A Letter From Vivian: The Tabitha
A letter from the founder
Somewhere along the way, most women’s winter coats turn beige, and nobody remembers deciding it.
On the six things that made me choose the Tabitha, 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 coats are where I watch that promise quietly give out. A woman comes into the store in November wearing something warm and beige, and when I ask what she would wear if it were entirely up to her, she describes something with color in it. Then she buys beige again.
There are two kinds of winter coat on offer, and you have owned both. There is the warm one, which is warm because there is a great deal of it, and by the end of the afternoon you can feel every ounce of it on your shoulders. And there is the one with some life in it, cut thin, so you put a sweater under it and a scarf over it and you are cold by the end of the block anyway.
What I wanted was a coat that is warm because of what is inside it, with a print a grown woman could wear without anybody mistaking it for a novelty.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
The Tabitha is my answer. There were six things I would not do without.
A cat drawn like a painting, not like a greeting card
Most cat coats I am shown look as if they were drawn for a child’s lunchbox. The Tabitha is a portrait. One large cat in teal, ochre, rust, sage and cream, laid down in bold shapes with black lines between them, the way a painter would do it, and a pair of golden eyes that find you from across a room. That is the difference between a coat that is cute and a coat that is good.
“I'm particular about cat-themed clothes. Some are a little too cutesy for my taste, but this looks more like a painting. The rust and teal are lovely together. A woman at the bookstore asked to see the back, which gave us both a laugh.”
Yvonne L., AshevilleThe portrait carries on around the back
A print that stops at the side seams is a print somebody only half thought through. The Tabitha’s portrait wraps across the front and the back. That matters more than it sounds, because a coat is seen from behind far more often than a woman thinks: in line at the pharmacy, walking ahead of someone into church, crossing a parking lot. A good coat should be right from both sides.
“The cat's golden eyes are what sold me. I also like that the artwork continues around the back. Pretty from both sides.”
Robyn C., Santa FeFleece all the way through, the sleeves and the hood included
Open it up, because the inside is where the warmth is. Brushed fleece runs from the collar to the hem and carries on down through both sleeves, and the same fleece lines the hood. Warmth that lives in the lining does not need thickness, so the coat is warm without being heavy, and shoulders are what get tired by the afternoon. The hood is left roomy, so it goes up over hair you have already done, with a drawstring to pull it close on the mornings that bite.
“I bought this for the design, honestly, but the lining deserves a mention. It's soft all the way down the sleeves, not just inside the hood. Wore it out for breakfast on a chilly morning and was quite comfortable. Doesn't have that cumbersome feeling some of my coats do.”
Loretta M., LouisvilleIt zips, and there is still room when it is closed
A front zipper, so on a cold morning the coat closes instead of being held shut with one hand. What matters is what happens once it is closed: nothing grips at the middle. It falls past the hip, which is where a coat stops being a jacket and starts covering you. It is true to size and cut generous on purpose, to fit the woman rather than asking the woman to fit it. One piece of advice I would give you across the counter: if you like a thick sweater underneath, take one size up. Seven sizes, S through 4XL, every one of them the same price.
“Room through the middle even zipped up. That's a big plus for me. Nice length, too.”
Beth R., Grand RapidsDeep, old colors, for a woman who has been living in beige
Teal, ochre, rust, sage and cream. These are the colors of a good rug or a painting that has hung in the same house for years, and nothing here is bright for the sake of being bright. They are warm colors to have near your face on a gray morning. If you have spent a few winters deciding that color is for somebody else, this is where I would start.
“My daughter sent me the link with the words 'Mom, this is you.' Between the cat and the teal, she wasn't wrong. Such a fun coat to wear with my otherwise very plain wardrobe.”
Joyce N., BloomingtonIt asks nothing of what you already own
All the interest is in the coat, so nothing underneath has to try. Black jeans and boots, or blue jeans and a cream tee, and you are dressed. A woman should not have to buy a new wardrobe in order to wear one good coat.
“I turned 60 this year and decided to stop buying everything in beige. This was quite a departure! Tried it on with black jeans and boots I already owned, and it felt like me right away. My sister is the bigger cat person in our family, so now she's eyeing mine.”
Jill D., LancasterThe Tabitha, against the coat in your hall closet
| The usual winter coat | The Tabitha | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Warm because it is thick | Fleece-lined collar to hem and through the sleeves |
| Weight | You can feel it by four o’clock | Half the burden on the shoulders |
| Hood | None, or thin and unlined | Roomy, fleece-lined, drawstring |
| Pockets | Shallow, so you carry a bag | Two deep, at the hip |
| The print | Beige, or something drawn for a child | A cat portrait, front and back |
| 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, or a print she feels she has to explain. That is the whole reason the Tabitha is in the store.
Why we’re clearing it now
The Tabitha hangs at $549.95 on the rail, which is what a coat finished this way goes for: a portrait that carries across the front and the back, brushed fleece from the collar to the hem and down both sleeves, and the same fleece carried up into the hood. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money. 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 Tabitha is going out at a fifth of that.
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 first 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
$549.95$109.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- A cat portrait in teal, ochre, rust, sage and cream, front and back
- Brushed fleece lining, collar to hem and through the sleeves
- A roomy fleece-lined hood with a drawstring
- A front zipper closure
- Two deep front pockets at the hip
- Falls past the hip, and never grips at the middle
- 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 I can tell you the moment a coat is right. A woman turns around to see the back of it in the mirror. She only ever does that once she has already made up her mind about the front.
The Tabitha has a back worth turning around for.
Go find your size.
— Vivian · Vivian & Pearl Newport
SEE THE TABITHA — $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.