The Dress I Actually Felt Pretty In Again

A proper floral midi — a real waist, a half sleeve, and pockets — in a soft fabric that gives and moves with you. It looks like an occasion and feels like the dress you'd choose anyway.

For years, an occasion has meant a choice I resented. The dressy dress looked lovely and was miserable to wear — structured, tight, and I'd spend the whole event counting down to the zip. The comfortable thing was the opposite: easy, but it looked like I'd given up.

So my closet split into the dresses that looked right and hurt, and the ones that felt right and looked like nothing. For a wedding, a christening, a lunch out, I'd pick one and pay for it either way.

It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop settling and try one from a small family boutique here in South Carolina. Before I tell you what it did — for how I looked and, honestly, how I felt — 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 dress is called the Aveline, 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 waist, without being held in

The waist is defined and the skirt falls full from it, so you get a proper shape instead of a straight line — but the fabric gives, so it never holds you in. You can breathe, sit, eat, and still have a waist. Flattering and forgiving at the same time.

2Covers the tops of your arms

The sleeve covers the top of the arm and stops at the elbow, so there is nothing to throw a cardigan over and nothing left bare that you would rather not be. Dressed and covered exactly where you want, without a second layer.

3Pockets, even in a dress this pretty

There are real pockets set into the skirt — deep enough for your phone, a tissue, your hands when you are standing and talking. You are not clutching a bag through the whole event, and your hands have somewhere to be.

4The print people stop you about

The floral is small and quiet, elegant instead of loud — the kind of print people compliment without quite knowing why it works. It looks chosen, not settled for, and it does not read as a dress bought for an older woman.

5The one I felt pretty in again

We did not set out to make an "age-appropriate" dress. We set out to make one a woman catches sight of herself in and thinks, oh — there I am. Pretty, not just presentable. If you have spent a few years dressing to blend in at other people's occasions, this is the one that puts you back in the picture.

6A size for you, from S to 5XL

It comes from S all the way to 5XL, and the stretch means it fits a range of bodies comfortably rather than only one. A dress cut to fit the woman, not to make the woman fit the dress.

The Aveline, against the occasion dresses you've been buying

	Typical occasion dress	The Aveline
Comfort	Structured and tight — counting down to the zip	Soft fabric that gives — breathe, sit and eat all day
Your shape	A waist that holds you in, or no waist at all	A real waist that flatters without gripping
Your arms	Sleeveless — bare, or a cardigan over the top	A half sleeve that covers the upper arm to the elbow
Pockets	None — a bag in your hand all event	Real, deep side pockets for phone, tissue, hands
The print	Shouts, or reads matronly	A small, elegant floral people compliment

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Aveline at $139.95 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 dress is going out for a little over a third of that.

Mine arrived folded in tissue with a little handwritten note on top. It pulls straight on — no zip to reach behind me — and I had it on before I'd thought twice.

I don't usually write things like this. But the Aveline is the first dress in years I've put on for an occasion and felt genuinely pretty in, not just appropriate — comfortable enough to enjoy the day, lovely enough that people asked me about it. If you've been dressing to blend in the way I had, this is the one I'd tell you to try, while the sale is still on.

— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC

See the Aveline — $49.95 →

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