become one of my favorite articles in my wardrobe. Why? Because it’s one of the only coats I bothered to bring here, and Lord knows the September weather here in South Bend necessities it.

But why didn’t I bring more coats? Because in Kentucky, at this time of the year, it still feels like summer. It’s not unusual to have weather that’s still in the 80s and upper 70s – in other words, nothing that would ever require a coat. In fact, I probably don’t break out my jackets until mid to late October because I’m still able to wear shorts and t-shirts.

Not here – here, it’s been chilly and rainy in the mornings just about every day since the start of classes two weeks ago. I’m not complaining; I much prefer this to the heat we had in Kentucky (anyone who’s been following this blog since the summer can attest to that). Still, I left all of my sweaters and coats at home, and I’m really missing them right now.

In fact, I’m missing all of my clothes I left at home. I wound up having more room in my wardrobe than I thought I was going to have, so at fall break, I’m definitely going to bring some more pieces. My clothes are kind of like my children; I miss them when I’m apart from them.

Anyway, I’ve got to scoot off to Astronomy, which begins in 20 minutes, so that’s all for today! 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!

Coat: Vintage

Pants: The LOFT

Shirt: Forever21

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

 

August 23, 2017 – Bringing Shoreditch to South Bend (OOTD #93)

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Can you believe it’s already been basically two months since I was in London?

Yep – on this day, two months ago, I was preparing myself for my trip and beginning to plan out what I wanted to do with Amanda. That all already feels so far away, though – like another lifetime.

In a way, it feels like I’ve passed through at least two separate lifetimes since I was in London. My time working at the hardware store over the summer was definitely a unique experience, and of course, Welcome Weekend at Notre Dame was another thing entirely. London, my summer job, Welcome Weekend – they literally only happened within about two months of each other, but I’m pretty sure I was a different person entirely during each era.

Now classes have begun, which feels like another existence in and of itself, completely separate from Welcome Weekend. I remember complaining a lot during Welcome Weekend about all the activities we had to do and all the forced socialization. Now I realize I should have been grateful for the time when it was just freshmen on campus whose only job was to mingle and get acclimated to life.

Because, of course, now I still have the job of mingling and getting acclimated to campus life, but with the added responsibility of being a semi-adult who attends six stress-indcucing classes.

So today, my second day of class, I decided to bring back a little bit of the London Meilin, the one who had a mean fake British accent and could use the Underground like a local. I bought this denim dress in a thrift shop in Shoreditch, which was probably one of my favorite days of the entire trip. And that’s saying something, given how London was perhaps some of my favorite days of my life.

For real though, just wearing my Shoreditch dress made me feel a little more relaxed and at home here at Notre Dame. I wasn’t quite able to transport myself back to London and the mentality I had there, but it helped.

One of these days, I’ll really have to make a point of taking a day trip into Chicago. South Bend is, if I’m honest, pretty lame as a city (even more so than Lexington), and I’m craving the urban vibe. I think there’s a way I can grab a shuttle into a train station, and then catch a train into the city. At some point when I’m not laden with homework (Will there ever be a point when I’m not laden with homework? Hopefully lol), I need to figure that out.

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: Blitz (vintage)

Top: Free People

 

August 18, 2017- First Day at ND (OOTD #88)

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Today I did what was, just a few days ago, practically unthinkable to me – moved into my college dorm room.

This was probably the bit I was most excited for in the whole beginning college ordeal. I’ve (or should I say, my parents) been buying things in preparation for this day for weeks. Granted, I’ve got some friends who have been preparing for months, and good for them, but I’m more of a “fly by the seat of your pants”  and “live in a state of denial whenever a big change is approaching” type of girl, so my excitement didn’t have that much time to fester.

But it did anyway, and every time I looked at my handprinted Indian bedding it festered (there’s your Scrabble word of the day) a little more. That’s really what got me through the ugly packing process followed by the 6 hour car drive up to South Bend on Thursday.

