A Letter From Tracy: The Tabitha Set
A letter from a customer
I have good clothes I wear about six times a year, and soft clothes I wear every day. Guess which ones people actually see me in.
What I noticed about the Tabitha Set after two months of wearing it, how it compares to the odds and ends I used to put on, and the one thing I would tell you before you order.
My son brought the grandchildren over on a Saturday morning without calling first. I answered the door in a t-shirt with paint on the shoulder from a bookcase I did in 2019, and the pants I keep meaning to throw out.
He did not say anything. He would not. But I stood there in my own doorway feeling about seventy, and I am sixty-one.
So I sat down that afternoon and actually thought about it, which I do not recommend doing on a Saturday. The clothes I bought to be seen in — the good pants, the blouse I like — I wear maybe six times a year. Birthdays. A funeral. Christmas at my sister’s. The soft things I put on because nobody is coming, I wear nearly every single day.
And those are the ones I am wearing when the bell goes. When the delivery man needs a signature. When a neighbor knocks because her water is off and does mine still work.
The outfit I picked because it did not matter turns out to be the one most people have actually seen me in. For years.
I did not want to start dressing up at home. I wanted the soft clothes to stop making me look like the day had got away from me. That is a narrower thing to ask for and it took me a while to find it.
The Tabitha Set is what I found. It is two pieces, a sweatshirt and wide-leg pants, made to go together. Here are the six things I noticed once I had worn it a while.
It is one decision, and somebody else already made it
The top and the pants come as a pair — same olive, same cream stripe — so there is nothing to match and nothing to stand there weighing up. I take two things off the shelf and I am dressed. I know that sounds like almost nothing. But at half past eight in the morning I have never once been willing to spend thought on this, which is exactly why I always reached for whatever needed none. This needs none and it looks like an outfit, and that turns out to be the whole difference.
“Bought the Tabitha for wearing around the house, but I’ve already worn it to the grocery store and a casual breakfast. With clean sneakers and small earrings, I feel perfectly dressed. It’s nice having the whole outfit figured out before I’ve even had my coffee.”
Theresa B., Lancaster“My daughter came over while I was wearing this and asked if I was heading somewhere. I was actually staying home! The matching olive and cream makes it feel a little more dressed than the odds and ends I usually put on. We spent the afternoon chatting at the kitchen table, and I was comfortable the entire time.”
Patricia E., Ann ArborThe stripe is doing more than I gave it credit for
There is a cream stripe down the outside of each sleeve, and another down the outside of each leg. Worn together they line up, so from any distance it reads as one long line from the shoulder to the ankle. I did not notice that until my sister pointed at a photograph of me and said I looked taller. I am not taller. It is a straight vertical line and the eye follows it down instead of across — and it is the only reason this looks considered where my gray set looks like laundry day.
“The olive and cream look lovely together. A little different from my usual gray sweats, and just as easy to throw on.”
Dolores M., RichmondThe top stays where I put it
Two things I did not want to think about again once I was dressed, and almost everything soft I own makes me think about both. The sleeves are long, so the tops of my arms are covered and stay covered when I reach up to a shelf. And the top is cut relaxed and falls past the waistband, so it sits over the middle rather than riding up and asking to be pulled down every time I stand. That is the difference between forgetting what you have on and being reminded of it forty times a day.
“I like where the top falls over my middle. I can sit down and get up without constantly pulling it back into place. Soft fabric, too. Very pleased.”
Kathy R., SpokaneThe pants are cut for sitting down, which is what I actually do
Clothes get judged standing in front of a mirror and then lived in sitting down, and nobody designs for the second part. These are cut wide and fall straight from the hip on a drawstring waist. Nothing presses anywhere when I sit. Nothing gathers behind the knee. Nothing needs smoothing down when I get up. I have sat at a kitchen table in these for a whole afternoon and not adjusted a thing, which I could not say about a single other pair of soft pants I own.
“I wore this for a three-hour drive to visit family and was comfortable the whole way. The pants have plenty of room through the legs. When we arrived, I just changed my shoes and was ready to go out for lunch.”
Marilyn C., DaytonThe two pieces do not have to stay together
This is the part I did not expect and it is the reason it earns its place. Because the olive is a proper color rather than a laundry shade, each piece works on its own with things I already had — the top over jeans, the pants under a plain sweater. So it is one outfit on the days I want the whole thing decided for me, and two useful separates the rest of the week. A set that can only be worn as a set sits in the drawer. This one does not.
“I’ve worn the top with jeans twice already. The matching pants are comfortable, but I appreciate being able to use the pieces separately. Makes this a useful addition to my closet.”
Marlena S., BoiseIt stops at 2XL, and you should know that before you order
This is the one thing I would want somebody to tell me, so I am telling you. It runs XS, S, M, L, XL and 2XL, and that is the end of it. If you usually wear a 3XL this is not going to work, and I would much rather you heard it here than found it at the size picker with your card already out. Six sizes, one color, all the same price. It is cut relaxed, so if you like things looser take one size up — that is what I did. And it goes in the washing machine, which for something I wear this often was not a small consideration.
The Tabitha Set, against the odds and ends I used to put on
| What I used to wear | The Tabitha Set | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting dressed | Whatever was soft and clean | Two pieces that are already an outfit |
| When someone comes by | I went and changed first | I answer the door |
| The middle | A top that rode up and wanted tugging | Relaxed cut that falls past the waistband |
| Sitting down | Something pressing by the second hour | Wide legs, a drawstring waist, nothing to adjust |
| How it reads | Gray, and it said nobody was expected | One cream line from shoulder to ankle |
| On their own | A set was only ever a set | The top goes with my own jeans |
| Care | Hand wash, or shrink it once | Machine washable |
I am not interested in clothes that assume nobody is going to see me. That turned out to be the whole thing I was looking for.
Who makes it, and why it is this price
It comes from a boutique in Newport called Vivian & Pearl. Vivian opened it twenty years ago on one idea — that a woman should not have to choose between comfortable and beautiful — and her daughter Pearl is at the counter beside her now. Pearl writes a card by hand for every order, which I did not expect and which I have kept.
The list price on it is $399.95, and I will be honest with you, I would never have paid that for something I mostly wear at home. I paid $79.95, because the store turns twenty this year and they are marking it by handing something back. That is the only reason I own it, and I am glad I happened to be looking when I was.
What I would say is this. It is not an occasion outfit and nobody is pretending it is. It is the thing you will put on more often than anything else you own, on the ordinary mornings, and the ordinary mornings are most of them.
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$399.95$79.95
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- Two pieces — a relaxed sweatshirt and wide-leg pants, made to go together
- A cream stripe down each sleeve and each leg, reading as one line when worn
- Long sleeves, and a top cut to fall past the waistband
- Wide legs and a drawstring waist, cut for sitting down
- Wear the pieces together, or each one with your own clothes
- Machine washable
- Sizes XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL · in Olive · every size the same price
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
My son came by again a few weeks ago, same thing, no phone call, two children and a bag of laundry.
He still did not say anything. But I did not think about what I had on, not once, and that is the part I did not know I was missing. It was never about looking nice for him. It was about not having to brace for the doorbell.
If the days nobody is coming are most of your days too, this is the one I would tell you about.
— Tracy
SEE THE TABITHA SET — $79.95 →This is a personal account from a Vivian & Pearl Newport customer. Other customer reviews are quoted as written. · US family brand since 2006 · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.