I wanted to be comfortable without looking like I had stopped trying.

On the two-piece that feels like a sweatshirt and reads like an outfit — because somebody thought to put buttons and a collar on it.

By Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Posted August 2026 · 6 min read

I am 63, and at some point comfortable clothes and giving up had become the same thing in my head. If I was in something soft it was because I was staying in, and if somebody knocked at the door I had a small moment about it before I answered.

Which is a silly way to spend a Tuesday, and I spent rather a lot of them that way.

It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop settling and look at a set from a small family boutique here in South Carolina. Soft as anything, she said, but with buttons on it. 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 set is called the Elowen, 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.

1Buttons and a collar, so it reads as clothes

Soft clothes usually announce themselves — a hood, a zip, elastic at the ankle, and the whole thing reads as staying in. We gave the Elowen a proper standing collar and a full row of metal buttons instead. Those two details do all the work. It is exactly as comfortable, and nobody looking at you would call it loungewear.

2The comfort of a sweatshirt, and no apology

Underneath the collar and the buttons it is a soft brushed knit, the kind you would happily spend a whole Sunday in. No stiff waistband, nothing to fasten at the middle, nothing that leaves a mark when you take it off. That is the trade most women make when they choose comfort. Here you are not making it.

3The pants are wide, not tapered

This is the single detail that separates a set like this from a tracksuit. A tapered leg with elastic at the ankle reads as sportswear from across the street. The Elowen falls wide and straight to the floor, so the line stays long and the whole thing looks deliberate. It also means nothing grips at the calf, which after sixty matters rather more.

4Ribbed bands, so it does not go shapeless

Soft knit is where garments lose their shape first — the cuffs stretch, the hem droops, and after a month it hangs off you. We finished the Elowen with proper ribbed bands at the cuffs and the hem. They hold, wash after wash, which is the difference between a set you keep and one you quietly stop reaching for.

5Two pieces, and you will wear them apart

A set only earns its place if the pieces stand alone, so we cut each one to. The cardigan buttons over jeans and looks like it was bought that way. The pants take any top you own. Worn together they are one outfit, worn apart they are two more — which is a good deal better than most things hanging in a closet.

6Seven colors, and a size for you — S to 2XL

The Elowen comes in seven colors, and the one you see me wearing is the gray, which goes with rather more than I expected it to. There are deeper shades for the cold months and a few softer ones besides. Sizes run S, M, L, XL and 2XL, all cut from the same relaxed pattern. If you are between sizes, take the smaller one.

The Elowen, against the loungewear you've been living in

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Elowen at $159.95 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 set is going out at well below half of what it was.

Mine arrived a few days later in a box on the bed, both pieces folded into the tissue paper. I put the cardigan on over what I was already wearing and did not take it off again that day.

I do not usually write things like this. But I had quietly decided that being comfortable and being presentable were two different days of the week, and one box took that apart. If you have had a small moment about answering your own front door, I hope you find your size before it clears.

— Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, SC

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.