A Letter From Vivian: The Orchard
A letter from the founder
She owns a drawer of shoes that hurt and one pair that does not, and she wears the one pair everywhere.
On the six things that made me choose the Orchard, how they compare to what you have been buying, and why they are $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.
Nowhere is that promise broken as often, or as cheaply, as it is in shoes. A shoe is the one thing she wears that can genuinely injure her, and it is the thing most often drawn up by somebody who has never had to stand in it for four hours.
There are two kinds and she owns both. There is the pair built for comfort, and it looks it — wide, pale, rubber-soled, bought for a trip and now worn to the grocery store, to church and out to dinner because it does not hurt. And there is the pair that looks right, which is narrow at the front and hard underfoot, and which she has worn twice, and both times she was quietly working one heel off under the table by the time dessert came.
So she keeps the sneakers on and tells herself nobody is looking at her feet. Somebody usually is. More to the point, she is.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose. Not at fifty, not at seventy, and not for the pair she is going to put on three hundred days a year.
The Orchard is my answer. There were six things I would not do without.
A square toe, cut to the shape a foot actually is
A pointed toe is a decision to make the front of the shoe narrower than the front of the foot, and then to ask the foot to accept it. That is where the burning line across the ball of the foot comes from, and it is why so many handsome shoes get worn twice. The Orchard is cut square, so the toes sit side by side the way they do when she is barefoot. It also happens to look far more current than the tapered ballet flat she has been replacing every year since 2010.
“I chose black because I wanted something I could wear with almost everything. They look neat on the foot and the square toe feels much more current than my old ballet flats.”
Nancy W., BoiseSoft genuine leather, because a shoe has to give
The upper is soft genuine leather, and this is the part I will not compromise on at any price. A coated shoe holds one shape forever: whatever shape it was cut in. Leather moves. It gives at the joint of the big toe where a woman needs it to give, it takes the print of her own foot within a week or two, and it does not crease white across the front the way a coated upper does by the second month. The edge that sits against the top of the foot is stitched rather than glued, which is the seam that rubs if anybody gets it wrong.
“The leather feels soft and the sole has enough flexibility that they don’t feel stiff when I walk. I wore them most of the afternoon the first time out.”
Brenda S., MadisonA cushioned bed she feels the moment she stands up
Most flats are a thin board with a lining laid over the top, which is fine in the shop and not fine at three in the afternoon. The Orchard has a cushioned insole under the whole foot and a sole with real flex in it, so it bends where the foot bends instead of forcing the foot to bend around the shoe. That is the difference between a shoe she wears for an hour and a shoe she wears for a day of errands without once thinking about it.
“These have become my errand-and-lunch shoes. The cushioned insole makes a noticeable difference when I’m on my feet for a few hours.”
Cynthia M., TampaThere is a heel, and one inch is the whole point
A shoe with no heel at all sits flat on the floor and reads as a slipper. A shoe with three inches of heel is a shoe she has to plan her evening around. The Orchard has one inch of stacked heel — enough to lift the back of the foot and give the shoe a finished line under a pair of ankle pants, not enough that she is aware of it while she is standing in a line. One inch is also the point at which the weight stays back on the heel instead of sliding forward onto the toes, which is the real reason a higher shoe starts to ache. There is a small loop at the back of the collar too, which is how a woman gets a shoe on without sitting down.
“I was looking for something flatter than a heel but still nice enough for church and dinner. These fit that spot perfectly for me.”
Kathleen J., RichmondOne piece of hardware, not five
There is a single polished gold emblem set at the front of each shoe and nothing else — no buckle, no bow, no chain across the throat, no contrast piping. I have watched a good many shoes ruined by a designer who could not stop. One well-made piece of hardware in one place is what makes a plain shoe look considered; three pieces make it look like it is trying. It is also the reason the same shoe works under jeans on a Tuesday and under a dress on a Sunday.
“The little gold emblem is what sold me. It gives a simple flat just enough detail, and I’ve worn mine with jeans, ankle pants, and dresses.”
Deborah L., CincinnatiFive colors, and sizes 5 through 12 with the half sizes in between
Black, brown, beige, red and green. The first three are the ones she will wear to everything; the red and the green are the ones she will be glad she took while they were here. And the range runs a 5 to a 12 with every half size in between, because a woman with a narrow 6.5 and a woman with an 11 have the same problem and it is usually the same shop causing it.
“I actually bought two colors during the sale. The tan is my everyday pair and the cream is the one I reach for when I want my outfit to look a little lighter.”
Patricia H., KnoxvilleThe Orchard, against what you have been buying
| The usual flat | The Orchard | |
|---|---|---|
| Toe | Tapered narrower than the foot | Square, cut to the width of the toes |
| Underfoot | A thin board with a lining over it | A cushioned bed and a sole that bends |
| Upper | Coated, and it creases white | Soft genuine leather that gives |
| Heel | Either nothing at all, or three inches | One inch, stacked — finished, not felt |
| Sizing | Whole sizes, and it stops at a 10 | 5 to 12, half sizes throughout |
I refuse to sell a woman a shoe she has to take off in the car on the way home. That is the whole reason the Orchard is in the shop.
Why we’re clearing them now
The Orchard came in at $179.95, which is what a leather shoe built this way costs to make properly. 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 they are going out at a third of what they were.
And I would rather they went now than sat here. A shoe is not a coat; there is no season she is waiting for. Every day she spends in the sneakers is a day she does not get back, and there are only so many pairs of each size in each color. When they go they are gone, and I would rather they went onto women than back into the stockroom.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$179.95$59.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 67%
- Soft genuine leather upper, stitched at the topline
- A square toe, cut to the width of the foot
- Cushioned insole, with a sole that bends
- A one-inch stacked heel, and a loop at the back
- Five colors · sizes 5 to 12, half sizes throughout
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
There is one test for a shoe and it is not the mirror in the hallway. It is whether she takes them off in the car on the way home.
A woman who has spent five years in sneakers is not standing here working out whether she likes these. She likes them. She is working out whether they are going to hurt.
They are not. Go and pick your color.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE ORCHARD — $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.