A letter from a reader Lydia S
As cozy as an old fleece, as cheerful as a bunch of flowers
Soft yellow blooms in a teddy-soft fleece — high collar, easy zip, warm as anything and hardly any weight to it.
I am 63, and the things I actually wore had quietly become the things nobody saw me in. A fleece for the porch, a zip-up for the dog, an old sweatshirt for the evening — warm, easy, and every one of them something I would have changed out of before answering the door. Meanwhile the nice sweaters sat in the drawer, itchy and too warm indoors.
I had started to feel a little invisible in my own clothes.
It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who said I did not need to dress up, I needed the comfortable thing to be the pretty one. Then she sent me a link one evening with three words: just read it.
The Clarke family runs a small boutique here in South Carolina, family-run since 1986 — three generations, mother to daughter. The sweater is called the Lydia, 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.
1Flowers that lift the whole day
The flowers are not printed on. They are worked into the pile itself, soft yellow blooms standing up out of a deep charcoal ground, so you can feel them under your hand as well as see them. It is a cheerful thing to put on at seven in the morning, and cheerful is in short supply in February.
2Cozy and warm, and hardly any weight to it
This is the part women write to us about. The pile traps the warmth the way a good blanket does, but there is almost nothing to it on your shoulders — no heavy knit pulling you down, no coat weight. You can wear it on the porch at seven and still be comfortable in it on the sofa at nine in the evening.
3A pouch pocket for both hands at once
There is a soft pouch pocket across the front, open at both sides, so both hands go in at the same time and stay warm on a cold walk. It also holds your phone and your reading glasses without a bulge, which means you can go out to the mailbox or around the block without carrying anything at all.
4A high collar for the wind
The collar stands tall and soft on its own, high enough to cover the back of your neck and reach your chin when you zip it up. That is where a cold wind gets you first. Zipped to the top it takes the place of a scarf; left open it folds back into a soft collar and sits flat.
5Wide through the arms and the middle
We cut the Lydia generously on purpose — full through the arm, easy across the middle, with a dropped shoulder so nothing pulls when you reach up. It skims past the waist instead of gripping it. We make it from a size XS to a 3XL and every size is cut on these same easy lines.
6A zip, so it goes on and comes off easily
No pulling a sweater over your head and no wrestling your arms out of it when the house warms up. The zip runs from the collar down to the chest, so you step into it, pull it up, and open it a few inches when you want the air. Small thing on paper. It is the reason this one gets worn every day.
The Lydia, against the sweaters you've been buying
| The usual warm sweater | The Lydia | |
|---|---|---|
| The look | A gray fleece you would change out of | Soft yellow flowers in the pile |
| The weight | Warm, but heavy on the shoulders | As warm, and almost nothing to it |
| The pockets | None, or two shallow slits | A pouch that takes both hands at once |
| The neck | Open, so the wind gets in | A high collar you can zip to the chin |
| Getting into it | Over your head, hair and all | A zip, on and off in a second |
- A gray fleece you would change out of
- Warm, but heavy on the shoulders
- None, or two shallow slits
- Open, so the wind gets in
- Over your head, hair and all
- Soft yellow flowers in the pile
- As warm, and almost nothing to it
- A pouch that takes both hands at once
- A high collar you can zip to the chin
- A zip, on and off in a second
Why they're clearing it now
They priced the Lydia 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 one is going out at a third of what it was.
Mine came in a kraft box on a Tuesday, folded in white tissue. I zipped it up in the bedroom and wore it out to the mailbox in the same hour.
The Lydia Floral Quarter Zip
- Soft yellow flowers worked into the pile
- A pouch pocket that takes both hands
- High collar, zipped to the chin against the wind
- Warm as a blanket, almost no weight to it
- Sizes XS to 3XL · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
The Lydia · $59.95 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 for years the comfortable things in my closet were the ones I hid in — and this one is comfortable and worth being seen in, which I did not think was on offer anymore. If that sounds like you, I hope you find your size before it clears.
— Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, SC
See the Lydia — $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.