Finally — a summer dress that isn't made of plastic.

On the Viola: 95% Peruvian cotton that genuinely breathes, an A-line that skims the middle with a little tummy control, and deep, real pockets. No more sweating inside polyester sold as "cotton blend."

By Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Posted August 2026 · 6 min read

I am 63 years old, and I am tired of being lied to about what my clothes are made of.

For years I bought "summer" dresses promised to be cool and breezy, and every one of them betrayed me the moment the heat climbed. They stuck to my back. They trapped the warmth like a plastic bag. I'd read the little tag afterward and there it was — "cotton blend" — which, I finally learned, is a polite way of saying 90% polyester and a whisper of the real thing.

Then a woman in my walking group here in Mount Pleasant kept turning up cool and comfortable in August, when the rest of us were red-faced and wilting. I finally asked her. She laughed and told me to 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 Viola, and their letter starts with the one thing they refused to fake. I am going to let their words carry it, because they say it better than I could.

1Real 95% Peruvian cotton — not "blend"

We were tired of the same con you are: dresses marketed as "cotton" that turn out to be mostly polyester the second you read the tag. So we made the Viola from 95% Peruvian cotton — real, high-quality cotton from a country known the world over for growing it beautifully and responsibly. Don't take our word for it: check the label. We put it in plain print, right where you can find it.

2An A-line that skims — with a little tummy control

We gave the Viola a soft crossover waist that gently smooths the middle, then let the skirt fall away in an easy A-line that skims instead of clinging. It's a quiet bit of tummy control that just looks like a pretty dress — flattering over the part most of us would rather not think about, and free to move.

3And yes — deep, real pockets

Hidden into the side seams are deep, real pockets — the kind that actually hold your phone, your glasses, a little tin of mints. They keep the clean line of the dress but mean you can leave the handbag at home for a walk around your own garden.

4It actually breathes in the heat

This is what real cotton does that polyester never will: it lets the air move through. Through a sticky Southern afternoon, the Viola stays light and cool against the skin instead of trapping the heat — comfortable from a morning at the market right through to supper on the porch.

5A quiet elegance that gets noticed — for the right reasons

There's no loud pattern here, nothing cheap or fussy — just beautiful real cotton, a soft V-neck, and a flattering cut that quietly reads as far more expensive than it is. And the moment someone gets close, they know. It's the kind of dress that has women reaching over to feel the fabric and ask, plainly, what on earth it's made of. 

6It fits the body you have

We make the Viola from a size S all the way to 5XL and cut it relaxed on purpose. It is meant to fit the woman — not make the woman fit the dress.

The Viola, against the "cotton" dresses you've been buying

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Viola at $184.95 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 less than a third of that.

I ordered mine that evening. It arrived a few days later in a kraft-paper parcel with a short handwritten note from the family. I have reached for it more than anything else in my closet since.

I do not usually write things like this. But I am done sweating through polyester that was sold to me as "cotton" — and this one dress, real cotton and cut to flatter, quietly gave me back the pleasure of a summer dress. If that sounds like you, I hope you find your size before it clears.

— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC

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.