A Letter From Vivian: The Elena
A letter from the founder
Most mornings a woman is not deciding what to wear. She is deciding what goes with what.
On the six things that made me choose the Elena, how it compares to what is folded in your drawer now, 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.
Loungewear is where I watch that promise break. A woman will tell me, in almost these words, that she owns clothes for being seen in and clothes for being comfortable in, and that she changes out of one and into the other around four in the afternoon. She says it like it is the weather. Something that happens to her.
There are two kinds on offer and you have owned both. There is the comfortable one, and it looks it: the waistband that rolls over on itself, the leg that bags behind the knee, the thing you take off before you answer the door. And there is the one that looks right in the mirror at eight in the morning and has a fixed band across the middle that you feel the moment you sit down to read.
What I wanted was one a woman can sit in all afternoon and still open the door in.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Elena is my answer. There were six things I would not do without.
It arrives as an outfit, not as two things to match
The top and the pants are cut and finished to be sold together, in the same color, out of the same run. So the decision is made before the box reaches you. You are not standing at the closet holding one piece up against another under the window, working out whether the two grays are the same gray. You take it off the shelf and you are dressed.
"Started with the charcoal and liked it enough to order a second color. It's nice having an outfit ready to go without standing in front of the closet deciding what matches."
Kathryn D., RochesterA turtleneck that folds down instead of standing up
Look at the neck on the top of that stack. It is a soft roll that sits down on itself, not a tight band standing up against your throat. That is the whole difference between a neckline you forget you have on and one you are pulling away from your neck by the middle of the afternoon. A turtleneck should keep the draft off the back of your neck. It should not hold on to you.
"Soft and simple. I like the turtleneck with the loose pants. Looks like I made more of an effort than I did."
Sheryl B., BoiseA wide leg, because most of this is worn sitting down
Think about where this actually gets worn. In a chair with a book, at the table, in the passenger seat for three hours. So the leg is cut wide and straight from the hip down, and there is nothing gathered behind the knee when you sit and nothing to pull straight again when you stand up. A narrow leg is a leg you are aware of all day.
"Wore this on a road trip to see our son. Comfortable for the drive, and I didn't feel underdressed when we stopped for lunch. I particularly like the wide-leg pants. Nothing clinging around my knees while I sit."
Nora W., LouisvilleAn elastic waist with a drawcord, not a fixed band
No button, no hook, nothing with one correct position. The elastic moves with you through the afternoon, and the drawcord lets you set it where you want it that day — which is not the same place every day, and any woman past fifty will tell you so without being asked. This is the single detail that decides whether a pair of pants gets worn or gets folded back into the drawer.
"The waistband is comfortable when I'm sitting, and the pants give my legs plenty of room. Exactly what I wanted for slow weekends."
Marsha K., AshevillePockets set into the seam, deep enough to use
Where your hand already goes, at the side seam. Deep enough for reading glasses, a phone and a set of keys at once. That sounds like a small convenience and it is really a different kind of afternoon: it is the difference between a set you lounge in and a set you can walk out to the car in without picking anything up on the way.
"This is what I put on when I want to be comfortable but might still leave the house. Add earrings and shoes and I'm ready. The charcoal gray is easy to work with."
Lori P., ColumbusSeven colors, and two pieces that also work apart
Worn together it reads as one outfit. Worn apart, the top goes with jeans and the pants go with whatever you already own, which is why so many women end up with a second one in another color. Charcoal gray, black, white, blue, army green, yellow and dark red. Seven sizes from S to 3XL, every one of them the same price, and if you like it looser take the next size up.
"Ordered two different colors and I'm glad I did. I've worn the matching pieces together, but I also like the tops with jeans. More ways to wear them than I first thought."
Priscilla H., MadisonThe Elena, against what is folded in your drawer
| The usual lounge set | The Elena | |
|---|---|---|
| Waist | A fixed band you feel when you sit | Elastic with a drawcord you set yourself |
| Leg | Narrows and gathers behind the knee | Wide and straight from the hip |
| Neck | A tight band against the throat | A soft roll that folds down on itself |
| Pockets | None, or too shallow to hold a phone | Two, set into the side seam |
| Matching | Two separates you hope read as a set | Cut and finished to be sold together |
| Care | Hand wash, or dry clean only | Machine wash low, hang to air dry |
Machine wash it on a low temperature and keep it out of the dryer — hang it or lay it flat and let it air dry. Both pieces wash the same way, so there is nothing separate to remember for the top. I would rather tell you that here than have you find it out with the first load.
I refuse to sell a woman a set she has to change out of at four o'clock. That is the whole reason the Elena is in the store.
Why we're clearing it now
The Elena hangs at $399.95 on the rail, which is what a matched set finished this way goes for: two garments rather than one, a waist built with elastic and a drawcord instead of a band cut to one shape, and pockets set into the side seam, which is work somebody has to sit at a machine and do. 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 Elena is going out at a fifth of that.
I will give you the honest reasoning as well. A set like this is not a thing a woman wears once. It is what she reaches for on the days nobody is coming over and on the days somebody is, and it takes one decision off every one of those mornings. If that is what it turns out to be for you, then $79.95 was never really the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$399.95$79.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- A turtleneck top and wide-leg pants, sold as one set
- A soft roll neck that folds down instead of gripping
- An elastic waist with a drawcord, no fixed band
- Two pockets set into the side seam, deep enough for a phone
- Wide and straight through the leg, nothing gathered at the knee
- Machine wash low · hang to air dry
- Seven colors · S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
Twenty years behind this counter, and the thing I have learned about comfortable clothes is that a woman decides about them at the front door. The bell goes, and either she opens it or she looks down at what she has on first.
The Elena is the one she opens the door in.
Go find your size.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE ELENA — $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.