The Cool Linen Dress I've Lived In All Summer

A light, breezy linen dress you simply throw on — so airy you forget the heat, roomy enough to be comfortable, with big pockets you'll actually use.

Every summer it's the same. By ten in the morning it's too hot to bear, and everything in my closet either clings, itches, or feels like far too much the moment the temperature climbs. I'd end up in the same tired thing, wilting, wishing I'd stayed indoors.

What I really wanted was one cool, easy dress I could pull straight on and forget about — light enough for the heat, roomy enough to be comfortable, but nice enough to actually leave the house in. The cool things looked like nightgowns, and the nice things were far too warm. Nothing was both.

It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop suffering through the summer and try one from a small family boutique here in South Carolina — a light linen dress she thought I'd never take off. 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 Orien, 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 cool linen dress you'll live in all summer

We made the Orien from a light, breezy linen you simply throw on — no fuss, nothing to fasten — and it becomes the coolest, easiest thing in your closet. The dress you reach for morning after morning, for the market, the terrace, or lunch by the water. One easy dress, and the whole summer sorted.

2So light and airy you forget the heat

The linen is soft and open-woven, so the breeze passes right through it instead of trapping the heat against you. It's loose and floaty, lifting away from the skin as you move, so you stay cool and dry even through a blazing afternoon. A dress you can actually enjoy the summer in, not just endure it.

3Roomy and easy — skims everything, never clings

It's cut generous and easy, the linen falling softly away from the body so it skims everything and clings to nothing — no waistband, no fitted seams digging in anywhere. All the comfort of your softest housedress, in a dress you are genuinely proud to be seen in. You put it on and forget you're wearing it.

4Big pockets you'll actually use

It has two big front pockets you can actually use — phone, reading glasses, keys, or just a hand or two on a breezy evening — sewn right into the front of the dress. Not the useless little slits so many dresses pretend are pockets, but proper, roomy ones. Such a simple thing, and it changes how you wear it.

5Effortless from the beach to dinner

It carries you effortlessly from a morning by the water to dinner as the sun goes down — thrown on over a swimsuit with a straw bag, or dressed up with a few beads and sandals for the evening. One light linen dress that looks right wherever the day takes you, and packs down to nothing in a case.

6A size for you, all the way to 5XL

It's cut generous and easy, and it runs all the way from S to 5XL, so it fits and flatters a real range of bodies — not one narrow idea of a figure. A dress made to fit the woman, not to make the woman fit the dress.

The Orien, against the dresses you've been buying

	Typical dress	The Orien
In the heat	Clings and sticks the moment it's warm	Light linen — the breeze passes right through
Comfort	Waistbands and seams that dig in	Roomy and easy — skims, never clings
Pockets	None, or useless little slits	Two big front pockets you actually use
On holiday	Heavy, fussy, wrong for the heat	Beach to dinner in one easy dress
Getting dressed	The same tired thing, wilting	Throw it on — the coolest thing you own

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Orien 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 for a third of that.

Mine arrived folded in tissue with a little handwritten note on top. I threw it on that same morning, slipped my hands in the big pockets, and I've barely taken it off since.

I don't usually write things like this. But the Orien has become the only dress I want to wear once the weather turns — cool enough to forget the heat, easy enough to throw on in seconds, and comfortable enough that I never want to take it off. If the summers have become something you endure rather than enjoy, this is the one I'd tell you to try, while the sale is still on.

— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC

See the Orien — $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.