MODEST PROM AND EVENING WEAR - Ready to Buy

$100-200 range

ABS by Allen Schwartz (bloomindales)

Max & Cleo (bloomingdales)

$200 - 500 range

Tadashi Shoji

Badgley Mischka 

(it seems like the portrait collar could give a bit more coverage if needed)

Tadashi Shoji (bloomindales)

Tadashi Shoji

$500 - 700 range

Tadashi Shoji

Robert Rodriguez

David Meister

Badgley Mischka

David Meister

Aidan Mattox

Aidan Mattox

St.John

Rikki Freemen

David Meister

David Meister

Alice + Olivia

Badgley Mischka

Tadashi Shoji

Tadashi Shoji

Tadashi Shoji

Kay Unger

Kay Unger

Tadashi Shoji

Badgley Mischka

Here are some extremely classy gowns we found while browsing Neiman Marcus online (with the exception of a few looks from Bloomingdales). We were happy to find so many options ready to buy, where in years past we'd be lucky if there were one or two that were a bit more covered. OK, so you're going to hate us, but for some reason the top red chiffon dress was on Neiman Marcus while we were creating this post and was listed on sale for $124. One of us was soooo tempted to buy it! But then when we finished, it was gone! We wonder if it sold out so fast that they took it off.  Anyway we still included it since deals pop up everywhere when you'd least expect, and when they do, it doesn't matter if you have nothing to wear it to in the moment, you'll want it in a pinch when you need it and can't find anything. Sadly, we've learned that the hard way. There are some things (notably a Zara dress) we wish we hadn't passed up since we're always looking for things to wear on stage. Also there are plenty of cocktail dresses that have a bit more coverage up right now. Seriously ladies, if you're looking to find a dress for the holidays or weddings or anything, we would say you should keep an eye on the formal wear at Neiman's right now.
   Lastly, some may wonder why we even care about trying to find dresses that cover or fall under the category of "modest". It may seem 'holier than thou' to some. But truly, when your beliefs have a part in dictating what you wear, you, like us, are very relieved to see and find that you don't have to make a shrug or tailor sleeves onto a dress to adhere to that standard. You're relieved that a dress exists that you can just wear - no sweaters, no jackets, no shrugs, no sewn in panels; just a nice high-fashion looking dress. And believe us, that's important. 

WHAT WE WORE - Clinton Kelly at Macy's City Creek

When I dressed in this on Saturday, I was really thinking of taking our own blog advice. I have to admit, lately I've been thinking a lot of our post on Poppy Delevigne. I started to realize how some of the best dressers just pick good, classic pieces and know how to put them together. There's no fuss about it, just clean lines that look cool. So my whole approach to dressing is changing from the likes of Poppy and Miranda. They don't have to overly accessorize because the pieces themselves speak. So wish me luck in taking our own advice! You'll definitely be privy to it all! 

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. 

MODEST LOOKBOOK : Leelee Sobieski

Leelee Sobieski has been looking dang chic over the last few days at the Tribeca Film Festival. How pretty and simple are these looks? No frills, just class. So why not wear our pencil skirts with a great, loose-fitting t? We know we're going to try it out. And isn't the simplicity of the Jil Sander white dress amazing? We think we'll have to vote for her in Vogue's 10 best dressed this week....

BRIDAL WEEK 2013 HIGHLIGHT - Oscar de la Renta

Photos via OscarPRGirl

Bridal week in NYC this week was another sort of dull week where all the dresses looked exactly the same. Strapless column dresses and ball gowns were everywhere as usual. And then there was Oscar. Finally one who stepped away from the norm and did something, well, classic. We're hoping we're starting to see a resurgence in classic wedding dresses with sleeves. And we owe a huge thanks to Kate for that. 

    Back in 2009 when Vera Wang designed Ivanka Trump's wedding gown (seen above), she had some restrictions. You see Ivanka had just converted to Judaism and she needed something that covered for her more orthodox ceremony to her husband. Vera Wang said this... "She was actually very much about being covered and I seized the chance to do a dress that wasn't naked and very Hollywood." When asked if she thought Ivanka would start a trend with her sleeves she said, "Nothing would make me happier. I've been doing strapless dresses for 15 years. It's tiring."

   Lastly, all of this reminds one of us of our own wedding dress. I guess we'll see if it stands the test of time. It would be the biggest compliment if one of our own future daughters wanted to wear it.