CLINTON KELLY AT MACY'S CITY CREEK

The Clothing

The Questions

The Signing

The Crowd

Clinton Kelly was the reason for the crowd at Macy's this Saturday afternoon. Seeing as though we can't seem to make things on time, we were 5 minutes late and the place was already packed. The laid-back event started off by Mr. Kelly sharing with the crowd the latest achievements in his life (the show "The Chew" has been picked up for another season and "What Not To Wear is now going on 10 seasons). He then got right to it by asking if someone in the crowd was brave enough to let him critique the outfit they were wearing. Surprisingly, many people raised their hands. You can see (in the first picture up top) the poor soul that was picked. Being very sweet, but pretty humorous, he asked what it was she was wearing on top, she replied that it was a floral sweater set. He then looked behind her sarcastically, "oh and it has a hoodie!" 

"And what shoes are you wearing? They look like potatoes."

"But I wanted to wear something comfortable since I was going to be walking around City Creek!"

"You can still dress comfortably and look stylish."

Here he segued into displaying spring fashions he picked to highlight different elements that many people don't get right. He talked about color blocking (a big Spring 2012 trend), belts, jackets, hose, patterns etc. All of the clothing was very workable and main-stream for many different body types and ages. He gave out good pointers like if you're using only color in your outfit, also throw in a texture to mix it up (like the green dress with the orange bag up top...the texture was in the leopard pumps). Or how it's old-fashioned to match all of your accesories. If you're wearing a red belt (like the one pictured with the leopard print dress) he relayed that you may be tempted to start matching your shoes and your bag, this you don't want to do if you want to keep it more modern. He also talked about age appropriate dressing. The lady in bright blue up top, kept it simple and was wearing hose that were the color of her legs. This he noted that she was doing perfectly. He said many people ask him about the appropriateness of hose. They can help make a look more polished, but if you "wear them because you hope to make your legs look more tan, you should run far, far away from them."

Questions were in order after the clothing segment. One asked about jeans not fitting her well because she had what she called a "skinny waist but bigger butt and thighs" (her friends started laughing, "but I do!"). She'd rather go skin tight on her bottom portion than baggy in the waist. Here he made a good point; it's much easier to have a tailor make two small darts in the waist and have a great pair of jeans for 10 years than walk around for the next 10 years trying to find the perfect pair of jeans. Another asked about belts, another about being top heavy, another about brightly colored jeans and if she was too old to wear them (which her daughter had made mention of). "Always buy clothing that fits. Being top heavy doesn't mean that you always need to try and cover it up. Also when you buy clothing that fits, you know when you're losing or gaining weight." "Oh and the age appropriate question! I was hoping someone would ask this. Some things change for women when they get older, I won't say how old [he whispers "around 40"] I tell women 4 things to live by for dressing their age. 1. No cleavage for day wear (with evening, things are a little more flexible) 2. Nothing too short (the most you can get away with is mid thigh and that's pushing it) 3. Nothing that ever shows the navel. 4. No trends that ever resemble anything remotely hooker-ish."

And there you have it! We found his advice and the looks to be very classy and safe for women. If only people would take it! All in all, thank you Clinton for an enjoyable afternoon and for helping people have the confidence to dress more stylishly. 

CLINTON KELLY - Appearance at Macy's City Creek

Look who it is! It's Clinton Kelly from TLC's "What Not To Wear"! And he's coming to the brand new Macy's at beautiful City Creek in Salt Lake this Saturday to do a presentation on his Spring must-haves for women of all shapes and sizes. He's also just wrapped up taking part in Macy's million dollar makeover that aired two nights ago where the winner Dylan Gold, an entrepreneur in furniture making, was given not only the big monetary prize, but also advice from designers in the business and a make-over from Mr. Kelly to help in his pursuits of winning. This is the second year the competition has taken place where Macy's has selected 3 finalists in home design, food, or fashion, from applicants on their Facebook page. Maybe we should apply in the coming years in creating a clothing line! Or maybe some of you should apply in the 3 areas of design. In any case, you should definitely come to see what Mr. Kelly has to say on Saturday. It's the perfect excuse to get down to City Creek and view the fabulous site. Oh and it's at the perfect time, 1pm. Looks like one of us may have an excuse to hit some of the shops.... (Oh, and we've been invited to cover the event, so make sure and say 'hello' if you make it out.)

