BLACK TEXTURES

I know, I know...I have been loving the waxy pants a lot lately, but what's wrong with creating new looks around your favorite piece? I have worn this ensemble to a couple evenings out lately and liked the waxed pant contrasted with a sheer top for a little impact. Different textures lend interest to an all black ensemble. Blouse Target, scarf H&M, chain edged sweater Forever 21, pants Zara, heels Nine West.

CHRISTIAN DIOR PRE-FALL 2012, PART I

Technically these are for next fall, but who says we can't look ahead and start working these trends now? I'm going to start belting everything and layering thin turtlenecks under boxy, '60's type jackets and tunics. And black tights! Black tights with all of it. Yay! All looks from the Christian Dior Pre-Fall 2012 collection.

BELTED COAT

Feel like your outerwear totally drowns out the look underneath? Rather than just throwing a coat over every outfit, why not incorporate the coat into your overall look? An easy way to do this is to belt your coat. We sported the look here, as well. Bazzar and NY Magazine noted the trend, and Calvin Klein and Louis Vuitton highlighted belted coats in their Pre-Fall 2012 collections.

HOMAGE TO HANA

I was once walking through the exhibits at the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in NYC when I happened upon one of the most stylish women I had ever seen. She was beautiful - stunning to say the least. And yet she was fully covered, head scarf and all.  I then noticed I was not the only one staring at her. She was radiating pure style to everyone who viewed her. Her wide leg trousers, Chanel looking blouse and trim-cut jacket looked like it came right off the runway (not to mention the way she tied her chiffon Hijab was absolutely beautiful and different from what you'd see or expect).  It was uttermost confidence, beauty and a sense of feminine virtue rolled into one beautiful whole. Although it was not Hana from Style Covered (whom we have secretly admired from afar for the way she works within her own moral codes of dress), this girl adhered to Hana's tastes and reminded us of a comment we once heard ... "modest or not, this girl has style." So although many of us have different moral codes that we subscribe to under differing titles of religiosity, or even the overlying ethic of modesty (if you click then scroll down to "modesty in dress" you'll see my favorite quote... "Most people consider the clothes that they are wearing to be modest. Otherwise, they would not wear the clothes. What is considered "modest" in this context will depend on the context when the clothes will be worn and can vary between religions, cultures, generations, occasions, and the persons who are present.) we still have respect for anyone that truly has innate style. 

So with that being said, here's a shout out to Hana and the beautiful things she's doing at her blog Style Covered and her newly started clothing line Maysaa. She's giving so many women more options in their specific moral codes of dress. Although we adhere to differing codes, we have great respect for what she's doing.  We can only hope to follow in her footsteps of creating style that enriches many varying degrees of modesty. 

Long story short, when I put this outfit on the other day I realized that whether Islamic, Jewish, Christian, or other - style can be beautiful and universal. Skirt, Ann Taylor; belt and bracelets, Forever 21; top, Zara; blazer, Zara.

P.S. in this same vein, isn't this Derek Lam dress Beautiful?

MARCHESA RESORT 2012

We're not sure how many of you watch Project Runway, but for the new season featuring designer "All Stars" (from previous seasons), the show picked Georgina Chapman as a judge.  Georgina is the designer for Marchesa (for those of you unfamiliar with her work, just take a look at any red carpet event and her gowns are draped over myriads of celebrities). On the first show of the season Georgina showed up to judge in the cocktail dress featured at the top here (she wore it without the belt, which we sort of liked better). The whole time we could care less about what the designers on the show were doing... we were wondering where she got that dress! And sure enough it was from her 2012 Resort line which led us to the other  beautiful gowns pictured. Yes there are elements that are not fully covered, but we thought the ideas were beautiful. Seriously, those fountain-esque sleeves are truly lovely. Oh and you should definitely check out the rest of the line here. It's kind of fun to guess which gowns may show up on the Academy Award red carpet. We have our picks....

ZARA JACKET

You can't go wrong with a classic, Chanel inspired jacket. I'm wearing Zara here but a very similar jacket came down the Pre-Fall 2012 Chanel runway. I know we always say this, but if you ever find a classic, Chanel inspired jacket in your price range, nab it!, because you will be wearing it for years to come. Jacket Zara, Shirt and belt H&M, jeans Urban Outfitters, boots thrifted.