A Whole Outfit In One — Just Put It On

A matching striped linen tunic and wide-leg trousers, made to go together — drapey, boho-elegant and cool, and pulled-together the moment you put both pieces on.

Getting dressed had quietly become the hardest part of my day. I'd stand at the closet trying to make a top and a pair of trousers agree with each other, building a pile on the bed, and half the time I'd give up and default to the same tired thing, feeling thrown-together all day.

What I really wanted was to stop assembling outfits altogether — one thing I could put on and simply look pulled-together, elegant and cool, with no matching to do and nothing clinging. But the comfortable things looked like I'd given up, and the elegant things were fussy and warm. Nothing was all three.

It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop struggling every morning and try a set from a small family boutique here in South Carolina — a matching striped linen two-piece she thought would take the whole decision off my hands. Before I tell you what it did, I think you should read the Clarke family's letter first.

The Clarke family runs a small boutique here in South Carolina, family-run since 1986 — three generations, mother to daughter. The set is called the Aurelia, and their letter walks through the handful of things they refused to compromise on. I am going to let their words carry it, because they say it better than I could.

1A whole outfit in one — just put it on

We made the Aurelia as a matching striped linen tunic and wide-leg trousers, cut to go together perfectly — so you put the two pieces on and you're dressed, pulled-together and comfortable, with no matching to puzzle over and no pile on the bed. One set, and the whole outfit is done before you've had your coffee.

2The effortlessly elegant, boho-chic set

It has a drapey, boho-elegant cut — the kind of relaxed, artful look you'd expect from a boutique twice the price. The flowing tunic, the soft stripe, the easy line: it seems considered and expensive, yet takes ten seconds to put on. You look effortlessly put-together and interesting, without a scrap of effort.

3A drapey, relaxed cut that skims everything

The tunic falls soft and drapey, away from the body, skimming right over the middle and the hips and clinging to nothing — no waistband, no fitted seams. All the ease of your softest loungewear, in a set you genuinely feel elegant in. You put it on and forget you're wearing it, and never once think about what's underneath.

4Cool, light linen for the warmest days

It's made of a light, airy linen — tunic and trousers both — that lets the breeze pass right through instead of trapping the heat against you. So you stay cool through the hottest afternoon while looking completely put-together, not shapeless. Cool as anything, but a proper, lovely outfit.

5Wear it as a set, or split it into two

Worn together, it's a matching striped linen set; but split it up and the tunic goes beautifully over your jeans, and the wide trousers with a plain top — so one purchase quietly becomes three or four outfits. A set that keeps earning its place in your closet, worn a dozen different ways.

6Six colours, and a size for you, from S to 2XL

It comes in six beautiful striped colourways — a warm red, a soft green, a classic black, a fresh blue, a sunny yellow and a pretty pink — and it runs from S to 2XL, cut relaxed and generous to flatter a real range of bodies. A set made to fit the woman, not to make the woman fit the set.

The Aurelia, against the outfits you've been assembling

	Assembling an outfit	The Aurelia
Getting dressed	Matching a top to trousers, then giving up	Two pieces on — a whole outfit, done
The look	Comfortable, but plain and dull	Drapey, boho-elegant, quietly expensive
The fit	Clings to the middle and hips	A drapey cut that skims, never clings
In the heat	Stifling, or shapeless	Cool, light linen — still a proper outfit
Value	One look, then it sits in the closet	Wear it as a set, or split into three or four

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Aurelia at $149.95 when it launched, and it sold at that price all season. But for America's 250th, the Clarke family wanted to give something back to the women who have kept their doors open since 1986 — so every set is going out for well under half of that.

Mine arrived folded in tissue with a little handwritten note on top. I put both pieces on that same morning and was dressed, cool and pulled-together, without a single thing left on the bed.

I don't usually write things like this. But the Aurelia has taken the hardest decision of my morning clean off my hands — one set, and I'm dressed, cool, comfortable and looking like I made a real effort, without a thing left on the bed. If getting dressed has become a struggle the way it had for me, this is the one I'd tell you to try, while the sale is still on.

— Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, SC

See the Aurelia — $59.95 →

This is a personal account from a Clarke Family customer. Sandra was not paid to write it. · The Clarke Family · Family Fashion · South Carolina, since 1986 · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.