The Reflective is redefining what it means for women to shop for modest style—keeping its site stocked with the latest trends, cutting-edge designers (like Merlette!) and extending its wardrobe conversations to a podcast. We spoke recently with founders Ariella Immerman and Liza Sakhaie about what confidence means to them, how they define their own wardrobes and how we can all shop sustainably. Read on for their answers and discover TheReflective.com.
Q: What is the meaning behind the name ‘The Reflective’?
A: Our mission at The Reflective is to help women find modest clothing they feel beautiful and confident in, aligned to their style, personality and values. The meaning behind the name “The Reflective” is that mission summed up in name: to help women reflect their internal values and personality externally through beautiful, on-trend modest clothing.
Q: What role does confidence play in embracing fashion choices?
A: Everything in life comes back to confidence, especially when it comes to embracing fashion choices. If you ever admire someone’s beauty, you most likely are admiring their confidence more than their beauty. If you ever see someone print mixing and wearing something a little out there and remark, “I could never wear that!” - the answer is you could, you just need the confidence to rock it.
Confidence is attractive, alluring and the real secret sauce that makes someone beautiful.
There are many steps you can take in selecting an outfit you feel good in, but the most important factors to consider are the fit, feel and your personal preferences. Find fabrics that feel comfortable on your body, a flattering fit and silhouette for your figure, colors that match your complexion and make you happy and clothes that you just genuinely love.
Q: What are your staple wardrobe pieces?
Ariella: My staple wardrobe pieces are a silk maxi skirt, oversized pullover sweater, boxy tee, jersey knit dress, an easy throw on cotton dress like the Byward, an oversized cardigan, gold hoops and ballet flats.
Liza: My staple wardrobe pieces are a lightweight shirt dress like the Jordaan, wide leg trousers, a cropped blazer, a maxi trench, oversized white button up, a super thin and super thick belt, and a slouchy knee high boot.
Q: How does Merlette fit into your wardrobe?
Ariella: I’m a big proponent of investing in quality pieces you’ll love and cherish for years to come and as a modest dresser, it can be challenging to find those quality dresses you can also visualize styling in a lot of different ways without tiring of them. Merlette has a wide range of dresses and skirt sets that are timeless in style and lend themselves to styling in a multitude of ways. Day to night, summer to winter, Merlette has the perfect any time, any season piece.
Liza: Nowadays everyone is talking about building a capsule wardrobe. Not only do I try to shop from sustainable brands but I also try to select pieces that I can wear over and over again multiple ways. Merlette pieces are just that. They are day to night, multi-seasonal, and can be paired back to every type of shoe and accessory.
Q: What are a few of your all-time favorite styling tips?
A: Layer!! As modest dressers we are constantly using layering as a way to take seemingly immodest pieces and making them work within our wardrobe. However, an additional layer not only makes a look more modest but also elevates the outfit and adds dimension to the overall look. For example, take a simple shirt dress that you’d usually wear solo and add jeans under and a cropped cardigan for a multi-layer look.
Focus on the fit: Understanding your body type is the key to finding clothes that make you feel your best and give you the confidence to get more creative with your styling. We have all seen a dress on our friend that we absolutely adore and order right away, but when we try it on it looks nothing like what we expected - that’s the power of fit! It should be the first thing you ask yourself when you’re considering a purchase.
Q: What are the sustainability pillars for selecting brands and an assortment for The Reflective?
A: We believe modesty is not only a way of dress but a value that should show up across all areas of our lives, including consumption. We encourage shoppers to make thoughtful decisions about their purchases and have curated a wide variety of sustainable brands for our shoppers to choose from on our website. 90% of the brands we carry have sustainable practices across material composition, manufacturing and shipping/fulfillment practices. Although sustainable practices are not a requirement to be a part of our marketplace, we’ve attracted mostly sustainable brands as our values authentically align.
