A Letter From Vivian: The Aria Luxurious Art Coat
A letter from the founder
Most women own one coat for the cold and another for being seen in, and it is the cold one that gets worn.
On the six things that made me choose the Aria, how it compares to the coat in your hall closet, and why it is $109.95 for our twentieth year.
I am Vivian, and I opened this boutique twenty years ago with one idea: that a woman should not have to choose between comfortable and beautiful.
Winter is where I watch that promise break. By December most women are wearing the coat that keeps them warm, and the one they actually like is hanging in the hall closet, being saved for something. A woman walks into the store in the sensible one and, before she even says hello, tells me she has a nicer coat at home.
There are two kinds of winter coat on offer, and you have owned both. There is the warm one, which is warm because there is a great deal of it, and by the third store on your list of errands you are carrying it over your arm. And there is the one you are glad to be seen in, cut thin, so you put a sweater under it and a scarf over it and you are cold by the end of the block anyway.
What I wanted was a coat warm enough to wear every day and good enough that nobody saves it.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Aria is my answer. There were six things I would not do without.
Shapes, for a woman who was never a flowers person
Coral, teal, magenta, navy and gold, set in bold triangles and bands across a cream ground, the way a modern quilt is laid out. So much of what comes with any color on it at all is covered in flowers, and a good many women have never cared for flowers. The Aria is geometry: clean lines meeting at sharp angles. It reads as considered rather than sweet, and it sits as well over a plain black outfit as it does over jeans.
“I've always liked geometric patterns more than flowers, so this was an easy choice. Wore it to my art class over a plain black outfit. One of the ladies wanted a closer look at the colors before we even got our supplies out.”
Theresa C., Santa Fe“My granddaughter said, 'Grandma, I like your triangles.' Best compliment I've had in a while! It's a cheerful coat.”
Doreen S., OmahaFleece all the way through, not just across the back
Lay it open and this is the part I would want you to look at. The brushed fleece runs from the collar to the hem and carries on down through both sleeves. That matters more than it sounds: a coat lined the whole way through is warm because of what is inside it rather than how much of it there is, so it keeps you as warm as a heavy coat with far less weight on your shoulders. And shoulders are what get tired by the afternoon.
“Soft lining right down the sleeves. I hadn't realized how much I'd appreciate that until I put it on over a short-sleeved shirt.”
Roberta M., MadisonA hood that is lined and roomy, with a drawstring
Three separate decisions, and each one gets skipped somewhere. It is lined in the same fleece, so putting it up is warm rather than merely windproof. It is left roomy, so it goes over hair you have already done instead of flattening it. And there is a drawstring, so on the mornings that bite you pull it close instead of holding it shut with one hand while you carry everything else in the other.
“Bought this as a birthday present to myself. I tend to save new clothes for something special, but I've been putting this on for ordinary errands. The fleece-lined hood feels cozy, and the coat doesn't feel heavy on my shoulders. Glad I'm actually wearing it instead of leaving it in the closet.”
Renee H., SpokaneA zipper for walking into a store, and pockets for your gloves
A long coat is lovely on the sidewalk and too much the minute you are through a store’s doors. So the Aria has a full-length zipper: closed against the wind outside, open inside, and you never have to take it off and carry it. And there are two front pockets with room for a phone, a set of keys and a pair of gloves, so the short walk needs nothing else and there is nothing to set down on a counter and forget.
“I wanted a longer coat for walking around town, but some feel like too much once you get inside a store. This one is comfortable to wear, and I can just unzip it while I'm shopping. The pockets are handy for my gloves. The pretty pattern was the reason I looked at it, but those little practical things matter to me.”
Kathy W., LancasterLong enough to cover, cut generous, S through 4XL
It falls past the hip, which is where a coat stops being a jacket and starts covering you, and it never grips at the middle, zipped or not. It is true to size and cut generous on purpose, to fit the woman rather than asking the woman to fit it. One piece of advice I would give you across the counter: if you like a thick sweater underneath, take one size up. A winter coat that will not close over a sweater is a spring coat wearing the wrong label. Seven sizes, S through 4XL, every one of them the same price.
“The Aria gives me room around my hips even when it's zipped. I don't have to keep tugging it down when I move. That's usually what bothers me with coats, so I'm pleased.”
Lucille B., KnoxvilleNothing to match, and nothing to fuss over
All the color is in the coat, so nothing underneath has to try. Navy pants, black pants, jeans, and you are dressed. And it washes at home: in the machine at a low temperature, then left to air dry rather than tumbled. I will not sell a woman a coat she has to protect, because a coat she has to protect is a coat she saves, and this one is for wearing.
“The teal and coral together are what caught my eye. I've worn it with navy pants and with jeans, and both looked nice. You really don't need much else with this coat.”
Jan L., RichmondThe Aria, against the coat in your hall closet
| The usual winter coat | The Aria | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Warm because it is thick | Fleece-lined collar to hem and through the sleeves |
| Weight | Carried over your arm by the third store | Far less weight on the shoulders |
| Hood | None, or thin and unlined | Roomy, fleece-lined, drawstring |
| The front | Black, navy, or a darker black | Coral, teal, magenta, navy and gold on cream |
| Care | Dry clean only | Machine washable, air dry |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | S through 4XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman a coat too good to wear. That is the whole reason the Aria is in the store.
Why we’re clearing it now
The Aria hangs at $369.95 on the rail, which is what a coat finished this way goes for: brushed fleece from the collar to the hem and down both sleeves, the same fleece carried up into the hood, and a zipper that runs the full length of the front. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money. But the store turns twenty this year, and my daughter Pearl is beside me at the counter most days now, which is not something I let myself count on in 2006. We wanted to mark it by handing something back to the women who kept our door open, so the Aria is going out at a little under a third of that.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. A coat is the one thing a woman wears over everything else she owns, so it is the piece people actually see, and it is the piece she keeps for years. This is the coat you buy now, before the first morning you need it. If it is the one you reach for every day for the next five winters, then $109.95 was never the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$369.95$109.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 70%
- Bold geometric shapes in coral, teal, magenta, navy and gold on cream
- Brushed fleece lining, collar to hem and through the sleeves
- A roomy fleece-lined hood with a drawstring
- A full-length front zipper
- Two front pockets, with room for your gloves
- Falls past the hip, and never grips at the middle
- True to size · S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL
- Machine washable · air dry, no tumble dryer
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
Twenty years behind this counter, and the saddest thing I see is a good coat with the tags still on it in March. A woman buys it, loves it, and saves it for a day that deserves it, and the day never quite comes.
The Aria is not for saving. Wear it to the grocery store.
Go find your size.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE ARIA — $109.95 →This is a personal letter from the founder of Vivian & Pearl Newport. Customer reviews are quoted as written. · US family brand since 2006 · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.