A Letter From Vivian: The Clara Set
A letter from the founder
The hardest part of going out to lunch is the half hour before it.
On the six things that made me choose the Clara Set, how it compares to the outfit you usually put together yourself, and why it is $79.95 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.
Where I watch that fail is not in any one garment. It is in the half hour before she leaves the house, with a birthday lunch at one and the bed covered in things that almost go together.
There are two ways that half hour ends, and you have done both. There is the comfortable outfit, soft pants and a good sweater, which is fine at home and looks, once you sit down across the table from people, as if you did not think the day deserved the effort. And there is the dressed one, the pieces that looked right in the mirror, and by the second hour something is pressing at the waist and the blouse wants tugging every time you stand.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Clara Set is my answer. It is three pieces — a top, wide-leg pants and a printed layer that hangs open over both — made to go together, so the deciding is done before you open the closet. There were six things I would not do without.
The whole outfit, already decided
This is the reason I chose it. The top, the pants and the printed layer come as one outfit in the same ground color, so there is nothing to match and nothing to second-guess. You put on three things and you are dressed. That sounds like a small convenience. It is actually the half hour back, and it is the difference between leaving the house calm and leaving it already a little tired. Add your own flats and a pair of earrings and you are finished.
“Wore this to a birthday brunch with black flats and earrings I already owned. Nice to have all three pieces figured out for me. Getting ready took hardly any time.”
Audrey M., RichmondOne print, on eleven colors
The print is black lotus flowers on long stems, running the full length of the layer and down both sleeves, with a soft shading behind them so it reads as drawn rather than flat. It is the same print on every color, and there are eleven — champagne if you want it quiet, green or light purple if you want it noticed. Black on a pale ground is interesting from across a room and calm up close, which is exactly where a print should sit for a woman who does not want to be the loudest thing at the table.
“The leaf print is lovely against the cream. Interesting without being too busy. Very much my style.”
Celia R., Santa FeThe layer does not have to stay with the set
This is the one I did not see coming, and the customers found it before I did. The printed layer goes over a plain black outfit you already own just as well as it goes over its own pieces. So the set is one outfit on Saturday and a printed layer over your own things on Sunday. That is what three pieces can do that two cannot, and on a weekend away it is one less thing in the suitcase.
“I’ve worn the printed layer over a plain black outfit as well as with the matching pieces. That was a pleasant bonus. It doesn’t have to stay together as a set.”
Deanna S., Boise“Bought Clara for a weekend away with my sister. Wore the complete set to dinner, then used the outer layer again the next day with clothes I’d already packed. I like getting more than one outfit out of the same pieces. The cream and black were easy to work with.”
Lenore D., KnoxvilleWide legs, cut for sitting down
A going-out outfit gets judged standing in front of a mirror and then worn sitting down for three hours. These pants are cut wide and fall straight, so nothing gathers behind the knee when you sit and there is nothing to smooth down when you stand. I would rather a woman forget what her legs are doing for the whole of a dinner.
“Soft, light, and easy to move around in. I especially like the wide legs. Nothing clinging to my knees when I sit down.”
Maxine B., LancasterOpen at the front, and light
Three pieces sounds like a lot to wear, and it would be if the layer closed. It does not. It hangs open down the front, the sleeves stop at three-quarter length, and the whole set is soft and light, so it sits on you rather than wrapping you up. With the layer on, it is dressed enough for a family dinner. Take it off and you are in a plain top and pants for the drive home. And afterward it goes in the washing machine at a low temperature and air-dries. Keep it out of the dryer.
“I usually wear dresses for family gatherings, but I wanted to try something different. The pants have a nice flow, and I was comfortable sitting through a long dinner. With the outer layer on, the whole outfit feels dressy enough without being fussy.”
Ramona K., CincinnatiL through 4XL, and I will say so plainly
The Clara Set starts at L. If you usually wear a medium, it is not going to be for you, and I would rather tell you that here than have you find out at the size picker. From L it runs through XL, 2XL, 3XL and 4XL, and every size is the same price. If you like it looser, take one size up. Five sizes, eleven colors, and the same three pieces in every one of them.
“I wasn’t sure a three-piece outfit would feel like too much on me, but this is light and relaxed. The open front makes a difference. I wore it to meet friends and felt nicely dressed, but still like myself.”
Faye H., MadisonThe Clara Set, against the outfit on your bed
| The usual going-out outfit | The Clara Set | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting ready | Twenty minutes of trying things on | Three pieces, already decided |
| Sitting down | Pulls at the knee by the second hour | Wide legs that fall clear of the knee |
| The layer | A cardigan that matches nothing | Printed to match, and wears over your own clothes too |
| Weight | A jacket you are too warm in by dessert | Open front, three-quarter sleeves, light |
| Color | Plain, so it goes with everything and says nothing | One print on eleven colors |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | L through 4XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman an outfit she has to assemble in a hurry with the car running. That is the whole reason the Clara Set is in the store.
Why we’re clearing it now
The Clara Set came in at $399.95, which is where a three-piece set finished this way sits on the rail: three pieces cut to go together, a print carried the full length of the layer and down both sleeves, and pants cut wide enough to sit through a long dinner in. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money for something you wear to lunch. 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 it is going out at a fifth of what it was.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. A set like this is what you reach for when there is somewhere to be, and those are the days you least want to spend standing at the closet. If it gives you that half hour back a dozen times this year, then $79.95 was never the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$399.95$79.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- Three pieces: a top, wide-leg pants and an open-front printed layer
- Black lotus print on the layer, with three-quarter sleeves
- The layer wears over your own clothes too
- Wide legs that do not cling when you sit
- Eleven colors, the same print on every one
- Sizes L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL · take one size up for a looser fit
- Machine wash at a low temperature · air dry, not in the dryer
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every color and size the same price · while sizes last
Twenty years behind this counter, and the part I like best is not the sale. It is the woman who comes back in and tells me where she wore it.
She almost never says it looked nice. She says she was ready early.
Pick your color.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE CLARA SET — $79.95 →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.