The Blouse That Lifts a Plain Outfit

A fresh blue-and-white garden blouse — throw it over your plain jeans or trousers and the whole outfit comes to life. Pretty, cool, and it covers your arms.

My warm-weather wardrobe had quietly become a sea of plain — plain tees, plain trousers, plain everything. Comfortable, sensible, and utterly forgettable. I'd throw a plain top over plain trousers and feel exactly as dull as I looked.

What I really wanted was one lovely blouse I could throw over my plain things and instantly look put-together — pretty but grown-up, that covered my arms, and that I could actually breathe in without it gaping or pulling. But the pretty ones were fussy or clung, and the comfortable ones were plain. Nothing was both.

It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop settling for beige and try one from a small family boutique here in South Carolina — a fresh blue-and-white blouse she thought I'd love. 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 blouse is called the Frederikke, 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.

1The blouse that lifts a plain outfit

We made the Frederikke to do what a plain top never could — turn the simple things you already own into an outfit. Throw it over your white trousers, your jeans, or a plain skirt, and suddenly you look considered and put-together, with a bit of fresh prettiness and no effort at all. One lovely blouse, and the whole outfit comes to life.

2A timeless blue-and-white print that goes with everything

It's a beautiful blue-and-white garden print — fresh and classic, like a piece of fine porcelain, with pretty blooms and little birds. The kind of pattern that never dates and goes with everything you own: your whites, your jeans, your navy. Pretty and grown-up at once, never loud — the sort of print that has people asking where it's from.

3An easy, relaxed fit that skims everything

It's cut relaxed and easy, falling loose over the middle and skimming the body rather than clinging to it — no pulling across the bust, no gaping between the buttons, none of the strain that so many blouses give you at our age. A blouse you can actually breathe in, that stays comfortable and put-together all day.

4Long sleeves that cover your arms

It has long sleeves that cover the arms all the way to the wrist — and because it's a light cotton, there's coverage without any heat — and they roll up neatly when you want them shorter. Covered where you want it, cool all the same, for the part of us so many would rather not bare.

5Cool, light and easy to wear

It's made of a light, breathable cotton that stays cool through the hottest afternoon — easy to throw on and comfortable all day — yet fresh and pretty enough to look completely put-together, not shapeless. A blouse you can actually wear in the heat and still feel lovely in, rather than wilted.

6A size for you, from S to 3XL

It's cut relaxed and easy, and it runs from S to 3XL, so it fits and flatters a real range of bodies — not one narrow idea of a figure. A blouse made to fit the woman, not to make the woman fit the blouse.

The Frederikke, against the blouses you've been buying

	Typical blouse	The Frederikke
Your outfit	A plain top, plain and dull	Lifts your jeans and trousers instantly
The print	Safe, muted, forgettable	A timeless blue-and-white garden print
The fit	Gapes, pulls, clings	Relaxed and easy — skims, never clings
Your arms	Bared, or a cardigan on top	Long light sleeves that cover, cool
In the heat	Stifling, or shapeless	Cool, light cotton — fresh and put-together

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Frederikke 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 blouse is going out for a little under half of that.

Mine arrived folded in tissue with a little handwritten note on top. I threw it on over my white trousers that same morning, and looked fresh and put-together without trying at all.

I don't usually write things like this. But the Frederikke has become the first thing I reach for — fresh and pretty, it lifts my plainest things, covers my arms, and stays cool through the hottest day. If your warm-weather wardrobe has gone as plain as mine had, this is the one I'd tell you to try, while the sale is still on.

— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC

See the Frederikke — $59.95 →

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.