SHEER VALENTINO

The Valentino Spring 2011 Ready To Wear collection was sheer fashion heaven. One beautiful frock after another came down the runway. It was also a Modest Girl's heaven because nearly everything came to the knee and had gorgeous, beautifully intricate coverage on top. These dresses are a perfect example of how one needn't sacrifice modesty for high fashion. This collection also highlighted one of spring's most lovely fashion trends - sheer, lighter than air fabrics. Really, what could be prettier?

THE CLASSIC TRENCH

If there is one item of clothing a Modest Girl should invest in, it would be a classic trench coat. A classic trench coat falls just above the knee, is double breasted, has epaulets at the shoulder (or shoulder tabs), and a detachable D-ring belt. Once you invest in a trench coat, you will wear it for the rest of your life. Katherine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall and Kate Moss all wore trench coats - each in a different decade and era of fashion. Burberry makes the iconic trench coat, but we kind of think Banana Republic and London Fog make some just about as good.

PRETTY LEOPARD

Usually we like our leopard print in small doses, but this dress has such a girly shape, and such pretty detailing, we couldn't pass it up. Sometimes leopard can have an aggressive feel but this somehow feels sweet. Lovely little accordion pleats and ruffles keep the dress feminine in a non-vamp kind of way. The towering Michael By Michael Kors pewter mary janes might just steal the show, though.

BOW TIE

This is Hilary Onyon wearing a modern, girlish take on menswear. She's sporting the feminine version of a mens blue, oxford shirt and a basic black cardigan (two items we probably all have in our closets). Notice the girly version of a bow tie around her neck - so artfully, but casually done. There's always something you can do to amp up an outfit. She's also sporting the stand-by skinny denim, and the cutest pewter, t-strap, mid-hight pair of heels. She said she borrowed them from her mom. I'm also dying for the large faced, leather strap, menswear style wrist watch.

MINIMALIST

We Good Girls here at Thread Ethic lived in New York City for a long time and still kind of feel like it is our hometown (or one of our hometowns, I guess). The inhabitants of New York have a reputation for wearing a lot of black, a reputation which holds true - there's a lot of dark clothing running around that city. We love dressing in black as much as the next Modest girl, but how can a girl wear black and still standout? We like black pieces that have something special about them, something different - an exciting shape or detail. Here, the standout is the egg shape of this high-waisted skirt. We tend to stay away from an all black outfit put together entirely of basic pieces. The turtleneck and skirt here have a minimalist feel so we decided to give contrast, and make everything pop, with ornate and colorful necklaces (we actually layered 2). We continued to add more color with tuquoise, black and gold cat-eye sunglasses, and a strong red lip.

BRIGHT SPOT

Photo Nikki Nelson

This is Whitney Port wearing an ensemble by Add Minus. I love the sheen of the pants and the zipper detail at her ankles. The silky top and shrunken leather jacket are cool, but in a chill way. What really makes this whole look rock though are the bright orange, studded heels - a perfect counterpoint to the dark mix of neutrals. My closet is full of neutral clothing and I think a pair of orange, studded heels might just be what those neutrals are begging for.