A Letter From Vivian: The Hannah
A letter from the founder
A plain tee, your own jeans, and this over the top. That is the whole outfit — and it is why we ran out of it last October.
On the six things that made me choose the Hannah, why it is back before the season turns, and why it is $59.95 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.
There is a sentence I hear across this counter more than any other, and it is nearly always said as an apology. I usually just buy the plain ones, because prints are so hard to match.
She is not wrong, either. That is the honest arithmetic of a printed garment. Three colors on the front of it and suddenly everything else has to answer to them — the top underneath, the pants, the shoes by the door. A print asks a woman to build the rest of the outfit around it, at half past seven in the morning, before she has finished her coffee.
So she buys the gray one again. It matches, which is another way of saying it asks nothing of her, which is another way of saying she has stopped looking forward to getting dressed.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Hannah is what I bought for her, and the whole thing turns on one decision: the flowers grow up an oatmeal ground. A neutral underneath the print. It behaves like the plain cardigan she already trusts, and it looks like the one she wishes she owned. There were six things I would not do without.
The print does the job an outfit usually takes
Orange poppies and blue cornflowers grow up the knit on long green stems, and then clusters of small berries and daisies fill in the gaps between them. That filling-in is the whole trick. A print with space left in it looks sparse and cheap; a print built around one enormous motif shouts at everybody. This one is dense and still calm, because it is put together the way a meadow is — tall things, and then small things underneath. And it means a woman puts one thing on over a plain tee and she is finished. Nothing at the neck, nothing at the wrist, no working out what goes with what.
“The orange poppies against that oatmeal background are so pretty. I wore mine with dark jeans and didn’t bother with jewelry. There’s enough going on with the flowers.”
Lynette C., Lexington“The little blue flowers are my favorite part. You notice the orange first, then all the smaller flowers and berries. Lovely with a blue shirt underneath.”
Rosalie M., MadisonThe ground is oatmeal, which is why it goes with what you already own
This is the part I would not compromise on and the part nobody thinks to look at. The flowers are the reason a woman picks it up; the background is the reason she keeps wearing it. Oatmeal sits underneath everything — cream, denim, olive, black, the brown boots she has had for years — so the cardigan never has to be planned for. Put the same print on a red ground or a navy one and it becomes a garment she has to be in the mood for, and it will live at the end of the rail in her closet. I have watched that happen often enough to be stubborn about it.
“I usually choose plain sweaters because prints can be difficult to match. This one works with several things I already have—cream tops, blue jeans, even my olive pants. I also appreciate the stand collar. It gives a little coverage at the neck without feeling like I’m wearing a turtleneck. Glad I tried it.”
Sylvia P., Grand RapidsA gold zipper that runs the whole length
Two things at once, which is why I like it so much. It is the only jewelry the cardigan needs — a line of gold down the front of an oatmeal knit, and that is the finish that makes the whole thing look considered rather than thrown on. And it is a full-length zipper rather than a half zip or a row of buttons fastened once in the morning, so the cardigan is adjustable by the inch all day without changing anything else she is wearing. Closed on the porch at seven. Open by eleven. Halfway by three.
“Bought this for myself and wore it to lunch with my cousin. She noticed the gold zipper right away. It adds a nice touch to the floral pattern.”
Claudia R., Richmond“Very happy with the full zipper. I can leave it open while I’m busy around the house and zip it up when I sit down. Handy little pockets, too.”
Marjorie H., SalemRibbed at the collar, the cuffs and the hem
Three small pieces of construction and they are what separate a cardigan that looks neat from one that looks like it has been slept in. The ribbed stand collar closes around the throat, which is where a woman feels a draft first, and it does it without the fuss of a turtleneck. The ribbed cuffs sit where they are put instead of swallowing her hands. And the ribbed hem is what stops a knit riding up over the course of a morning. None of it photographs well, which is exactly why so many makers leave it out.
“I like that the cuffs sit neatly at my wrists. Some cardigans feel loose and sloppy around my hands, but this has a bit more shape. Soft fabric and a comfortable fit through the body.”
Judith A., BoiseTwo side pockets, and a knit light enough that you keep it on
The pockets sound like nothing until you have gone out without them. A cardigan with pockets is one a woman can leave the house in carrying only herself — keys, a phone, and no bag for the short walk. And the knit is soft and lightweight with a gentle stretch, which is not about luxury: it is about the cardigan never becoming a decision. A heavy layer comes off the moment she walks into a warm room and then it is over her arm for the rest of the afternoon. A light one stays on her shoulders through the morning, the errands, the lunch and the drive home, and she forgets she is wearing it.
“I brought Hannah along when we visited our son for the weekend. Wore it over a plain tee for breakfast and kept it on for an afternoon browsing the shops. The knit has a little give, and I could move comfortably without feeling bundled up. Just the sort of layer I needed.”
Dianne W., CharlottesvilleTrue to size, S through 3XL — and it goes in the machine
A relaxed bomber shape, cut to give room through the middle rather than following a woman about, so it looks neat zipped and easy open. And true to size means what it says: order the size you already know you are, without sitting there working out whether this particular shop runs small. I have watched women send back perfectly good clothing over that arithmetic alone. Six sizes, S through 3XL, three colorways, every one of them the same price. It washes at home too — cold in the machine, then laid flat to dry rather than tumbled, which is all a knit like this ever asks.
The Hannah, against the plain cardigan you keep reaching for
| The usual plain cardigan | The Hannah | |
|---|---|---|
| The print | One flat color, so you add the jewelry | Poppies and cornflowers on oatmeal — it finishes the outfit |
| Closure | Pull-on, or fastened once at breakfast | Gold zipper, collar to hem, adjustable all day |
| Neck | Open — go and find a scarf | Ribbed stand collar |
| Pockets | None, so you carry a bag | Two at the side |
| Weight | Off by noon, carried until four | Light enough to keep on |
| Care | Hand wash, or shrink it once | Machine wash cold, laid flat to dry |
| Sizing | Runs small, so you guess | True to size, S through 3XL |
I refuse to sell a woman a print she has to work around. That is the whole reason the Hannah is in the store.
Why it is back, and why now
The Hannah came in at $299.95, which is what a knit finished this way costs to make properly — a full-length metal zipper rather than a plastic one, ribbing worked at the collar, both cuffs and the hem, and a print with enough going on in it to be worth looking at closely. 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 $59.95.
And I will tell you plainly why it is on the page in September rather than November. We ran this cardigan last fall and it went before the season had properly started — by the time the mornings actually turned, what was left was a 3XL and a small and nothing in between. That is not a sales tactic, it is just what happened, and it is the reason it is back now, ahead of the weather. The mistake is waiting until the morning you need it.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$299.95$59.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- Orange poppies and blue cornflowers on an oatmeal knit, with berries and daisies filling the gaps
- Gold zipper from collar to hem
- Ribbed stand collar, cuffs and hem
- Two side pockets
- Relaxed bomber shape, true to size
- Soft, lightweight knit with a gentle stretch
- Machine wash cold · lay flat to dry, never the dryer
- Sizes S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL · three colorways · one price
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size and colorway the same price · while sizes last
Twenty years behind this counter and here is the thing I did not expect to learn. The women who buy a printed cardigan wear less of everything else.
No necklace, nothing at the wrist, no scarf hunted for on the way out. They put it on over a plain tee and they stop, because the garment has already done that job and they can feel that it has. It is the only thing I sell that makes a woman’s morning shorter.
Go and find your size, before October does what it did last year.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE HANNAH — $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.