I’m not sure how I feel about this whole living situation at Notre Dame – I’m in a two-room quad, meaning there’s a little tiny back bedroom, where our four beds and four wardrobes sit, and then a much larger social space, with our desks and not much else. I actually don’t mind the space part, since I’ve managed to fit pretty much all the clothes I’d been wanting to bring (it’s still only about half of my full wardrobe), I’m just a little apprehensive about living with 3 other girls.

People exhaust me, and I need time by myself every day in order to restore my energy. How is that going to happen in this quad? I’m sure there will be plenty of secluded places for going off and studying in peace, but I really need a quiet, safe place where I can rest. I’m sure it’ll all turn out okay, the question is just when.

Another key issue: who’s going to take my OOTD photos now that I’m here? Fingers crossed that one of my roommates will be chill with it. Otherwise….maybe it’s time to invest in a tripod? Or make friends with an actual photographer? 😂

We’ll see. Hopefully it’s not long before I can connect with the artsy kids and we can mull over our own pretentious, artistic endeavors together.

On another note, it was perhaps a bad decision to wear a long white coat on an 80 degree day when you and your parents are hauling boxes across campus and up three flights of stairs, but I can’t help it – I just really want to look nice while I’m here. It’s not even so much the fact that it’s my first day on campus and I want to impress people; on the contrary, I feel like the first week of school is a terrible time to bust out your nicest outfits, since everyone’s distracted by the first day of school stuff. Plus, they’re probably a little nicer dressed than usual too. so it’s more difficult to stand out.

#PrayforMei – Lord knows I need it.

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!

Jacket: Vintage

Skirt: H&M

Bralette: Aerie

August 4, 2017 – I Don’t Even Like Donuts (OOTD #82)

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No, really – I don't.

I've tried over and over again to like them. Every time I see a donut, I think to myself: look at that adorable little thing – it's like a cake bagel with icing. How can that go wrong? And every time I try one, I get three bites into it and then think: oh, that's right. Donuts are heavy and greasy and I don't like them. 

The only donut I've ever really enjoyed come from McMillans Bakery in Westmont, New Jersey. They've got these amazing cream-filled ones that are delicious and gooey and don't really even taste like conventional donuts  - and maybe that's why I like them. They don't even have holes in the center like donuts are supposed to, but I don't really care because they're just so good.

So why am I rambling about donuts? Well, Jane's friend, Kristen, invited the two of us to go with her to a donut shop in downtown Louisville that she had discovered during a music festival, and even though I don't like donuts, I'm always down to going out to eat in new places in unfamiliar cities. She picked us up around noon and drove us (blasting Selena Gomez all the while) to this little place called Nords Bakery, and wow, am I glad I agreed to go.

I did eat a donut while I was there – original, with a strawberry glaze – but that wasn't what I enjoyed best. It was the décor of the place – bright pinks and yellows covering the exterior, sprinkles on the door, and a big window in front of our table with beautiful afternoon lighting streaming in – that really impressed me.

Needless to say, I had a field day taking photos of my friends and myself sitting around the table.

I like Jane and Kristen. They're not weird about having photos taken of them, and better yet, they were happy to take photos of me and my outfit. It makes me wish I still lived near them or was going to the same college in the fall so we could take cute photos together all the time.

Speaking of which, here's to hoping I can find someone who's willing to take my pictures for my fashion blog once I get to Notre Dame! Fingers crossed that my roommates don't think I'm weird and super-narcisstic…?

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: Vintage

Scarf: The Metropolitan Museum of Art's gift shop

Shirt: The LOFT

 

July 16, 2017 – Back in the USA (OOTD #68)

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After a harrowing experience in the Atlanta airport involving 22 hours, sleeping on a chair, and an epic showdown against a cockroach named Jonny, I'm finally back in Lexington.

It's definitely a relief. London and the approximately 240 hours I spent there were wonderful, but 22 hours in a dirty, ugly airport such as ATL is enough to make anyone miss home and its cockroach-free bathrooms.

