THE FLARE + DENIM ON DENIM

We are working two trends here - the denim on denim trend and the flared denim pant. We here at Thread Ethic first shared our penchant for the flared jean with you in a post from this blog in December. Nothing seems more current in denim than the flared jean right now. The Gap has a very good and affordable pair that will be perfect with tucked in breezy summer blouses. We paired ours with a lightweight denim button down shirt from H&M and loved the two different shades of denim together. We adored how Derek Lam showed denim head-to-toe in his Spring/Summer 2011 collection and decided to try our hand at the look.

MIU MIU SPRING/SUMMER 2011

We are crazy about these high impact, yet demure dresses from the Miu Miu SS 2011 collection. There's no reason modesty can't have an edge to it. We love the attitude, the red lips and the way that modesty never looked so cool.

STRIPES ON STRIPES

The stripes on the Prada Spring 2011 runway were very influential this season. Look around - almost every women's clothing store is showcasing stripes to the max. There's no need to blend into the crowd though. Stand out with very bold, colorful stripes or match two different types of stripes together, as we've shown here. We took a diagonally striped skirt and horizontally striped top and matched them together. Or how about this BCBG skirt that has vertical and diagonal stripes in one piece? There's more than one way to wear stripes.

CHARTREUSE

Of all the bright colors popping up everywhere for spring, we think chartreuse has to be one of the most exciting and intriguing. Why? Because it's not quite yellow and it's not quite green. It's also very bright but not neon. Anything that has that ambiguous, indefinable quality makes it interesting in my book. Besides, it's fun to wear! Most people don't see the color too often so it is refreshing on the eyes. Charteuse also looks to-die-for on brunettes. It was interesting to see that designers like Christopher Kane and Christopher Baily for Burberry used chartreuse quite a bit on their spring runways. This dress is H&M, the bag is Urban Outfitters, and the sandals from Target.

VALENTINO FALL/WINTER 2011

Wow, wow, wow. The Valentino Fall 2011 RTW collection was really gorgeous. It was lovely to see that so many of the pieces were perfectly suited to the Modest Girl. We loved the collection so much we may have to post another installment of our favorite looks from the show as the fall months draw closer. I always get inspired looking at beautiful, modest fashion because I'm reminded that even if I can't afford a Valentino dress I can go out and find something with a similar shape, or intuitive feel, in my price range.

VINTAGE VIBE

The weather is warming up and spring is everywhere. Don't you get the urge to throw on a vintage printed shirt dress, drape a cardigan over you shoulders and go for a convertible drive? This is the perfect spring picnic/Saturday afternoon/strolling through town ensemble. I love vintage because nobody ends up looking just like you and the prints and colors create such atmosphere - nothing is more evocative of spring and summers past. We found this dress on Ebay and the sunglasses are Forever XXI.

SPRING FLORAL PRINT

It seems that floral prints are the print du jour for spring and summer. The question for me is always, how to wear floral prints without appearing overly feminine and precious? First of all, the type of print is important. Mod or graphic floral prints seem dated and not current lately, so I would set that type of print aside for now. Blurred, messy, somewhat impressionistic floral prints feel fresh - think Monet, not Hawaiian swim trunks. I've given my floral a little edge with bright red jeans and leopard print heels, then balanced all the color with a tweed blazer.

PALES, WRAP & RUFFLES

Pales with a little bit of color are so pretty right now. We love pairing anything pale and feminine with gray or white jeans - it makes everything feel so fresh. Here we have a ruffled blouse by Diane von Furstenberg, wrap sweater by Marc Jacobs and Zara jeans. The pretty floral sunglasses are some of our favorite from Topshop.

THE SLOUCHY PANT

I'm loving a slouchy, tapered, tailored trouser lately. It's a lovely change from all the skinniness going on (but don't get me wrong, I still love my skinnies!). This pair has a defined waist so a girlish figure doesn't get lost in the extra volume. Topshop has a very nice, similar pair right now. I personally like pants of this shape to be worn with a pair of sky high heels, but I've also seen very chic girls wear them with oxford flats and pull it off quite well. Here I've chosen a pair of leopard print stilettos from Forever XXI. The blouse is from Target and the pants are vintage.

MET GALA 2011

Here are some of our favorite looks from this year's Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala. The Met Gala is one of the most elite fashion events of the year. We love that some of the world's most fashionable women were gorgeous in very modest dresses. Here we've shown Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Hailee Steinfeld all wearing Stella McCartney and Joan Smalls wearing Tom Ford. Perfection. Which is your favorite?

CHINTZ FLORAL & DENIM

First of all, we have to tell you all how much we LOVE the comments you have been posting. We read them all and really appreciate the feedback. In fact, the comments you guys post let us know how you feel about things and help us shape new posts. So keep them coming!!

As of late, a favorite combination of ours has been denim paired with chintz-y floral prints, or those "granny" types of floral prints. The two together evoke a  perfect retro-1930's-Dust-Bowl sort of feeling, or that Route 66 in a vintage convertible vibe that will be perfect for spring and summer. Denim is great to wear with chintz because it keeps the floral from seeming too precious, while still anchoring it with a bit of toughness.

LITTLE BIT ROCKER

I saw the coolest shot of Gwen Stefani inside the May issue of Elle magazine that made me want to let the little, tiny rocker inside me out. She was wearing a motorcycle jacket, white button down blouse, and black slacks, which looked totally slick. I'm not doing exactly that here but I feel this definitely has a rocker vibe to it. I say, some days it's OK to have an edgy attitude and to maybe let people know about it.