A Letter From Vivian: The Quilted Jackets
A letter from the founder
A woman does not need a new outfit. She needs a different jacket.
On the six things I looked for before these came into the store, how they compare to what you have been wearing, and why every jacket on the rail is $79.95 for our twentieth year.
A customer wrote to me not long ago and said she wears a lot of plain tops and plain pants. She had bought three of these jackets, and she told me that changing the jacket makes the same clothes feel like a different outfit.
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. What she had worked out is the simplest way I know to keep that promise.
Because most women own two kinds of light jacket. There is the sensible one — navy or black, warm enough, and forgotten the moment it is on. And there is the pretty one, which is usually too thin for a real morning or too stiff to wear all day, so it stays on the hanger.
So the sensible one goes on every day, and every outfit underneath it starts to look like the one before.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
This is a rail of sixteen jackets built on one refusal — that the jacket you wear every day has to be the plain one. There were six things I looked for.
Quilted, so it is warm without looking puffy
This is the first thing I check, because it decides whether a light jacket is any use at all. Every one of these but the Isabella is quilted, with soft padding stitched in, so the warmth comes from the quilting rather than from thickness. That is what lets it keep a shape. A padded jacket that is not quilted puffs up and makes a woman look wider than she is; a quilted one lies flat and follows her, and it still keeps the chill off on a cool morning.
“The quilting on Amaya feels soft, and the jacket has a nice shape without looking puffy. Wore it to meet a former coworker for lunch. She asked where I found it before we'd even looked at the menu.”
Jeanne R., SpokaneLight enough to keep on from morning to dinner
A jacket you take off at eleven is a jacket you carry for the rest of the day. These are lightweight and breathable, made for the in-between weather when a morning is cool and an afternoon is not, so you put one on as you leave the house and you are still wearing it when you sit down to dinner. It goes over a plain shirt, over a sweater, over a simple dress, and it does not ask you to change anything underneath.
“Took my Elara along for a weekend visit with friends. Wore it with jeans during the day and over a plain dress for dinner. Glad I packed it.”
Carla S., RichmondSixteen of them, and not all of them flowers
This was the part I was most careful about. One pretty jacket is a treat; a choice of them is what actually gets a woman out of the sensible one. So the rail runs wide — vintage florals on cream and gray and navy, a soft pink in the Freya — and for the woman who would rather not wear flowers at all, there is a geometric print on the Soraya, hand-drawn circles on the Inaya, a black and white abstract on the Miren, a black cat on the Maya and a dog on the Rhea. Same easy quilted jacket, sixteen different moods.
“Four jackets over two orders: Amaya, Niva, Kaia and Freya. Freya was a birthday gift for my sister, who loves pink. The other three stayed here! I've spent years buying sensible plain things, so choosing a few floral prints was a treat.”
Rose B., Grand Rapids“I ordered Amaya and Kaia together. Had both hanging on the bedroom door while I decided what to wear Saturday, and ended up changing jackets instead of changing my whole outfit. Nice to have two pretty options.”
Margaret L., CincinnatiCut to move in, and sized 2XS through 4XL
A light jacket earns its place by being forgotten once it is on. These are cut to fit the woman rather than asking the woman to fit them, with room for a layer underneath and nothing pulling across the shoulders when she reaches for something on a high shelf or leans into the back seat for a bag. And every one of the sixteen comes in nine sizes, 2XS through 4XL, so nobody falls for a print and then finds it stops short of her size.
“Niva works well for my mornings volunteering at the library. There's room for a layer underneath, and I can move around shelving books without feeling restricted. The flowers make it a little more interesting than my usual plain jacket.”
Judie C., LancasterChange the jacket, and the outfit changes with it
This is the idea my customer found on her own, and it is the reason these sell in twos and threes. A jacket is the biggest piece of anything a woman wears, and it is the part people see first. Put a navy jacket with painted roses over plain navy pants and a white top, and it is one outfit; put a gray one with small flowers over the same clothes, and it is another. Nothing underneath has to change, and nothing new has to be bought to go with it.
“My first order was Kaia. Then I went back for Amaya and Elara, so I'm up to three. I wear a lot of plain tops and pants, and changing the jacket makes them feel like different outfits. Haven't needed to buy anything else to go with them.”
Della M., KnoxvilleIt goes in the machine
I will not stock a jacket 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 plain jacket it is replacing. That is what keeps a thing at the front of the closet instead of saved for a day that seems good enough for it.
“The Freya is such a pretty pink. Comfortable over a simple shirt, and it doesn't feel bulky. I've already worn it more than I expected.”
Dawn P., BoiseThese, against what you have been wearing
| The usual light jacket | These | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Puffy, or too thin for the morning | Quilted, warm without bulk |
| Weight | Off by eleven and carried all day | Lightweight and breathable |
| Pattern | Navy or black, and forgotten | Sixteen prints, florals and not |
| Care | Dry clean only, on a label she ignores | Machine at a low temperature, air dry |
| Sizes | Runs to XL, if you are lucky | 2XS through 4XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman a jacket that asks her to look like everyone else in order to be warm. That is the whole reason this rail is in the store.
Why we’re clearing them now
These hang at $269.95 on the rail, which is what a jacket finished this way goes for: soft padding quilted all through, a lightweight and breathable build, and nine sizes from 2XS through 4XL. 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 jacket on the rail is going out at a little under a third of that.
And I would rather they went now than in December. This is the season a light jacket is for — cool 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
$269.95$79.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 70% on every jacket
- Sixteen prints — vintage florals, and five that are not floral at all
- Quilted for warmth without bulk
- Lightweight and breathable, for cool mornings and warm afternoons
- Cut to move in · 2XS through 4XL
- Machine wash at a low temperature · air dry, no tumble dryer
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every jacket the same price · while sizes last
I think often about that customer and her plain tops. She did not buy a new wardrobe. She bought three jackets, and the wardrobe she already had started looking new.
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 QUILTED JACKETS — $79.95 →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.