A Letter From Vivian: The Folk & Stripe Art Coats
A letter from the founder
The boldest pattern in your house is on the floor, and you have been walking on it for twenty years.
On the six things I looked for before this rail came into the store, why these are the patterns you have lived with your whole life, and why every coat here is $109.95 for our twentieth year.
Go and stand in your own sitting room for a moment and count the patterns in it.
There is almost certainly a rug with eight or ten colours in it. A runner in the hall that is rust and indigo and gold. A woven blanket over the arm of a chair that somebody brought back from somewhere, and a cushion you would argue with a relative about.
Now think about how long it took you to choose any of those. Ten minutes. You did not stand in the shop wondering whether a rug was too much for you, or whether you could carry it off, or what anybody would say.
And then you open the wardrobe, and it is navy.
I have watched this for twenty years and it is the same woman doing both. She has lived with bold pattern her entire adult life, chosen it confidently, lived in rooms full of it. She has simply always put it on the floor.
Which is the whole idea behind this rail, and it is not a clever one. These are those patterns. Kilim. Persian. Aztec. Ikat. Paisley. Celtic. The ones that have been woven in houses for several hundred years. Nothing here was invented by anybody in an office.
The only thing I have changed is which side of the room they are on.
There were six things I would not do without.
Every one of these has a country behind it
This is the part I care about most and it is the part that is hardest to fake. A pattern that was designed to be a pattern looks like one — it is balanced, it repeats politely, and it has nothing to say. A pattern that came out of a weaving tradition has oddities in it: a colour that should not work, a border that does something different from the field, a motif that means something to somebody.
So the rail is sorted by tradition rather than by colour. The Alida is kilim. The Ariadne is Persian. There are Aztec coats and ikats and a Celtic one and a mosaic, and the Abigale carries the florals and medallions you would find on a good old carpet. Fifty of them, and not one is a version of another.
"Abigale reminds me of the beautiful old rugs in my grandmother's house. The rust and gold against that dark brown are exactly my colors. Wore it to dinner with my husband and felt nicely dressed without having to plan much of an outfit."
Deirdre M., Lancaster"I chose the Abigale for the pattern. The flowers and medallions have that old-fashioned feel I like, and it pairs beautifully with cream. Very pleased with this one."
Trudy S., Fort CollinsIt looks heavy, and it is not
A dense woven pattern reads as weight. Your eye sees a rug and expects to carry one, and I have watched women lift one of these off the rail already braced for it.
They are light, and the reason is where the warmth is kept. The whole inside is lined in soft brushed fleece — collar to hem, and down through both sleeves, which is the part most makers skip because sleeves cost money and nobody checks. A coat lined the whole way through is as warm as a thick one at about half the burden on the shoulders. The pattern does the talking and the lining does the work, and the two are not the same layer.
A cream collar instead of a hood, on most of them
Most of this rail finishes at the neck with a plush cream sherpa collar rather than a hood, and it is the detail women write to me about. Worn open it puts a soft pale frame either side of the face against all that colour, which flatters a complexion in a way a dark collar never will. Turned up, it is warmer round the neck than a scarf and it stays where you put it.
It is also the practical answer for anybody who is in and out of a car all day, because a hood sits in a lump between your back and the seat. A few coats on the rail do have hoods, and the photographs show which — but the collar is the house style here, and it is a choice rather than a thing you put up with.
"The cream collar on my Zenobia is my favorite detail. It looks so pretty against the patterned coat, especially worn open."
Lillian R., MadisonTwo deep pockets, and a zip that is your decision
Two pockets, set into the front at hip height, and deep — a phone, a set of keys and a pair of gloves at the same time. Which means the short walk needs no bag, no strap to move when you sit down, and nothing to leave behind on the back of a chair. I have never understood makers who treat a pocket as decoration.
And the zip runs the whole way, top to hem. Closed when the wind gets up, open when you want the lining and the collar showing — and open is how most women wear these, which is worth knowing before you choose one, because it means the inside edge is on display as much as the outside.
