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!

SKI WEAR + FUR HAT

After all the formal wear, we figured we'd give you a bit of a casual thursday. Although snow has been more of a commodity this year, we figured we'd utilize some of our ski wear. You'd rarely catch us utilizing our ski coats off the mountain, but why not? Also we weren't the only ones thinking of bringing ski wear into the mix... Lacoste had a whole collection of ski inspired clothing for their fall 2012 line. So we say break out the ski wear! Plus with it snowing where one of us is at the moment, it seems rather fitting.... (oh and the fur hat is from Target)

2012 VANITY FAIR OSCAR PARTY - MODEST DRESSES

 Miley Cyrus in Roberto Cavalli

 Clair Danes in Valentino

 Elizabeth Banks in Chadwick Bell

 Elizabeth Olsen in Christian Dior

Georigina Chapman in Marchesa

Lily Collins in Monique Lhuillier

Some are saying that the annual Vanity Fair Oscar party had a better red carpet than the Oscars. We may be tempted to agree. There were definitely some very stunning dresses seen. For instance, don't you just love the Monique Lhuillier dress at the bottom? SO beautiful. We saw the Valentino gown Claire Danes is wearing in the pre-fall collection and thought it a little princessy. But seeing it actually worn is very nice (even though the top is obviously sheer...remember, we love linings). And it's sort of nice to see Miley wearing something more covered. What do you guys think? And we promise this is the last Oscar post....

THE PASHMINA SCARF

How do you tie a pashmina scarf? There are so many different ways that there is really no wrong way. Honestly, (and we know everyone says this) when we were touring in Paris we were really inspired by the imaginative and sophisticated ways Parisian women tied their scarves. So we went home and experimented. Now we just twist and tie away until we feel it looks good and finished. Generally, we found that we love our scarves to be pretty full and cozy. We don't know about you, but it makes us feel like we're wrapped up in a blanket. Scarves are and will always be a staple for colder weather, so they're definitely one of the layering pieces you don't want to leave home without.You can also check out others who can't leave home without them... Katherine Heigel here and Anna Wintour here. This look for us is really an everyday, casual one playing with hues of brown paired with navy and grey. Vintage navy blazer, Zara messenger clutch and sweater, and Nordstrom boots. 

OSCAR RED CARPET 2012 - MODEST DRESSES

 Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford

Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji

 Shailene Woodley in Valentino Couture

 Maya Rudolph in Johanna Johnson

 Louise Roe in Black Halo

Kelly Osbourne in Badgley Mischka

Gwyneth Paltrow definitely stole the red carpet in our opinion last night at the Oscars. Cream seemed to be the color of the night. We liked this quote from the fashion blogging world... "Amongst a sea of heavily embellished dresses that spanned the rainbow of colors, the always stunning Paltrow opted for the simplicity of TOM FORD." According to Isabel Wilkinson of The Daily Beast, Tom Ford deemed this gown his favorite of the upcoming Autumn/Winter 2012 Collection because it is “dead simple.” And this is exactly why we too loved it so much. The simplicity, yet sharp lines looked so refreshing on the red carpet. And didn't Octavia Spencer look so sweet in her Tadashi Shoji gown? How could you not love her refreshing attitude on the red carpet. The Valentino Couture worn by Shailene Woodley was definitely daring in it's simplicity as well. We figured we'd show you the almost fully covered dress and see your take on it. Also, although Kelly Osbourne's hair is obviously a bit difficult to get past, we saw this dress on the fall 2012 Badgley Mischka runway and thought the sleeves were nice. We really liked Guiliana Rancic's Tony Ward gown with gorgeous cap sleeves, but thought it just a wee low cut in front so we didn't post it (but you can check it out here). All in all, the gowns were definitely more understated this year. What are your thoughts on them?

OSCAR DRESSES 2012 PREDICTIONS- Will they wear it on the red carpet?

 Carolina Herrera

 

 Jenny Packham

 Jenny Packham

  Marchesa

 

 Michael Kors

 Oscar de la Renta

 Zac Posen

 Zac Posen

For the celebrities that want to be a little more covered up, here are our guesses in more "modest looks" for the Academy Awards tomorrow. For instance we could totally see our fellow Juilliard graduate and nominee Jessica Chastain in the blue Oscar de la Renta dress. Or maybe Rooney Mara or Michelle Williams in one of the Jenny Packham dresses. But it's hard to say which ones will make it to the actual red carpet. What are your guesses?

(Oh and pardon the red Marchesa roses dress. We had to put it up even though the top of the dress isn't terribly modest)