A letter from a reader Leona S
I own three velvet things and I have worn each of them once.
On the velvet dress with pockets in it — cut like something you would actually put on a Tuesday.
I am 63, and I own three velvet things. I have worn each of them exactly once, and I remember precisely which evening it was in all three cases.
That is what happens with a special fabric. It comes with an occasion attached, and after a certain age the occasions get further apart. So a lovely thing hangs there waiting for a dinner that never quite comes around, and meanwhile you get dressed on an ordinary Tuesday in the same two things you always wear.
It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who said the fabric was never the problem — it was what they cut it into — and pointed me at a small family boutique here in South Carolina. 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 dress is called the Leona, 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.
1We put pockets in a velvet dress
Two large patch pockets at the hip, deep enough for a whole hand. It sounds like a small thing and it is the entire argument. A velvet dress without pockets is for an evening; a velvet dress with them is for a Tuesday. It is the difference between a garment you get out for something and one you simply put on, and nobody puts pockets in velvet because nobody expects you to wear it.
2Nothing to fasten, front or back
No zip up the spine, no buttons, no hook at the top that needs somebody else. It goes on over your head and it is on. Almost every velvet dress ever made has a zip in the back, and that zip is quietly the reason it stays on the hanger — because it means asking, or reaching, or waiting until there is somebody in the house.
3A soft roll at the neck, not a turtleneck
The neck is cut wide and left to fold over on itself rather than knitted tight to the throat. So you get the warmth and the coverage of a high neck with nothing gripping — no pulling it away from your throat through the afternoon, and none of that closed-in feeling that makes a lot of women rule turtlenecks out altogether.
4The hem draws back in
Look at the shape from the side. It widens through the body, as a comfortable dress must, and then it curves back in again toward the hem instead of continuing outward. That returning line is what makes it a shape rather than a quantity of fabric — a loose dress that keeps going out is a tent, and a loose dress that comes back in is a silhouette.
5It ends where your boots begin
The hem finishes just above the ankle, which is exactly where a boot starts. That is not an accident — it means the dress works with what you already put on in cold weather, rather than needing a particular shoe you would have to go and buy. And because the hem is narrow rather than wide, there is nothing gathering around the top of the boot.
6Five colors, and a size for you — S to 3XL
The Leona comes in five colors and the one you see me wearing is the blue, which is deeper than it looks on a screen. There is an emerald, a black, a wine and a red besides — velvet holds a dark color better than almost anything else, which is why we did not make it in anything pale. Sizes run S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL, cut loose through the body. If you are between sizes, take the smaller one.
The Leona, against the velvet hanging in your closet
| The usual velvet dress | The Leona | |
|---|---|---|
| When you wear it | An occasion, once a year | Whenever you feel like it |
| Pockets | None — nobody expects you to wear it | Two large ones at the hip |
| Getting into it | A zip up the back, and someone to help | Straight over the head, on your own |
| At the neck | Bare, or a turtleneck that grips | A soft roll, high and loose |
| The shape | Fitted, or loose and going nowhere | Wide, then drawing back in at the hem |
- An occasion dress, worn once a year
- No pockets — nobody expects you to wear it
- A zip up the back, and someone to help
- Bare at the neck, or a turtleneck that grips
- Fitted, or loose and going nowhere
- Wear it whenever you feel like it
- Two large pockets at the hip
- Straight over the head, on your own
- A soft roll neck, high and loose
- Wide, then drawing back in at the hem
Why they're clearing it now
They priced the Leona at $179.95 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 at well below half of what it was.
Mine arrived a few days later in a box on the bed. I put my hands in the pockets before I had it on properly, which tells you what sold me.
The Leona Dress
- Two large patch pockets — in velvet, which nobody does
- No zip and no buttons; it goes on over your head
- A soft roll neck, high without gripping
- A cocoon hem that draws back in above the ankle
- Works with the boots you own · 5 colors · sizes S–3XL · Free UPS shipping
The Leona Dress · $64.95 while sizes last
Buy 2 get 10%, buy 3 get 15%, buy 4 get an extra 20% off. When it's gone, it's gone.
I do not usually write things like this. But I have three lovely things in that closet that I have worn once each, and it turns out none of that was about the fabric — it was a zip and a missing pocket. If you own something beautiful you never get out of the closet, I hope you find your size before it clears.
— Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, SC
See the Leona — $64.95 →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.