A Letter From Vivian: The Solene
A letter from the founder
By the time most tops look like an outfit, you have added three things to them.
On the six things that made me choose the Solene, how it compares to the top you would otherwise have reached for, and why it is $69.95 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.
With a top, that promise does not break where you would expect. It breaks in the ten minutes afterwards.
She finds one that fits and is comfortable and is a good colour on her. She puts it on. She looks in the mirror. And it is not finished. So she opens a drawer and adds a necklace. Then earrings, because the earrings now have to agree with the necklace. Then a scarf, because the neckline was never quite right on its own.
That is the tax on a comfortable top, and almost nobody names it. It is comfortable until you have to decorate it, and then it is three more decisions before eight in the morning.
And I will tell you what happens to all that decoration. It is the first thing she takes off when she gets home, and it is what she leaves behind on a hotel bathroom shelf.
What I wanted was a top that arrives finished. Where the interest is built into the garment instead of hung off it afterwards.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Solene is my answer. There were six things I would not do without.
The collar is the jewellery
This is the whole page in one detail. The collar is cut high and asymmetric, so it crosses over itself at the throat and fastens with a single gold-tone button — and it sits exactly where a necklace would sit, doing exactly the job a necklace does. It frames the face, it catches the light, it gives the eye somewhere to land. The difference is that you do not have to remember it, choose it, or find it. You button it, and you are dressed.
“I'm particular about necklines, and I really like how this one frames my face. I wore small earrings and skipped a necklace because the collar and button already gave me enough detail. My sister noticed it right away when we met for lunch. Comfortable enough that I kept it on for the rest of the afternoon.”
Francine W., Spokane“The collar is what made me order this. I like the way it crosses over, and that single gold-tone button is just enough detail. Wore it with black pants to dinner and felt nicely dressed.”
Esther M., RichmondTexture instead of pattern, which is why it suits every mood
A wide-rib cotton-blend corduroy, and the ribs are the point. A pattern asks you to be in the mood for it — some mornings you are, and on the rest of them it hangs there. Texture never asks. Corduroy reads as considered from across a room and announces nothing at all up close, which is why it has outlived every print that was fashionable alongside it. It is also the reason this works at a dinner and at a school gate without changing a thing.
“I hadn't bought corduroy in years, but this caught my attention. The wide ribs give it such a nice texture, and the wrap front makes it feel different from a regular shirt. Took it along for a weekend with friends and wore it out to breakfast both mornings.”
Jan P., AshevilleTwo rounded pockets that are actually pockets
On a great deal of women's clothing a patch pocket is a shape sewn on flat, and the first time you try to put anything in it you find out. These are real ones: two rounded patches set into the front, deep enough for your hands, your phone or your keys, and placed where your hands already go when you are standing talking to somebody. That last part is not a small thing. A woman with nowhere to put her hands is a woman who never quite settles in a room.
“Those rounded pockets are my favorite part. Somewhere for my reading glasses when I get up from my book, and they look cute too.”
Betsy L., LancasterThe cut has to be right, because the cloth will not rescue it
I will be straight with you: this corduroy has no stretch in it. Most comfortable tops are comfortable because the fabric gives, which quietly forgives a pattern that was never cut properly. There is nothing to forgive anything here, so the room has to be built in — and it is. Dropped shoulders, genuine room through the body, and a curved hem that is meant to be left out rather than tucked. Nothing grips at the middle and nothing has to be arranged.
“I appreciate the roomy cut, especially since the fabric doesn't stretch. It hangs comfortably over my middle without my needing to tuck anything in. The curved bottom looks nice left out, which is how I prefer to wear my tops.”
Marita H., ColumbusSleeves you are meant to push up
The sleeves are long and they are cut to be rolled, which turns one garment into two. Down, it is what you put on over a tee at seven in the morning when the house is still cold. Turned up to the forearm, it is what you are still wearing at four in the afternoon when the sun has come round. That is the difference between a top you wear for an hour and one you never take off, and it costs nothing but a cuff you can actually fold.
“Lovely rust color and soft corduroy. I've been wearing mine with jeans and the sleeves turned up. Very happy with it.”
Kay R., EugeneIt comes in rust, and only in rust
I would rather say this here than have you find it at the size picker. There is one colour and it is a warm rust-orange, and I know the thought that follows, because I hear it across the counter: lovely, but I would only ever wear it with jeans. I have watched that turn out to be wrong more often than almost anything else I sell. Rust behaves like a neutral once it is in the house — it sits down beside brown, cream, olive, black and denim without arguing with any of them. Six sizes, S through 3XL, every one the same price, and it goes in the washing machine.
“The orange goes beautifully with my brown skirt. I thought I'd only wear this with jeans, so that was a pleasant surprise.”
Corinne D., MadisonThe Solene, against the top you would otherwise have reached for
| The usual comfortable top | The Solene | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting dressed | Needs a necklace, then earrings to match it | The collar and the button are the detail |
| The cloth | Jersey that has gone limp by noon | Wide-rib cotton cord that holds its shape |
| The front | Straight, and it wants tucking in | An asymmetric wrap and a curved hem, worn out |
| Pockets | None, or sewn on flat for the look | Two deep rounded patches, at hand height |
| Through the middle | Clings, or you size up and lose the shape | Dropped shoulders and room built into the cut |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | S through 3XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman a comfortable top that then asks her for three more decisions before breakfast. That is the whole reason the Solene is in the store.
Why we’re clearing it now
The Solene hangs at $349.95 on the rail, which is what a piece finished this way goes for: a wide-rib cotton cord, a collar drafted to cross and fasten properly rather than lie flat, two real patch pockets, and a curved hem cut to be worn out. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money for a top. 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 the Solene is going out at a fifth of that.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. This is not the piece you wear to the one wedding. It is the layer that lives on the back of the bedroom chair from October to April and goes on over whatever you are already wearing. If it turns out to be that, then $69.95 was never the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,524+ reviews
$349.95$69.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- Wide-rib cotton-blend corduroy in a warm rust-orange
- An asymmetric wrap collar with a single gold-tone button
- Two deep rounded patch pockets at hand height
- Dropped shoulders and a curved hem, cut to be worn out
- Long sleeves to wear down or turned up
- Machine washable
- S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL · every size the same price
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
Twenty years behind this counter, and there is one thing I watch for that tells me everything. A woman puts a top on in the fitting room, turns to the mirror, and then her hand goes up to her collarbone.
She is not adjusting anything. She is looking for the necklace that would finish it, and she has not even noticed she is doing it.
Nobody does that in the Solene. The hand stays down, and she reaches for her bag.
Go find your size.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE SOLENE — $69.95 →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.