The comfortable navy dress with dragonflies — and pockets — I wear on repeat.

On the soft everyday midi that skims over the middle, slips on in a second, and has real pockets — charming, comfortable, and machine washable. Why a small South Carolina family made it this way, and why they're clearing it now.

By Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Posted September 2026 · 6 min read

I am 63 years old, and what I want most days is a dress I can simply put on and forget about — comfortable, easy, and nice enough to answer the door or run into town. But comfortable usually meant shapeless and dull, and the nicer dresses were fussy, or stiff, or clung to my middle. And almost none of them ever had a single pocket, so I was forever carrying a bag around my own house.

What I wanted was one soft, everyday dress with a bit of charm to it — that skimmed over my middle instead of clinging, that I could throw on and feel comfortable in all day, and, if I was lucky, with somewhere to put my hands and my phone.

Then a woman in my church group here in Mount Pleasant wore the loveliest navy dress covered in little dragonflies, comfortable and cheerful and completely at ease, hands in its pockets. I finally asked her about it. She laughed and told me to 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 Evelina, 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 charming dragonfly print

We scattered soft white dragonflies across a deep navy, for a print that is charming and a little different without ever being loud. It is the kind of dress that quietly lifts your spirits to put on, and has people smiling and asking about it.

2An empire waist that skims

We set a gathered seam just under the bust and let the full skirt fall soft and easy from there, so it skims right over the tummy and hips instead of clinging. Forgiving exactly where you want it, and comfortable to move in all day.

3Real pockets, right where you want them

We tucked deep pockets into the side seams, the kind your hands settle into and that hold your phone, your glasses or your keys. A comfortable dress you can potter about the house and the garden in without a bag — a small everyday joy.

4Soft, comfortable, and machine washable

We made it from a soft, comfortable jersey that feels like nothing to wear and moves with you — and it goes straight in the machine and comes out ready to wear. No fuss, no ironing; just the easy, everyday comfort you actually reach for.

5A graceful midi you just pull on

We cut it to a graceful midi length with a comfortable round neck and easy short sleeves, so it slips on in a second and looks pulled-together with nothing more than sandals. Errands, lunch, the garden, the grandchildren — one easy dress for all of it.

6It fits the body you have

We make the Evelina from a size S all the way to 5XL and cut it soft and forgiving. It is meant to fit the woman — not make the woman fit the dress.

The Evelina, against the everyday dresses you've been buying

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Evelina 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 one is going out at less than half of that.

I ordered mine that evening. It arrived a few days later in a kraft-paper parcel with a short handwritten note from the family. I have reached for it more than anything else in my closet since.

I do not usually write things like this. But I had spent years choosing between comfortable and nice, and carrying a bag around my own house — and this one soft, charming dress, with its lovely deep pockets, solved all of it at once. If that sounds like you, I hope you find your size before it clears.

— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC

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.