You may or may not have been a Spice Girl fan and you may or may not like that she never smiles on camera, but it can't be denied that Victoria Beckham has serious chops in the clothing and style department. 
And you may or may not be surprised to see that she very frequently
chooses modest outfits.

I found lots of pictures of her in vampy/trashy outfits from her Girl Power days, but a fundamental shift seems to have happened as soon as she became a mother.

She upgraded to style like this... 

... and this. 

She is the antithesis of frumpy- favoring body conscious, feminine looks.  And somewhere between her sky-high heels and the tragic Crocs favored by many a dowdy mom is a happy medium attainable by all of us.

She definitely favors dresses, for which she gets a two thumbs up from me.

But she can also do jeans...

... or pants.  And do them well!

She not only dons the lovely dresses but she designs them as well.

Like these...

... and these!

Let's start off the week with a Modest Moment from Zoe Saldana.  Zoe is wearing a cute  Louis Vuitton frock.  I love the shape of the dress!  I'm a sucker for a full skirt. 
But I think the shoe choice was wrong.  As discussed a few days ago - I'd have to chalk these up as angry shoes. 

While I'm crafting the follow-up to the Jean Shorts Poll, let's enjoy a Modest Moment from Eva Mendes.  Eva is sporting a lovely spring frock from Christian Dior.

Though she has the body to pull off the most revealing of gowns and cocktail dresses, Claire Danes often chooses more demure options. It's sexier to not reveal everything.
Like this Burberry number.  With some heels I would love to have! 

Or an extremely elegant, flutter sleeve Stella McCartney gown.

But this wrap dress is by far my favorite!  The stunning blue!  The subtle ruffles! The elbow-length sleeves!  Love it all. 
I couldn't find the dress info but thanks to the designer for a bit of loveliness I'm now craving in my own closet. 

I have been remiss, people.  And I apologize.

How could I not have featured Diane Keaton before this moment? 
I KNOW she's championed the modest wardrobe for decades upon decades. 
I KNOW she does it in her own unique way. 
What I don't know is why I was so slow to feature her in Modest Moments.

Now I don't always agree with Ms. Keaton's fashion choices.  Sometimes she's quite literally covered from head, to fingertip, to toe.  But in the world of barely-there, see-through dresses held on with tape to cover ones unmentionables, she is a bright and shining star.  She doesn't make excuses for her style and she never looks trampy or trashy.

From Annie Hall to the Modest Hall of Fame - Diane Keaton stands triumphant.  I applaud her dedication.  I'm quite certain she's been approached by scads of designers wanting to dress her in something more "fashionable" (aka more revealing) and the woman has a great body that could wear pretty much anything she wanted. 
But she remains true to herself.  Chic.  Modest.  Quirky.  Fabulous. 

You have probably never heard of the Crillon Ball.  Most debutante balls have sadly disappeared but this elite little shin dig for the upper echelon of teenage society is still held at the fantastic Crillon Hotel on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.  You have to be invited to come and once you are one of a number of the worlds top design houses will provide a stunning dress for you to wear at the ball.  And your tuxedo wearing escort, aka "Cavalier", who knows how to walz, will also be provided.  Not a bad way for a girl to spend an evening, eh?

I wanted to showcase the ball because the last couple of years Chanel has created modest gowns for their debs to wear.  Take a look.

This is Phil Collins's daughter, Lily, who wore Chanel in 2007.  I couldn't find a better picture but this absolutely gorgeous gown is adorned with wispy feathers.  Dreamy!

Please note that only ONE other girl in this group photo has on a modest dress, the deep purple gown on the far left.  Oh, and the debutante in pink giving Lily the jealous look?  That's a Brazilian named Maria Frering.  Looks like she's a little miffed she wasn't the one seated in the middle.  But that Chanel gown was meant to take center stage.  No question.

This is Jane Aldridge, an up and coming teen style icon from Dallas, TX, who was also outfitted by Chanel for this years ball.  Apparently the beading made the gown weigh a ton but she said it was more than worth it.  The photo above is from one of her fittings at Coco's famous 31 Rue Cambon address, afterwhich she and her family were given a tour of Coco's apartment.  Yes, I'm a little jealous.

This was a shot of Jane heading down the hotel hallway to the ball. 

I prefer the dress from 2007 but that's because I have an overdeveloped romantic side.  I said a while back that finding modest evening wear was always the most challenging but thanks to the House of Chanel, I'm able to start the year off with two stunning gowns!

This is Rachel McAdams in a Philip Lim dress.  And while that front slit would need a tweak, I loved the knotted neckline, swingy front ruffle and perky sleeves.  It's a stunning curve-hugging silhouette, not skin tight, and makes her look so feminine. 

You could completely do away with that front slit, or make it a small key-hole, and this dress would still be gorgeous.

So 40's!  So lovely!  And you know I love a retro style.  I expect you can't wear this dress and not have a wiggle in your walk and giggle in your talk.

"You just don't see fashionable people dressing modestly anymore!"

A little quip I heard from someone the other day.  And since I disagree (partly) I'm adding a new regular feature to Fight The Frump  - Modest Moments!  Pics of people most of the world considers stylish displaying a brilliant flash of modesty!

Here's today's moment...

Do up another one or two of those buttons and she's good to go!  I love this dress - the color and the stand-up collar especially. 

One of the things about the beginning statement that I disagree with is that you actually DO see fashionable people modestly dressed all the time.  Trust me, they're out there.  I see them and you will too.  They stand out especially nicely against all the frumpily dressed modest folks!

But I also get where this sentiment is coming from.  Most people consider movie stars the style icons we're all supposed to follow.  Yes, they wear and discard the latest styles before the stores the rest of us shop have even stocked them.  Yes, we are bombarded with pictures of them making it nigh on impossible NOT to follow their fashion footsteps.  But so often the modus operandi in Hollywood is how much thigh, shoulder, back and boobage they can expose!  They just never seem to cover up their cutlets! 

This new section is dedicated to those modest moments when we see something we can translate into our daily lives.  I like looking at fashion photos, modest or not. Sometimes I learn what not to do.  Mostly I enjoy seeing how people whose style I like interpret certain trends and looks.  It inspires me and gives me ideas that I tweak. 

The biggest challenge for these posts will be fancy dress events.  Many undeniably gorgeous gowns parade down the red carpet every year.  It always stands out when someone takes a risk and actually covers up a little.  How rebellious of them NOT to have a slit up to their hip!  How sexy they look in that pantsuit with more than just a bra underneath!  Those will be the moments I'll have the most difficult time hunting down.
Feel free to help!  If you come across a Modest Moment click the Email Me button and send it on over!  With that one simple act you'll convert millions of women to the modest side of style.  Right?  We can get millions dressing this way, can't we?  Have hope!