A Letter From Vivian: The Isolde
A letter from the founder
A woman does not stop wearing dresses because she stopped liking them.
On the six things that made me choose the Isolde, how it compares to what you have been buying, and why it is $64.95 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.
A woman does not give up on dresses because she has gone off them. She gives up because of what has been done to the dresses.
There are two kinds waiting for her and she has tried both. There is the one cut close, which grips at the middle and needs something underneath it and has to be considered from every angle before she leaves the house. And there is the one that solves that problem by giving up on shape altogether — the shapeless sack she buys in relief and then wears only in the garden, because it makes her look like she has stopped trying.
So she goes back to a top and a pair of pants. Which is two decisions every morning instead of one, and a waistband pressing a line into her by lunchtime.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Isolde is my answer. There were six things I would not do without.
Two pockets. Real ones, set into the side seams.
I am starting here because it is the thing women mention first and the thing manufacturers cut first. Most dresses have no pockets at all, and a good many have the shape of a pocket stitched permanently shut so the line of the skirt is not spoiled. These are set into the side seams, deep enough for a phone and a set of keys, and cut so a whole hand goes in rather than four fingers. It sounds like a small mercy. It is the difference between carrying a bag to a lunch and not.
“The pockets are what sold me. Actual pockets I can put my hands in! Nice to have a comfortable dress that has them.”
Paula K., CincinnatiOne hundred percent cotton, and I will say plainly what that is for
The fabric is cotton and nothing else. Cotton lets the air move through it instead of holding it against her, so the dress does not glue itself to her back the moment she gets out of a hot car. Polyester cannot do that at any price — it sits on the skin and keeps everything where it is, and by the middle of a warm afternoon she is perfectly aware of it. There is a slight crinkle to this weave as well, which is why it does not lie flat against the body and why it forgives an hour in a car seat.
“Very happy with the cotton fabric. I prefer having my arms covered, and the loose sleeves are comfortable. Just a nice, easy dress.”
Joan L., TucsonThe waist comes up, so the skirt falls away from the middle
This is the decision the whole dress turns on. The seam is set above the natural waist and the skirt is gathered into it, so the fabric leaves the body at the ribs and falls from there. Nothing rests on the middle. Nothing draws in at the part of herself she is most tired of being reminded about, and when she sits down the skirt goes out and away rather than pulling across her lap. It is a genuinely different experience of a meal.
“I’m wearing dresses more often these days because I don’t always feel like matching a top and pants. This is the sort I was looking for. Roomy, simple, and still pretty enough for a family lunch. I especially like that the skirt falls away from my stomach when I sit down.”
Shirley C., Lexington“I usually have trouble with dresses fitting nicely on top and then being too snug around my middle. This one gives me room where I want it without looking shapeless.”
Suzanne F., RichmondSleeves to the wrist, and a neckline that does the rest
Long sleeves in a summer dress sound like a contradiction and they are not, provided they are cut loose and made of the right thing. Covered and cool are only opposites in polyester. These run the whole way to the wrist and hang away from the arm, and they turn back at the cuff when she wants them out of the way. At the neck there is a small stand collar split into a V — which is the one piece of shaping in the entire dress, and the reason it does not need anything else done to it. A necklace she already owns, and she is finished.
“Pretty neckline. I wore mine with a necklace I already had and didn’t need to do much else.”
Ruth A., OmahaFive colors, and S through 3XL in every one of them
Khaki, blue, green, pink and white. The khaki is the one a woman orders first, because it is the safe one and it goes with what she already owns. What I have watched happen, more than once, is that she orders a second one in a color and then finds she is reaching for that one instead. I am not going to tell anybody which to take. I will only say that the safe choice is rarely the one that gets worn out first, and it costs nothing to find that out. Six sizes, S through 3XL, all at the same price.
“Couldn’t decide between the beige and green, so I bought both. Thought I’d favor the beige because I wear so many neutrals, but I’ve reached for the green more often. A little color has been a nice change.”
Gloria N., GreenvilleIt washes at home
I will not stock a dress a woman has to protect. This one goes in the machine on a gentle cycle, and then it hangs up to dry rather than going in the tumble dryer. No dry cleaner, no special anything — that is the whole of it, and it is all cotton asks of anybody. A dress that has to be taken somewhere to be cleaned is a dress she saves for occasions, and the occasions keep not arriving. This is one she can put on for no reason at all on a Tuesday.
“I ordered the blue and it’s such a pretty shade. Easy to throw on with sandals and feel put together without much fuss.”
Carolyn D., SarasotaThe Isolde, against what you have been buying
| The usual dress | The Isolde | |
|---|---|---|
| Pockets | None, or stitched shut for the photograph | Two deep, in the side seams |
| Fabric | Polyester, sitting on the skin | Cotton, and the air moves through it |
| The waist | Cut at the waist, and it grips | Raised, so the skirt falls away |
| Sleeves | Sleeveless, or tight at the arm | Loose, the whole way to the wrist |
| Care | Dry clean, so it waits for an occasion | Machine on gentle, hung to dry |
I refuse to sell a woman a dress she has to think about after she has put it on. That is the whole reason the Isolde is in the shop.
Why we’re clearing it now
The Isolde came in at $179.95, which is what a cotton dress with real pockets and a properly gathered waist costs to make. 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 it is going out at a little over a third of what it was.
And I would rather it went now, while it is still the weather this dress was made for, than sit in the stockroom waiting for next year. There are only so many of each size in each color, and when they go they are gone.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$179.95$64.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 64%
- Two deep pockets, set into the side seams
- One hundred percent cotton — no polyester
- A raised waist, so the skirt falls away from the middle
- Long sleeves, loose the whole way to the wrist
- Five colors · sizes S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL
- Machine wash on gentle, hung to dry · no dry cleaning
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
The thing I hear most often about this dress is not about the dress. It is that she has started wearing dresses again.
That is what I was actually trying to sell her. Not a garment — one fewer decision, at seven in the morning, on a day when she has plenty of other ones to make.
Go and pick your color.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE ISOLDE — $64.95 →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.