Walking down the aisle twice in September

September brings the weddings of two of my greatest friends, Katie and Caroline.  Katie and I have been friends officially since our 9th grade Am Civ class, though I knew her in middle school as the nice, pretty girl with the long hair.  (She still is the nice, pretty girl but her hair is now shorter.)  Caroline and I met in college at JMU; we bonded over residence life horrors and business school assignments, continuing to serve as a b-school inspiration (she graduated with her MBA this past spring!)

I'll be preceding their walk down the aisle in beautiful bridesmaids dresses.  Both girls gave their bridesmaids the choice of dress, and I chose the styles below.

Caroline's wedding - September 8 (imagine it in an aqua blue)
Eden Bridal 7314

Obviously, arm coverage is important, but stylish arm coverage is even moreso.

Caroline suggested finding a white, gray, or silver cardigan and I found the perfect match in this Dorothy Perkins Silver Lurex bolero.  I'm glad I found it when I did as it's now all sold out.

Katie's gown has unique pleating detail, giving the dress some texture, as well as a bow that hangs off the shoulder.  Originally, my cousin was buying me a purple pashmina from Pakistan as the arm covering, but somehow no where in Pakistan is there a plain, purple pashmina.

Katie's wedding - September 22
Dessy 6596 in Kiwi

 Instead, I found a lace-sleeved top from Forever 21 to wear underneath, a la Kate Middleton.

Heritage 1981 Eyelash Lace Top

Pictures of the completed outfits will come.  Any thoughts on how else to fashionably modest-ify these bridesmaids dresses for a Muslim woman?

Popsicles and other inspirations

There are a number of trends this summer that I let slide through my fingers (pleated chiffon skirts, anyone?) but I am determined not to let the colored denim pass me by.  I love the popsicle-inspired shades of summer - which translate into some cheerful fall and winter styles!

For a minisecond, I thought that colored denim was one of those contrived things, like Valentine's Day, but it's grown a following that's hard to miss and a style that's anchored itself as the look of 2012. What's great about them is that they work so well with neutral colors - those tops we always have but sometimes look blah with the ordinary pair of slacks or normal denim.

Princess Kate, rocking coral-colored denim and style to boot

Style with a longer black shirt (credit: style-delights.blgospot.com)	Drapey, flowy things (credit: peoplestylewatch.com)
(credit: deptoftheinteriordc.blogspot.com)	(credit: freepeople.com)

For all of us on a spending diet (me, always me), we're in luck: denim is on sale almost everywhere.  I just ordered these mint julep-colored Wyatt jeans from Bluefly for only $29 (+ free shipping today!).

Wyatt lavender stretch denim 'Janice' skinny jeans

More colored denim exists and we've listed it below.  Click on all your favorites for unbeatable prices for a must-have style staple.

@ Bluefly -$29 today with free shipping!

More Wyatt...

@Old Navy - $25 at your local store!

More Old Navy...

@Gap - $36 at your local store!

More Gap...