A Letter From Vivian: The Seraphina
A letter from the founder
A winter coat is the only thing a woman owns that she is relieved to take off.
On the six things that made me choose the Seraphina, how it compares to the coat in your hall closet, and why it is $109.95 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.
Winter is where I watch that fail, and it fails in a way nobody quite says out loud. A winter coat is the one garment a woman is glad to be out of. She comes through a door and the first thing she does, before hello, is get it off her shoulders.
There are two of them on offer and you have owned both. There is the warm one, which is warm because there is simply a great deal of it, and by four in the afternoon you can feel every ounce of it sitting on you. And there is the handsome one, cut beautifully and cut thin, so you put a sweater under it, and then something at the neck, and you are cold anyway.
What nobody makes is the coat that is warm because of what is inside it rather than how much of it there is.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Seraphina is my answer. The entire inside is lined in brushed fleece — collar to hem, and down through both sleeves — so the warmth lives in the lining and not in the bulk. There were six things I would not do without.
The color is in the cloth, not printed on top of it
This is the first thing I check and the thing most often faked. Look closely and the weave runs straight through every block — the turquoise, the burnt orange, the mustard, the slate, the cream. The texture does not stop and start at the edges of the colors, which is exactly what happens when a design has simply been printed flat onto finished cloth. It is why the Seraphina holds up to being looked at closely, and it is why women get stopped about this one and not about the printed ones.
“My daughter said this coat looks like a piece of modern art. I’ve already received more compliments on it than any coat I’ve owned.”
Nancy B., Columbus“I was worried the pattern might be too bold for me, but it’s surprisingly easy to wear. The cream and slate balance the brighter colors beautifully.”
Joan H., RichmondFleece all the way through, not just across the back
Lay it open and this is the part I would want you to look at. The brushed fleece runs collar to hem and carries on down through both sleeves. Most makers line the body and stop, because the sleeves are where a lining costs them money and where nobody checks. The reason it matters is arithmetic: a coat lined the whole way through is as warm as a heavy one at half the burden on your shoulders, and shoulders are what get tired.
“The fleece lining goes all the way through the sleeves, which I love. Cozy without that stiff, heavy feeling most winter coats have.”
Susan R., PortlandA hood that is lined and roomy, with a drawstring
Three separate decisions and each one is skipped somewhere. It is lined in the same fleece, so putting it up is warm rather than merely windproof. It is left roomy, so it goes over hair you have already done rather than flattening it. And there is a drawstring, so on the mornings that bite you pull it close instead of holding it shut with one hand while you carry everything else in the other.
“The hood is roomy enough to actually use, and the soft lining around my neck feels wonderful. This was such a good find.”
Kathleen S., BoiseIt zips — a full-length zipper, top to hem
I am putting this fourth because it is the question I am asked most often about a coat like this, and the answer here is yes. There is a proper zipper running the whole way up the front. That matters for one reason above the others: a coat you have to hold shut is a coat with one hand permanently occupied, and she already has the keys in the other. Zip it and the wind is dealt with and both hands are free. Leave it open and it hangs in two clean lines over whatever she has on underneath. She decides each morning rather than being told.
“This has become the coat hanging beside my back door. It’s warm, easy to zip, and the deep pockets hold my phone and keys.”
Diane C., LexingtonTwo pockets deep enough to leave the purse at home
Set into the front at hip height, and deep — a phone, a set of keys and a pair of gloves at the same time. That sounds like a small convenience and it is actually a different kind of morning. A coat with real pockets means the short walk needs nothing else: no bag over the shoulder, no strap to move when you take the coat off, nothing to leave behind on a chair. I have never understood why so many makers treat a pocket as decoration.
“I wore it on my morning walk and didn’t need to carry a purse. Phone in one pocket, keys and gloves in the other—perfect!”
Carol J., BurlingtonLong enough to cover, and cut generous — S through 4XL
It falls past the hip, which is where a coat stops being a jacket and starts actually covering you, and it is cut generous on purpose — to fit the woman rather than asking the woman to fit it. Nothing is drawn in anywhere, so there is nothing gripping at the middle and nothing to arrange. One piece of advice I would give across the counter: if you like a thick sweater underneath, take one size up. A winter coat that will not close over a sweater is a spring coat wearing the wrong label. Seven sizes, S through 4XL, every one at the same price.
“I ordered my usual size and can still wear a sweater underneath comfortably. The extra length keeps me covered without making me feel swallowed up.”
Patricia W., Grand Rapids“The Seraphina fits beautifully over my hips and doesn’t cling when zipped. At 63, I appreciate a coat that feels comfortable and still has personality.”
Rebecca N., PortsmouthThe Seraphina, against the coat in your hall closet
| The usual winter coat | The Seraphina | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Warm because it is thick, and you feel it by four | Fleece-lined collar to hem and through the sleeves |
| Fastening | Held shut with one hand, or nothing at all | A full-length zipper, top to hem |
| Hood | None, or thin and unlined | Roomy, fleece-lined, drawstring |
| Pockets | Shallow, so you carry a bag | Two deep, at the hip |
| The front | Black, navy, or a darker black | Turquoise, burnt orange, mustard, slate and cream |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | S through 4XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman warmth she has to carry around on her shoulders all day. That is the whole reason the Seraphina is in the shop.
Why we’re clearing it now
The Seraphina came in at $294.95, and that is what a coat lined the whole way through honestly costs — there is no clever way to do that work quickly. But the shop 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 a little over a third of what it was.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. A coat is the one thing a woman wears over everything else she owns, so it is the piece people actually see, and it is the piece she keeps for years. This is the coat you buy now, before the morning you need it. If it is the one you reach for every day for the next five winters, then $109.95 was never the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$294.95$109.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 63%
- Blocks of turquoise, burnt orange, mustard, slate and cream
- Brushed fleece lining, collar to hem and through the sleeves
- A roomy fleece-lined hood with a drawstring
- A full-length zipper, top to hem
- Two deep front pockets at the hip
- Falls past the hip · true to size · S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
Twenty years behind this counter and the coat is the one purchase I can predict. A woman puts one on, and if it is right she does not look in the mirror at all. She puts her hands in the pockets.
That is the tell. She has stopped assessing it and started living in it, and the decision was made about four seconds ago whether she knows it or not.
Go and find your size.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE SERAPHINA — $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.