COACHELLA 2012 FASHION - via Refinery 29

Thanks to Refinery 29 we all have some great shots of the style at the Coachella music festival this year. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the festival, it's pretty much a celebration of who's who in the music scene right now. You have everyone from the big bands of Radiohead and the Black keys, to other amazing bands like Beirut, M83, The Shins, and The Head and the Heart, to name a few. And since the festival has been on the rise in Palm Springs, you have a definite style that has emerged. It seems to be the music festival of choice to attend for photos of the laid back/hippie-esque style. We've loved viewing what goes on there every year. Maybe one year we'll actually get to make it down there....

MODEST LOOKBOOK - Erin Fetherston

Erin Fetherston is an indie designer that has definitely put out some beautiful collections in her short career (pretty dresses are obviously her specialty). But we weren't aware of her designs until Vogue just recently highlighted a book of photography by Claibourne Swanson Frank called "American Beauty." In it Erin was highlighted as one of the women who possessed what the photographer called "a blend of grit, grace, glamour, and gravitas." We fell in love with not only this photograph, but her beautiful design in it. Hopefully she'll implement more looks like this in her future collections. Love.

FELLOW MODEST BLOGGERS

While taking part in the blogging world you tend to find more bloggers that have similar aesthetics as you. It's nice to see that they too are making choices that help others feel comfortable in their standards of dress. And of course it helps to see what others are doing outside of our own blog. Obviously we take inspiration from the biggest blogs out there (think The Sartorialist, All the Pretty Birds, etc...) but we'd also like to show you two others that we like to check in on as well. Rachel over at The Pink Peonies has been a fun find for us. We found her through her pretty images that filter through Pinterest. Elaine over at Clothed Much you've heard us talk about. She highlighted us on her blog a while back and ever since we've enjoyed viewing her clothing decisions. So there ya go! Thanks girls for giving everyone the images and 'how to' in dressing beautifully.

MODEST LOOKBOOK - Banana Republic Mad Men Collection Spring 2012

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! The Spring collection of Banana Republic's collaboration with the television series is back in business for Spring 2012.  This is pretty fresh news so it's hard to find the lookbook but you can view what's up as of now here. The two of us at thread ethic are a little Mad Men obsessed, so you can see why we get excited about these things (Season 5 starts March 25 [after a nearly two year hiatus]). Although there aren't a lot of more modest looks from the Banana Republic lookbook, we're holding out in hopes that more will emerge. In any case, we're happy to view the looks coming up from the actual show. Yay for Spring!

CLUB MONACO SPRING 2012 - LESSONS IN LAYERING

Ever wondered how to layer clothing well? These looks from Club Monaco for this season show exactly that - layering done perfectly. We'll definitely be taking a cue from these looks. Go ahead and view the whole collection here.

ZARA NOVEMBER LOOKS

Loving these Zara looks of late. These images are lovely inspiration for how to look laid back and a bit edgy without sacrificing elegance. I have been wearing my button-up blouses with moto jackets for the last few months, and have been liking the look, but hadn't thought to wear a pencil skirt with the combo, as in the first image. So pretty. Also, I saw the ombre gown in person and it is really gorgeous. You could absolutely dress this full length gown up or down. You could wear it with a beaded belt and go very formal, or you could wear it in a more casual way as a maxi dress. Totally fab. Oh, and Zara is having a 50% off sale online today for Black Friday....so maybe you should think about doing some holiday shopping early...

