Modest Marvel: Hanane Yeslam (ISNA 2013 day 3)

The weird thing about this segment, at least for me, is approaching perfect strangers and asking them to take their pictures.

"Um, you don't know me, but I run a blog - can I take your picture for the internet? - See, I run a blog - it's about modest fashion and where to find modest style! - and you've got great style! - so can  take a picture of you?"

Sometimes you see someone and think, I want to take their picture, but they're busy or probably won't respond well.  And then you see someone like Hanane Yeslam, who was on the phone when you first spot her and her printed palazzo pants with color block button down, and hope that you she doesn't notice the number of times you're walking by, hoping she'll be done with her conversation soon.  And then you get lucky and run into her later (when plan A doesn't pan out).

Name: Hanane Weslam
Background:  A woman of law, Hanane recently graduated from undergrad and is now a paralegal at a DC-area firm.  She's also a woman after my own heart - a photographer and fashion blogger herself.  You can find her here at http://missalnahdi.tumblr.com/ - in fact, I highly recommend it because I just got lost in her blog for about an hour myself.
What we love about her style:  Hanane carries off mixed printed palazzo pants with a colorblocked button down.  Ordinarily, that would be a fashion trend overload, but her play with subtle colors and separating trends between articles of clothing and regions where they're worn just plain work.
About her style: Hanane says she rotates her look often, depending on her mood.  "Sometimes it's grunge, sometimes it's business-like, sometimes it's Americana."
Your favorite pieces:  She gravitates towards tops and loves a good pattern.
What do you want your look to say?  For her day to day styling, she wants her clothes to relay that while she is a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, it doesn't preclude her from having edgy style and changing looks.
Your no-limit gift card would be to...?: This one she thought about for a while, but ultimately chose ZARA for their clean European look.  For a second, she teetered on Free People, citing her love of their long and flowy Bohemian-inspired pieces, but that took a second place seat.