A Letter From Vivian: The Floral Cardigans
A letter from the founder
Every woman owns a gray cardigan she no longer remembers choosing.
On the six things I looked for before these came into the store, how they compare to what you have been buying, and why every cardigan on the rail is $59.95 for our twentieth year.
A customer wrote to me not long ago about a gray sweater she has had forever. She had bought three of these cardigans, one after another, and she said she keeps reaching for them instead of it.
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. That gray sweater is the exact place that idea usually gets quietly abandoned, one ordinary morning at a time.
Because there are two kinds of cardigan in most closets. There is the soft one — gray, oatmeal or navy — that goes over everything precisely because it says nothing. And there is the pretty one, bought for a luncheon, too fussy to throw on at seven in the morning and too warm by noon.
So the soft one wins, every day, for years, and a woman ends up living in a layer she bought because nobody would notice it.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
This is a rail of seventeen cardigans built on one refusal — that the layer you wear every day has to be the plain one. There were six things I looked for.
Prints drawn like a botanical book, not a tablecloth
This is the first thing I look at, because a busy floral is the easiest thing in the world to get wrong. These are drawn the way a botanical book draws a plant, so you can tell one flower from the next. Orange poppies and blue cornflowers grow up the Wrenna on long green stems. The Imogene carries soft watercolor leaves, the Sidonie big orange and blue blooms spilling over the shoulder, the Eulalia pink roses climbing between ribbons. And three are not flowers at all, for the woman who would rather not: horses and cactus on the Perpetua, zigzag stripes on the Yseult, and hearts on the Valentine.
“The orange poppies on Wrenna are lovely. Wore it over a plain T-shirt yesterday and felt dressed enough to go anywhere I needed to go.”
Charlene M., GreenvilleLight enough to keep on from breakfast until dinner
A cardigan is the layer for the in-between days — cold at seven, warm by lunch, cold again by the time you are driving home. Every one of these is a soft knit, made as a layer rather than a coat, so it gives you warmth in the morning without turning into something you have to peel off and carry by the afternoon. That is the whole job of a cardigan, and it is the job the pretty ones usually fail: they are lovely at the door and a nuisance by noon. These are meant to go on once and stay on.
“The blue and green leaves in Imogene go nicely with my navy work pants. Comfortable enough for a whole afternoon at the reception desk. I've had a couple of people ask about it.”
Kim D., MadisonSeventeen of them, so nobody has to settle
This was the part I was most careful about. A woman who wants a cardigan with some life in it should not have to take whatever single print a store happens to carry. So the rail runs wide — cream grounds and lime and gray and deep teal, wildflowers and roses and thistles and sunflowers, soft watercolors and bolder drawings. Same easy zip cardigan, seventeen different moods. She picks the one that looks like her, and often enough she comes back for a second.
“Ordered four altogether: Wrenna, Imogene, Tabitha and Persephone. Two were birthday gifts for my sisters, who picked their own patterns. We opened everything at my house and had a little try-on afternoon. I kept Wrenna and Tabitha, though we all tried to talk each other into trading.”
Bernadette S., PittsburghCut relaxed, zipped or open, and sized S through 3XL
A relaxed cut is not a shortcut — it is a decision to fit the woman rather than ask the woman to fit it. These have room through the body, and nearly all of them stop at the hip rather than hanging halfway down the leg; the Yseult and the Valentine are cut shorter, to the waist, and I would rather tell you that here. Every one zips up the front, most of them with a gold-tone zipper, so you wear it open when the room is warm and zip it when it is not. A few — the Wrenna, the Tabitha, the Augusta and the Eulalia — have pockets as well. All seventeen run S through 3XL.
“I prefer cardigans that stop around my hips instead of hanging halfway down my legs. Imogene is just the sort I was looking for. Room through the body, and I can leave it open or zip it depending on how chilly I am. The watercolor-looking leaves are pretty without being too busy for me.”
Vicki H., Spokane“Happy with my Wrenna. The pockets are useful, and I like the gold-tone zipper. Small details, but they make it feel a bit more dressed up.”
Cindy B., RoanokeEnough color that it goes with what is already in the closet
This sounds backwards, so let me explain it. A cardigan in one strong color has to be matched. A cardigan carrying orange, blue, green and cream at once has already made its peace with everything — it sits over navy, over black, over khaki, over the same everyday pants she has worn all week. It is the prettiest thing in the closet and the easiest to place, and those two facts are the same fact. That is also why a woman who has told herself she is not a floral person tends to be fine in one of these the moment it is on.
“I bought Wrenna and Imogene because I liked the flowers on one and the leaves on the other. Both work with my everyday pants. I've been wearing Wrenna a little more, but my husband votes for Imogene.”
Alice T., ColumbusIt goes in the machine
I will not stock a layer a woman has to protect. These wash at home — in the machine at a low temperature, no dry cleaner, and left to air dry rather than tumbled. It takes no more thought than the gray sweater it is replacing. That is what keeps a cardigan at the front of the closet instead of quietly hanging behind the one she always grabs.
“Started with Wrenna, then came back for Imogene and Persephone. Three cardigans might sound like a lot, but I wear a layer almost every day. I keep choosing these instead of the same gray sweater I've had forever.”
Georgia R., Grand RapidsThese, against what you have been wearing
| The usual cardigan | These | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Gray, oatmeal or navy, chosen to go unnoticed | Seventeen prints, from wildflowers to watercolor leaves |
| Weight | Too warm by noon, or too thin at seven | A soft knit, made as a layer |
| Closure | Buttons that gap, or nothing at all | A front zipper, most of them gold-tone |
| Care | Dry clean only, on a label she ignores | Machine at a low temperature, air dry |
| Sizes | Runs to XL, if you are lucky | S through 3XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman a layer that asks her to disappear in order to be comfortable. That is the whole reason this rail is in the store.
Why we’re clearing them now
These hang at $299.95 on the rail, which is what a cardigan finished this way goes for: a print carried across the body and down both sleeves, a zipper up the front, and a relaxed cut in every size from S through 3XL. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money. But the boutique turns twenty this year, and my daughter Pearl works beside me now — which is not a thing I let myself expect when I started. We wanted to hand something back to the women who have kept our doors open since 2006, so every cardigan on the rail is going out at a fifth of that.
And I would rather they went now than in December. This is the season a cardigan is for — cold mornings and warm afternoons — and one bought in September gets every one of those days instead of waiting for spring.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$299.95$59.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80% on every cardigan
- Seventeen prints — wildflowers, roses, leaves, and a few that are not floral at all
- A soft knit for cold mornings and warm afternoons
- A front zipper on every one, most of them gold-tone
- Cut relaxed · S through 3XL
- Machine wash at a low temperature · air dry, no tumble dryer
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every cardigan the same price · while sizes last
I think often about that customer and her gray sweater. It is still in her closet, I expect. It simply is not the one she reaches for anymore.
That is all I was ever trying to do.
Go have a look at the rail, and pick the one you keep going back to.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE FLORAL CARDIGANS — $59.95 →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.