LONG AND LOOSE MAXI SKIRT

Ah, there's nothing more relaxed, yet elegant, than a flowing maxi skirt. Topshop has some lovely options right now that I think will flow quite seamlessly into Fall (so follow the link and scroll down...). We like our maxi skirts worn with our favorite loosely tucked t-shirts and flat sandals (until the weather gets cool...then you can layer sweaters, scarves and belts up over your long skirt and wear it with flat boots). When wearing the maxi length we suggest keeping the look casual and cool, and suggest staying away from pairing it with heels or anything too fussy. We like to wear our long skirts like we really didn't even think about our outfit...even though we maybe did.

SUMMER WHITES

Wearing white is so pretty in the summer - it's simple, crisp and fresh. It feels marvelous to take advantage of the warm weather and wear white to our hearts content. We also adore the midi-length skirt and have been sporting the longer look all summer. Our skirt is a second hand find but the second look we've shown is from Club Monaco's Spring Collection.

KATE

As promised, here are more looks from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's tour of North America. In the first photo Kate is wearing a green Diane von Furstenberg dress and clutch, in the second a Jenny Peckham dress, and in the third she is wearing a gorgeous Alexander McQueen gown with Jimmy Choo heels and clutch. Modesty with high style.

DENIM AND STRIPES

You all know how much we love our denim shirts at the moment. You're also very aware that the classic striped shirt has been our summer staple. So why not pair them together? There is something so chic about the Parisian stripe Coco made famous, yet pairing it with something so American gives it sort of a "rough around the edges" look. We paired this with white, but don't shy away from pairing with any type of boyfriend pants with the cuffs rolled or even an awesome pair of paper bag chinos from Topshop.  Voila, you'll become effortlessly summer chic.

POLKA DOT SUMMER

If you can't tell yet, we here at Thread Ethic love dresses for summertime. This polka dot dress is a wear anywhere summer look. Girls often think of dressing 'up' in dresses but keep in mind that many dresses can easily be 'dressed down' with flat sandals and worn anywhere. There were quite a few polka dots seen on the spring/summer runways of Comme De Garcons, Mochino, and Junya Watanabe. See a video of polka dots at the Spring 2011 Moschino show here. Dress H&M, sandals Zara.

THE DUCHESS

vogue.com

One of our readers mentioned that the new Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has a very fashion forward yet modest way of dressing. We couldn't agree more. Here are a few of the Duchess's looks we're liking lately. Honestly, there were so many lovely dresses from Kate's recent tour of North America that we are dividing our offering of Kate looks into two posts. Vogue has also noticed the stylish, yet demure, style of the Duchess and thus offered 25 looks they believe the duchess would approve of (we've shown a few we prefer here). 

SUMMER PLAID

This is one of our go-to summer dresses because it is something one can throw on quickly and easily. Think of everything you would wear shorts and a t-shirt to - a summer barbeque, picnic, or the park - and instead just throw on an easy dress. This dress is from Target.

WHITE AND BLACK

We put this look together by combining inspiration from the boxier white looks of the Spring 2011 Chloe collection and the lovely long scarves from the Spring DKNY runway. We liked the strong combination of black accents with this all white look.

CLASSIC SHEATH DRESS

Every Modest Girl should own a classic sheath dress. The cut of a sheath dress is perfectly timeless and, if tailored to you, always flattering no matter what size or shape you are. Remember, a sheath should skim the body elegantly and not crease from being too tightly fitted. We prefer our sheath dresses with cap sleeves and a minimalist crew neck - this neckline feels prefect right now given the popularity of Calvin Klein's Spring 2011 Collection which featured the simple neckline on nearly all of his dresses. We paired this vintage dress with a J.Crew belt, Nine West heels and Forever 21 bracelets.

VIONNET

Is there a more perfect dress to wear to a The Tree of Life party in Cannes, France? We're talking about the film The Tree of Life, and we don't think so. Love, love love this dress by Vionnet worn by Zoe Saldana and also loved the film (which we did not see in Cannes but nonetheless enjoyed at our local theater).

A LITTLE PYTHON

A little python, a little midi-length skirt, some belled sleeves and a chain strap bag...all maybe a little dramatic for warm weather but maybe we're subconsciously looking a bit too far ahead to fall...or just inspired by the python pieces in in this editorial from the June Vogue... Shown here, cage heels by Nine West, blouse Alice Temperly for Target, chain strap bag Forever 21.