A letter from a reader Rhea Trendy S
It was never about finding something thin enough.
On the blouse whose cloth has a crinkle worked into it — so it stands off you instead of lying against you.
I am 63 and I live in South Carolina, and every summer I make the same mistake. I go looking for the thinnest thing in the store, on the theory that thinner must be cooler.
Then I put it on and it lies flat against me. It clings at the back the moment I get out of the car, it shows the outline of everything underneath, and by two in the afternoon it is stuck to me. Thin was never the answer. I had simply never asked what the actual question was.
It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop looking at how thin a thing was and start looking at the weave, 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 blouse is called the Rhea, 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 cloth has a crinkle in it
Run your hand over it and you can feel the weave is not flat. There is a fine crinkle worked through the cloth, and that is doing the whole job — a textured fabric can only touch you at its high points, so there is air between you and it everywhere else. A smooth fabric has nowhere to go but flat against your skin. Thin does not solve that. Texture does.
2A stripe up close, a color from across the room
The stripes are narrow and set close together, which changes what they do at a distance. Stand near and you see a blue and white stripe. Step back four feet and your eye blends them into one soft blue-gray. So you get the interest of a pattern when somebody is talking to you, and the calm of a plain color from anywhere else in the room.
3There is nothing on it at all
No collar. No buttons. No zip, no placket, no cuffs to fasten. A plain round neck and it goes on over your head. That is not a shortcut — it is the reason there is nothing to press, nothing to do up, nothing to gape when you lean forward and nothing that can be wrong. It is the least demanding thing in the drawer and it looks entirely deliberate.
4The hem curves up at the sides
It is cut to be worn out, never tucked, so the hem is shaped rather than cut straight. It rises at the sides and falls lower front and back, which means no hard horizontal line drawn across your hips and a bit more cover where you want it. One less decision when you put it on, because there is only one way it is meant to be worn.
5Loose sleeves that turn back at the wrist
The sleeves are cut full the whole way down, so nothing grips the upper arm, and they turn back at the wrist into a soft cuff. Long enough to cover, loose enough to move air, and turned back so nothing catches on anything. Between that and the body, there is no point on this blouse that is close to you.
6Three colors, and sizes S all the way to 5XL
The Rhea comes in three colors and the one you see me wearing is the blue, which is the one that reads coolest in the heat. Sizes run S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL and 5XL — the whole way up, which not many blouses bother with. It is cut generously and meant to hang loose, so take your usual size rather than going up.
The Rhea, against the summer blouses you keep buying
| The usual summer blouse | The Rhea | |
|---|---|---|
| The weave | Smooth, so it lies flat against you | Crinkled, so it stands off the skin |
| Getting out of the car | Stuck to your back | Still sitting where you left it |
| At a distance | A pattern that announces itself | Narrow stripes blending to soft blue |
| What's on it | Collar, buttons, cuffs — all to press | Nothing at all; it goes over your head |
| The hem | Straight, and it wants tucking in | Curved and meant to be worn out |
- Smooth, so it lies flat against you
- Stuck to your back out of the car
- A pattern that announces itself
- Collar, buttons, cuffs — all to press
- A straight hem that wants tucking in
- Crinkled, so it stands off the skin
- Still sitting where you left it
- Narrow stripes blending to a soft blue
- Nothing at all; it goes over your head
- A curved hem, meant to be worn out
Why they're clearing it now
They priced the Rhea at $129.95 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 well below half of what it was.
Mine arrived a few days later in a box on the bed. I ran my hand over the cloth before I unfolded it, which is what my mother would have done.
The Rhea Blouse
- A crinkled weave that stands off the skin instead of clinging
- Narrow stripes that blend to a soft blue from a distance
- No collar, no buttons, no zip — it goes on over your head
- A curved hem, cut to be worn out and never tucked
- Full sleeves turned back at the wrist · 3 colors · sizes S–5XL
The Rhea Blouse · $54.95 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 had spent about fifteen summers buying the thinnest thing on the rack and being uncomfortable in all of it, and it turns out I had been looking at the wrong property of the cloth the entire time. If August is the month you dread getting dressed in, I hope you find your size before it clears.
— Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, SC
See the Rhea — $54.95 →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.