I'm the Harvard to Your Oxford

It's the weekend! I survived my Physics exam on Thursday and actually had fun while taking it (well, who wouldn't if your professor wrote all the questions featuring South Park characters?) It was remarkably the most un-stressful exam I've ever taken in college. The end of the week nicely balances out the bad luck and troubles I had earlier in the week. Neuroscience classes are getting harder and harder and I find myself wishing I had 48 hours in a day. I would settle for 24 if I knew how to manage my time wisely and not fall asleep randomly out of fatigue.

This outfit is a tribute to dressing fashionably during Exam week. I really wanted to grab sweatpants one day but I decided life's too short to look like a bum. Thus I pulled out some pieces and fashioned something presentable for Monday, a few days before my exam. My outfits descended into hideous laziness as the week progressed, but that's to be expected when all you can think to do is try to float a nerve to record from it or make sure you wrote all the moment of inertia equations on your 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.

In other news, more and more people from my "real life" are finding out about my blog and it's not quite as scary as I imagine. For the longest time I've been avoiding even mentioning this to my friends, fearing looks of disapproval and tsk tsk'ing for "wasting my time." What really surprises me is when people on campus bump into me and say, "Hi! What are you up to? Oh by the way, I've been reading your blog." My first reaction is: o_o really? ehhh .. prepare for embarrassment ... while in fact I've been met with so much support and encouragement even from the most unexpected people. Shout out to anyone from school reading this xD

Without further ado, let's talk about this outfit. I wore this on Monday, when it was still just a bit chilly in the mornings and much hotter by early afternoon. My incremental attempts to coerce fall into happening happened a little too well on Saturday because it was definitely in the 60s Fahrenheit. St. Louis jumped from summer to winter faster than you can say SIBERIA. This is a continuation of attempting to build my layering skills while trying to stay fashionable, my major goal this fall/winter.

I really like building outfits, just like stacking random pieces from a Lego set together until I get some shape and working from there. That day I started off with a comfy Forever 21 skirt from summer, a bit too big at the waist but workable. I layered on sweater tights underneath to keep my legs warm and brought out my Oxford booties for a spin. I have been spending so much on shoes lately - my room is exploding with boxes D: I need to pull out the big guns and put in some hours in the Psych building to make up for it :( This pair from Forever 21 is a really dark brown (I had wanted Camel or an Oatmeal light brown but $90 is a little steep at UO or Aldo) and it's pretty comfortable until you walk all around campus all day. The heel is about 4 inches but the worst part is that this shoe SQUEAKS like some rabid mouse puppet or wet sneakers as I walk. If you heard "clip clop squeak clip clop squeak" on Monday, that was me tearing up the sidewalk with some weird noises coming out of my shoes haha. I have no idea how to fix this but hopefully it will disappear soon. I made sure to wear some ankle socks to prevent my feet from slipping when it gets hot.

Finally I threw on a Ralph Lauren Petite sweater I bought off a school clothing sale last year. I can't believe how wealthy some people are around here because they were donating J. Crew and Ralph Lauren for $2-$4 ... I totally nabbed this for $4 and it fits pretty well. The straight-across neckline is kind of strange and itches a little but the length is great for petites. Top it off with a beret I stumbled upon at a thrift store during high school for $0.50 and we have a deal of an outfit. I like the colour scheme and I felt quite collegiate and a hybrid of American and European styles, thus the title. My bag is a random cheap one from Claire's I bought a long time ago that I use instead of a backpack because the one I've been using since 7th grade is falling apart and kills my back. Also, when I stuff it to capacity I look like a sad unfashionable pack mule that a simple breeze can blow over.

Wearing:

White Knit Sweater, Ralph Lauren Petite (size Petite S)

Red and navy striped skirt, Forever 21 (size S)

Grey sweater leggings with ankle socks, brand?

Lace-up oxford booties, Forever 21 (size 6)

Chunky beret, Thrifted

Black faux croc pattern shoulder bag, Claire's

Geo Ash Wing Grey lenses

Photographer: Boyfriend

Disclaimer: No, I don't go to Harvard

 

Hopefully we can see the leaves changing colours soon in my usual photoshoot location. I ♥ chlorophyll!

 

 Front

 Back

 I look a little concerned about my planner here haha

Oxford Booties

I like the effect of the ankle socks peeping through

 

With a pom pom!

 

Knit knit knit

Bag attack

I plan on collecting my backlog of outfits tomorrow. I'm challenging myself to a limit of 5 minutes per picture, so hopefully I can fit all my outfits into an hour or so, which includes running up 4 flights of stairs to change. I know I definitely have over 10 outfits to shoot eek. Besides that, I always have a load of work to catch up on but this weekend has been relatively breathe-easy. We celebrated a friend's birthday tonight and I had some yummy food at Moon Festival (thank goodness for the hot tea). I hope you guys enjoy the noodles out of your Sunday!