ASHI COUTURE - Designer Highlight

Here's a designer we are very unfamiliar with. But his designs are beautiful, aren't they? They remind us of the Dior couture collection we saw for Spring (which we'll post soon). There are bolts upon bolts of whispy fabrics, making for beautiful, frothy collections. 

     Just a little bit about Mohammed Ashi; he's a designer from Kuwait who became known for his caftans. So if you go to his website here, you can see that there is a whole section devoted to some of the most beautiful caftans we've ever seen. But truly he's shining outside of this. His designs are starting to be seen on the red carpet these days by celebrities like Eva Longoria. We definitely think his name will continue to get out there as his beautiful designs become more and more well known. Do you have a favorite? We really can't decide....

CREAM WIDE-LEG TROUSERS - Tiffany event

OK so we have to admit, one of us has been wanting cream wide-leg trousers since we posted about Zina and Poppy. And do you know where this girl found them? You're not going to like it (since it means you can't buy them too and we really would like to share) but I found them... yes you guessed it, thrifting. Let's just say I have been in love with these pants. The closest we could find online were these by Stella McCartney, but we paid such a fraction of the cost that we'd feel bad sending you there, so definitely be on the lookout. Wedding season has started and they have been my go to piece for the more casual reception setting (not to mention they'd be perfect for the office). I have to admit though, it was a bit difficult to know what to pair them with up top. Too often we see a look sort of like this, where one thinks to pair trousers with something tight on top. But the better look is to go loose and tucked in (partially or fully)... think 40's, like Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn. Oh, and one more thing regarding the wide-leg pant in general. Always make sure they're long enough, but when you pair them with a heel (or flat) see that it doesn't break the pant line. What do I mean? Well let's go back to the Stella McCartney pant here. The platform shoe in the image is making the crease in the pants break. This makes it look alla 90's "90210" for some reason. And let me tell you, I went through a few heels of mine to get the right height for this not to happen. Lastly, I wanted to pair a more structured bag with them, but nothing will fit my massive camera, so slouchy it was. The bag is from a place called Tai Pan and the top is from REI (in the menswear sporting shirts). Oh and the bracelets are Forever 21.

MODEST LOOKBOOK - Eva Green in Tom Ford

Looks like Eva Green has picked Tom Ford twice for two of the "Dark Shadows" premieres recently (the new Jonny Depp/Tim Burton movie). You can view her other look here. We've loved all of the Tom Ford looks as of late. They're simple, yet extremely sophisticated and classy. Oh and in case some of you are confused as to why we share modest red carpet looks, runway looks, etc., even though so few of us can ever afford such clothing? It's because we feel that if women and girls saw how many celebrities are wearing, and designers are creating, looks without a lot of skin, maybe they wouldn't feel so alone if they chose to cover up more. We felt alone when we looked for gowns, dresses, tops or skirts that covered enough and were stylish enough. Then we met and worked with the designer Zac Posen in dressing us for his fall 2009 line. When we told him some of our requirements in coverage, he didn't blink an eye. He said "oh, well we have MANY requests like that" - like it was no big deal. We were stunned. We weren't alone after all. It was then that we realized it went beyond religion. Many older women have similar requests, or younger women who don't want to show certain parts of their bodies because they think them unflattering. So that's why we created this blog. 

    But back to religion... some people really don't realize how big of a deal it actually is within religious families, communities and cultures.  It's something you grow up with, or convert into. And we'll admit, we haven't always dressed "modestly." But for some reason, when you walk into a church, cathedral, temple, or sacred place wherever you are in the world, you suddenly feel a bit self conscious. Or take that a step further... why do you think there is "office wear"? We tend to feel self conscious showing skin in these places because they are environments where the mind or the sacred is supposed to be the focus. And believe us theoretically, fashion and religion or fashion and office wear don't mix terribly well. But that doesn't mean we all need to wear boring black suits or long linen skirts with long-sleeved cotton t-shirts (even though we think this is an awesome version of the look :)!