My first day back, my mother had a picnic that she'd organized along with her work friends, so my father and I stopped by for a few hours. I was exhausted and cranky, not to mention generally bitter that it's a solid 10 degrees hotter and feels 100% more humid here in Kentucky than it was in London, so perhaps I was not the best company for anyone there, but it was still nice to get out of the house. The hot dogs were pretty decent too.

Plus, the picnic was held at a really beautiful location. The church we were at, Walnut Hill, was constructed back in 1801 on land donated by Mary Todd Lincoln's grandfather (wife of the famous Abraham), and there was this awesome old cemetery around back with graves dating back to the late 18th century. Nothing as old as some of the stuff I saw in London, but still probably one of the oldest buildings in the state, and arguably just as cool (and this church doesn't charge 20 pounds for admission! cough cough, St. Paul's Cathedral)

Neither my father nor I are particularly sociable people, so when we got bored of staring at the people talking, we wandered off to explore some of the church's grounds. I got my photos for my outfits in in this beautiful little courtyard area, and my dad and I made a sport of trying to find the oldest gravestone in the cemetery, made low-key dangerous by the high grass and my idiot decision to wear wedges.

I guess that's it for today. Not a very eventful blog post, I know, but I hardly did anything other than sit at home, jet lag-heavy eyes trying to stay open while my whole body tried to tell them it should be six hours later. It wasn't too bad though – much better than when I returned from China after my trip in third grade. I think I had to take two or three days of school off to recover from that.

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: Liz Claiborne (thrifted)

Skirt: Vintage

 

July 9, 2017 – Shoreditching (OOTD #63)

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Oh dear, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?

When I started blogging, I promised myself I wouldn’t let it go so many days between posts that I had to apologize to my readers for my tardiness, yet here I am.

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Am I "edgy" yet

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In my defense, London has had me distracted in the best way possible. There’s so much to see and do here, and every morning, I found myself eager to get up and start the day and every night, I found myself exhausted from the day’s adventures.

No need to worry though – my dear friend Amanda has been doing an excellent job documenting my outfits over these last several days, so the daily blog posts will continue from now on, just with a bit of a delay. Perhaps it’s better this way – gives me more time to distance myself from the day and give a true reflection, eh?

Anyway, flashback to Sunday, July 9 – probably my favorite day for the whole of my trip. We saw Shoreditch that day, which, for those of you who don’t know, is a charming little neighborhood in London that’s basically a hub for hipster culture. There are dozens of amazing little vintage shops run by guys with beards and girls in beanies, and I spent more money than I probably should’ve in the Brick Lane Market.


But what was best about Shoreditch was that it wasn’t crawling with tourists like some of the other places we’ve seen have been. I get it, London is a big exciting city, and people from all of over the world flock to it as a center for western history and culture (myself included), but the huge tour groups and confused-looking people standing right in the middle of the street trying to read a map get a little annoying.


Granted, I’ve been that confused-looking person standing in the middle of the road before, but that doesn’t make it much less annoying.


Second best to the lack of tourists was the amazing street art in Shoreditch. I mean, just look at some of the gorgeous photos I got that day, and it had nothing to do with having interesting angles or particularly good lighting. It was all in the backgrounds; they’ve got some stunning works all over the place there, and I wish I could’ve stayed around to get even more photos.


I also had fish and chips from Poppies’, which is, according to Trip Advisor, one of the best fish and chips places in London. To be honest, I don’t really like cod, but this was pretty good. I don’t know, I’m visiting London, I feel like I have to taste the signature dish whether I really want to or not.

Shoreditch: 10/10 would recommend if you’re planning a London trip.

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It was as good as it looks, don't worry

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Art's pretty cool

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Street art is cool! (London edition)

A post shared by Meilin || L'ensemble du jour (@lensembledujour) on

 


That’s it for today! 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!