SIBLING RIVALRY

Since we here at Thread Ethic are two sisters who love fashion, we thought it very fun that Vogue is featuring stylish sisters on their best dressed list. Here we're showing two of the more modest sets of sisters - Ruby and Lily Aldridge wearing Vintage (Ruby) and Faconnable jacket, Hannible Y shorts and rochas mules (Lily); and Charlotte Gainsburg and Lou Doillon wearing Balenciaga and Balmain respectively. You can see more of these looks at Vogue.com.

NEUTRAL SOPHISTICATION

Sometimes when nature's colors are bright, we feel like keeping our clothing neutral. We thought Tera here channeled similar concepts as Jason Wu with his Fall 2011 runway collection. He stayed pretty neutral with black, cream and shades of nude, but the overall effect was extremely sophisticated and sharp. Tera's outfit also falls within this neutral realm of sophistication, but she's definitely added some youthful flair with the graphic t. Also take note of the dark navy tights with the grey booties. It definitely would've lost some of its lovely neutral softness if it was black from the knees down (which most of us would have expected). Obviously Mr. Wu thought similarly when he paired navy pants with a black stripe sweater and soft patterned blouse. And yet sometimes pairing the unexpected can bring such nice results. All hail to navy and neutrals!

GRAY SHIFT

This is actually a dress we pulled out of the back closet. We wore it a lot a few years ago when trapeze/sack/mumu dresses were all the rage. We updated this hybrid between a sack and shift dress by adding a bright belt, leopard scarf and cage heels. Dress H&M, belt Nordstrom, heels Forever 21.

DAYTIME LACE

Who says lace is only for the evening? We say, not so! With a t-shirt, day bag, blazer and booties lace looks cool, not prim. Lace in all it's dress codes is perfectly on trend for fall but try giving the daytime variety and try. See examples of how to add a touch of lace to a look here.

EVERYDAY CHIC + A LITTLE COLOR

I found this girl at a fashion show I attended and thought she was a great example of pulling a look together with classic, chic pieces - nothing crazy here, just good taste. I especially love the bright bag with all the neutral pieces, and her choice of tan heels instead of black.

THE SILHOUETTE

So gorgeous, right? I spotted her away from the crowds, doing her own thing. I love the clean lines and minimalist feel to her look - the shape of the dress and hat do all the talking. Is this too strong of a look for you? Then maybe just try dark tights and lace-up booties with with your fall dresses and skirts. You can find similar grey, lace-up booties at Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters.

FEATHERS AND DENIM

Not brave enough to wear the feather trend on your clothing like they did at the Fall 2011 shows of Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen? Then sport them on your ears, as feathers are still having a moment going into the fall season. Denim everything is also still a trend with staying power for fall. Tera is wearing a denim dress with warm weather sandals now but can easily transition this piece into the fall and winter months with cold weather boots, tights, jackets, sweaters and even fur. Here her dress is vintage from Etsy, sandal wedges Forever Young and feather earrings are Aldo (and seriously...isn't she so cute in that last picture?).

CASUAL LBD

I guess there's a reason the "little black dress" now has it's own abbreviation. It definitely has become a staple. I was down with Alison here in Houston, thrifting, when she came across this particular black dress. She asked me if I wanted to try it on, but my closet seems to be filled with black from my NYC days (is there anything more chic? But I've been trying to get outside the depths of my black, white and grey closet in order to literally step, like dorothy, into the technicolor world of Oz). But when I found that she had yet to find the perfect little black dress for her closet, I realized a purchase would ensue.

Some of you may wonder when you do find that perfect dress, how to wear it in an everyday way. The key here is accessorizing. Don't be scared of brown...brown seems to pull the black into the realm of casual. And of course what's the all time best way to dress down anything? A motorcycle jacket. Here's what Alison is wearing...bag Forever 21, shoes are DSW, jacket H&M, dress vintage. Want your own vintage black dress? You could try ebay (always check measurements), your local goodwill, salvation army, or DI.