POLKA DOT SUMMER

If you can't tell yet, we here at Thread Ethic love dresses for summertime. This polka dot dress is a wear anywhere summer look. Girls often think of dressing 'up' in dresses but keep in mind that many dresses can easily be 'dressed down' with flat sandals and worn anywhere. There were quite a few polka dots seen on the spring/summer runways of Comme De Garcons, Mochino, and Junya Watanabe. See a video of polka dots at the Spring 2011 Moschino show here. Dress H&M, sandals Zara.

THE DUCHESS

vogue.com

One of our readers mentioned that the new Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has a very fashion forward yet modest way of dressing. We couldn't agree more. Here are a few of the Duchess's looks we're liking lately. Honestly, there were so many lovely dresses from Kate's recent tour of North America that we are dividing our offering of Kate looks into two posts. Vogue has also noticed the stylish, yet demure, style of the Duchess and thus offered 25 looks they believe the duchess would approve of (we've shown a few we prefer here). 

SUMMER PLAID

This is one of our go-to summer dresses because it is something one can throw on quickly and easily. Think of everything you would wear shorts and a t-shirt to - a summer barbeque, picnic, or the park - and instead just throw on an easy dress. This dress is from Target.

WHITE AND BLACK

We put this look together by combining inspiration from the boxier white looks of the Spring 2011 Chloe collection and the lovely long scarves from the Spring DKNY runway. We liked the strong combination of black accents with this all white look.

CLASSIC SHEATH DRESS

Every Modest Girl should own a classic sheath dress. The cut of a sheath dress is perfectly timeless and, if tailored to you, always flattering no matter what size or shape you are. Remember, a sheath should skim the body elegantly and not crease from being too tightly fitted. We prefer our sheath dresses with cap sleeves and a minimalist crew neck - this neckline feels prefect right now given the popularity of Calvin Klein's Spring 2011 Collection which featured the simple neckline on nearly all of his dresses. We paired this vintage dress with a J.Crew belt, Nine West heels and Forever 21 bracelets.

VIONNET

Is there a more perfect dress to wear to a The Tree of Life party in Cannes, France? We're talking about the film The Tree of Life, and we don't think so. Love, love love this dress by Vionnet worn by Zoe Saldana and also loved the film (which we did not see in Cannes but nonetheless enjoyed at our local theater).