Why so many women come back for a second
I did not expect this when the rail came in, and it is now the most common thing that happens. A woman buys one, wears it for three weeks, and comes back for another — and when I ask, the answer is never that she wanted a spare coat.
It is that they do different jobs. The chevron goes with jeans and a plain top and that is the entire outfit. The Abigale, with its rust and gold on dark brown, goes with the brown boots and the cream trousers and is a dinner coat. A woman who wears plain things underneath gets a whole second wardrobe out of a second coat without changing one other item she owns. That is a cheaper way to have variety than any other I know, and every coat on this rail is the same price, so the second decision is only ever about which pattern.
"Started with Zenobia, then went back for Abigale and Alida. Yes, all three are for me. I wear mostly plain clothes, so having a few interesting coats gives me some variety without changing everything underneath."
Rosanne B., Knoxville"Bought two, Abigale and Zenobia, after spending several evenings trying to pick one. I've already worn each of them for different outings. My daughter prefers the stripes; I lean toward the florals. Good thing they're hanging in my closet!"
Willa P., Richmond"I ordered Abigale and Zenobia for myself. The warm browns in the Abigale go with my favorite boots, while the striped one looks nice with jeans. Happy to have both."
Annemarie K., SpokaneFifty coats, S through 4XL, and every one the same price
They are true to size and cut generous on purpose — to fit the woman rather than asking the woman to fit them. They fall past the hip and hang straight, with nothing drawn in at the middle. If you like a thick sweater underneath, take one size up and it will sit exactly as it should.
And every coat on this rail costs the same, in every size. I will say plainly why that matters: the moment one coat costs more than another, the dearer one quietly becomes the good one, and the good one is always the safe one. Take the difference away and the only question left is which pattern you want.
"The little zigzag stripes on the Zenobia are lovely. Lots of color, but nothing too loud. I've been wearing mine with navy pants and a plain top."
Marilynn D., CharlottesvilleThese, against the coat in your hall closet
| The usual winter coat | These | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you would normally find this pattern | On your floor | On your shoulders |
| Where the warmth is | In thickness you carry all day | In a lining you never feel |
| At the neck | A hood, or nothing at all | A plush cream collar you can turn up |
| Your hands | A bag, because the pockets are shallow | Two deep pockets, set in at the hip |
| Choosing | One coat, and six years of it | Fifty, and they all cost the same |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | S through 4XL, one price |
Nobody in this country owns one rug. I have never been able to work out why we decided a woman should own one coat.
Why we’re clearing them now
These hang at $549.95 on the rail, which is what a coat finished this way goes for: a woven pattern carried front and back, brushed fleece run from the collar to the hem and down through both sleeves, and a sherpa collar on top of that. I am not going to stand here and pretend that is a small amount of money.
But the store turns twenty this year, and Pearl is at the counter beside me now, in the spot where she used to sit and do her homework after school. We wanted to mark it by handing something back to the women who have kept our door open since 2006 — so the whole rail is going out at $109.95. A fifth of what it was, every coat, every size the same.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$549.95$109.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- Fifty woven patterns — kilim, Persian, Aztec, ikat, paisley, Celtic, mosaic
- Carried front and back, not just across the chest
- Brushed fleece lining, collar to hem and through the sleeves
- A plush cream sherpa collar you can turn up
- A full-length zipper, top to hem
- Two deep front pockets at the hip
- Falls past the hip, and never grips at the middle
- True to size · S through 4XL · every coat, one price
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every coat the same price · while sizes last
One last thing, and then I will let you go and look.
A woman will stand in a shop and buy a rug with eleven colours in it in about four minutes flat, and she will never once ask whether it suits her. Because nobody has ever suggested that a rug ought to be flattering, or appropriate, or sensible for a woman of her age. It is allowed to simply be beautiful, and she is allowed to simply want it.
Somewhere along the way we stopped extending that to what she wears.
I do not think that was ever decided. I think it just happened, the way most of these things happen, and then nobody went back to check.
So go and choose one the way you would choose a rug. In about four minutes, on the grounds that you like looking at it.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE FOLK & STRIPE ART COATS — $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.