Turtleneck: Free People

Skirt: Abercrombie

June 23, 2017 – Schoolteacher Chic (OOTD #51)

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Can you believe I’ve already made 51 of these silly little things?


I guess 51 is an odd number to celebrate – I probably should’ve done 50, but yesterday, when I was writing the blog post of the day, I thought I was at 49. I didn’t realize until after the blog had been posted that it was the “big 5-0,” and by then it was of course too late.


But better late than never, so here I am, happily recognizing that I’ve made it to 51 blog posts!


It’s only been a few months for me writing on L’ensemble du jour, but I can tell you, it’s already made a moderate impact on my life. First off, I can’t just have lazy days where I wear leggings and a t-shirt anymore, lol. Every day’s outfit has to be carefully planned out and organized to ensure that nothing looks too similar, and there’s always quality content and variety on this blog.


It’s a challenge, but I love it. Writing here is easily one of my favorite parts of the day. And it’s made all the better because I know you guys always have such kind words to say! Seriously, reading the comments that are left at the bottom of each blog always makes me smile, even after a long day at work.


Speaking of work, I had another job interview today. I figured since I was only working part time, I’d try and see if I could pick anything else up on the side. Fingers crossed! 

For this interview, I chose an outfit I had actually already had planned out for weeks – and one that I can only describe as “schoolteacher-esque.” A very stylish schoolteacher, who wears Evan Picone jackets and Ray-Bans, but a schoolteacher nonetheless. Actually, fun fact: two of the pieces today were vintage/thrifted – the jacket, which I got at Salvation Army, and the skirt, which I got along with a cute jacket at an antique mall.


A huge thank you to the 270-some of you who follow me here, the nearly 2,000 who follow me on IG, and basically anyone else who follows me on any social media channel or has ever checked out this blog. I’m hardly famous, but I’m growing, and your support means a lot.


Skirt: Vintage

Shirt: Hollister

Jacket: Evan Picone

Bag: Coach

That’s it for today! 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

June 14, 2017 – Nice to Meet You, My Name is Oscar (OOTD #43)

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At least, that’s what the shirt says.


I got a wonderful surprise the other day – a package in the mail from my Uncle Tim. If you read my post from about a week ago, when Tim visited my family in Bardstown KY, you’d have read that he has a little quirk where he likes to wear old work shirts with other people’s names on them. I guess my father mentioned to him that I thought that that style was both hilarious and actually quite interesting, because Tim saw it fit to send me my own misnamed work shirt: this one proclaiming that I am Oscar of SB Cox’s Demolition and Construction Services, out of Richmond, VA.

I say shirt – it’s more of a dress, really, on me. I have no idea what size Oscar was, but it’s suffice to say he was a bit larger than me. I don’t really care though; I ended up wearing the shirt more like a dress, or maybe a long tunic.

No worries, there are shorts underneath though. I like to stay mostly modest – and to keep my mother happy.

To accessorize, I wore a black tank top and a black choker underneath. I guess that’s not terribly exciting, but I really wanted the shirt to speak for itself. It’s already a bit of a risky move, a) wearing a shirt as a dress and b) wearing a shirt with some guy named Oscar’s name on it. No need to go overboard.

Anyway, I spent most of today at home in the kitchen, working on a cake for Father’s Day. I used this little recipe from The Cake Blog that I saw on Pinterest. I’m actually still working on it, but assuming it doesn’t turn out a horrific, ugly mess, I’ll post some pictures of it on tomorrow’s blog.

 Spending the day at home, I also got to make myself a nice little lunch of a gorgonzola, walnut, and apple salad, a cup of tea, and some macarons. And what better thing to do when you make yourself a chic lunch than to take overly staged photos of it so you can post it on your blog?

(Also, Uncle Tim, if you happen to be reading this – thank you so much for the shirt! I love it!)

That’s it for today! 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: SB Cox’s Demolition and Construction Services

Choker: Claire’s (cringey, I know. But it was cheap and no one has to know where it can from!)