    For instance, you all remember the royal wedding right? Did you notice that every single woman as a guest at that event wore what most of us would consider to be "modest" in coverage of their bodies (we're not talking about the broader definition of the word)? There's a reason for that. No one feels a need to go into a religious or sacred place showing skin. And that's the mentality we and others have for our daily lives. That's why the blog. That's why the red carpet looks, the runway looks, the street style looks. We just want people to know that there are options out there. And hey, we'd say Tom Ford is a pretty good one today!

WHAT WE WORE - TIffany Mother's Day Event

Since Desirae lives in New York now, our sister Deondra joined us for the Tiffany event this week (seen below). Here's what she wore (which we loved). We've been telling you guys to keep a look out for Chanel-looking jackets as of late (here and here to show a couple), but we must admit we found this one on a thrifting trip. You also might have seen us tweet about a black boucle jacket we found? Well this is it (if you look through our tweets you might have seen the price of this here jacket[!]). Anyway, we were a bit jealous that Deondra  ended up with it, but happy that she had a great piece to add to her collection. Anyway, she paired it with a H&M tee, H&M cobalt belt, Forever 21 Jeans, Forever 21 Chanel-inspired bag (sadly only the chain is seen here) and Target sandals. We say she's one hot mama!

TIFFANY'S MOTHER'S DAY EVENT

 

The Store

 

The Refreshments

 

The Mother and Daughter

 

The Donning of Jewelry

 

The Schlumberger Ring

 

Learning about Schlumberger

Amazing Paloma's Zellige Ring

 

The Necklace of Choice - Double Schlumberger Egg (plus Tiffany Key)

 

The Sunglasses (also Tiffany Key and Victoria Necklace)

The perks of our day job...

 

And don't forget the box!

So we know this has really nothing to do with modesty, and we rarely post about the specifics of jewelry, but when we're invited to an event, we love to fill you in. So here is our coverage of an event Tiffany held this week celebrating mothers day. The invite shared their thoughts... "Tiffany is celebrating mothers and daughters and the special tradition of little girls dressing up to be like their moms." Since Desirae couldn't make it, we thought our sister Deondra and her little girl Adrienne would fit the invite pretty well. Right after Deondra had little Adrienne, she realized she never really liked the color pink and didn't have much patience for the sometimes froofy things little girls wear. So rather, Adrienne wears T-shirts from places like Lucky (pictured), much like her mother. We figured this did sort of fit in with Tiffany's invite. And really, we think the way mothers like to dress their daughters, tends to influence them later in wanting to dress like their mothers (Vogue seems to agree here). (Oh and in case you're wondering, we come from a fairly long line of stylish women so this is definitely the case. It says something when people think your grandmother is more stylish than you.) In any case, these two fit the invite.

   The brand new store at City Creek is absolutely beautiful, and it was amazing to go in and try on anything and everything in the store. That goes for little Adrienne too! They were decking her out! We learned about Jean Michel Schlumberger and his amazing Tiffany designs. Never thought we'd get an education in jewelry while there! The stories behind them are pretty cool, including the enamel and gold bangles that eventually got the nickname the "Jackie Bracelet" (since Jackie Kennedy wore them all of the time). Oh and you might recognize this design of his, the famous "Bird on a Rock" - the highlight of the New York Tiffany store (being over 128 carats!).

   So all in all, it was a fun morning. Oh! And you might be wondering about the Tiffany chain little Adrienne is wearing? That bracelet was given to Adrienne's mom as a gift from a fabulous patron to the arts. (Yes, sometimes we have perks to our day job.)

    Lastly, with mother's day being this weekend, don't rule Tiffany out! If you're just dying to spoil your mother, they've got some great pieces. We know we've only received the blue box a couple of times in our lives, and something about it just gets a person excited....

THE DUCHESS - wearing Roland Mouret

 

On the topic of formal wear and red carpets, we might as well include this look that Kate Middleton wore the other night to a Thirty Club event where William was speaking.  We think it's hilarious how everyone is calling it a "daring dress." Why? Because of the slit up the middle. How interesting, that she's all covered up and people call it "daring." In any case, we love the overall look and are glad she threw on the sassy Jimmy Choo shoes. They're definitely a change from her usual prim look. By the way, what do you all think of the term "daring"? Fitting or not? (Eh hem...we must give you all of the evidence....)