A Letter From Michelle: The Bohemian Coats
A Letter From Michelle
A woman buys one winter coat, and then asks it to offend nobody for the next six years.
On the six things I looked for before these came into the shop, how they compare to the coat in your hall closet, and why every one of the twelve is $109.95 for our twentieth year.
I am Michelle, and my husband and I opened this boutique twenty years ago with one idea: that a woman should not have to choose between comfortable and beautiful.
A winter coat is not really a garment. It is a decision she makes once and then lives inside for years — over everything she owns, at every door, in every photograph anybody takes of her between November and March.
And because she is buying only one, and because that one has to go to the grocery store and to a funeral and to her granddaughter’s school, she does not choose the coat she likes. She chooses the coat least likely to be wrong. Which is how a woman ends up in black for six winters running and could not tell you when she decided that.
The two on offer never change either. There is the warm one, which is warm because there is simply a great deal of it, and by four in the afternoon she can feel every ounce of it on her shoulders. And there is the handsome one, cut beautifully and cut thin, so she puts a sweater under it and something at the neck and she is cold anyway.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
These are twelve coats built on one refusal. Every one of them is lined in brushed fleece — collar to hem, and down through both sleeves — so the warmth lives in the lining rather than in the bulk. There were six things I would not do without.
Each one is a picture, not a pattern
This is the thing I was actually buying. Not a coat with some color on it — a coat with something on it worth looking at. One is a patchwork print in coral and teal. One is a tapestry-look print in marigold and burgundy. One is an enormous cat, painted, with gold eyes you can see from across a parking lot. They are not twelve colorways of the same idea, which is what a rail like this usually turns out to be. They are twelve different pictures, and a woman picks the one that is hers.
“The Cassandra is even prettier in person. I wore it with jeans and a cream tee, and three women asked me where I found it.”
Linda R., Asheville“This coat is pure happiness. I wore my Zinnia on the first gray morning of the season and it honestly lifted my whole mood.”
Deborah L., BurlingtonFleece all the way through, sleeves included
Open one up and this is the part I would want you to look at. The brushed fleece runs collar to hem and then carries on down through both sleeves. Most makers line the body and stop there, because the sleeves are where a lining costs them money and where nobody thinks to check. The reason it matters is simple arithmetic: a coat lined the whole way through is as warm as a heavy one at half the burden on the shoulders, and it is the shoulders that get tired by four o’clock.
“I love that the Aria keeps me warm without feeling like a big, heavy winter coat. The fleece inside the sleeves makes such a difference.”
Barbara T., Lexington“I bought the Delilah for those gorgeous jewel tones, but the soft fleece is what made me keep reaching for it. Warm without weighing down my shoulders.”
Susan A., SpokaneA hood that is lined and roomy, with a drawstring
Three separate decisions, and each one gets skipped somewhere. It is lined in the same fleece, so putting it up is warm rather than merely windproof. It is left roomy, so it goes over hair she has already done instead of flattening it. And there is a drawstring, so on the mornings that bite she pulls it close rather than holding it shut with one hand while the other hand carries everything else.
“The Sienna had me at the little folk-art details. It has that cozy autumn look I love, plus a hood that’s roomy enough to be useful.”
Kathleen B., Boise“I kept the Paloma by the back door and the Sienna in the car. Between the roomy hoods and those deep pockets, I’m covered wherever I happen to be.”
Donna E., RichmondTwo pockets deep enough to leave the purse at home
Set into the front at hip height, and deep — a phone, a set of keys and a pair of gloves at the same time. That sounds like a small convenience and it is actually a different kind of morning. A coat with real pockets means the short walk needs nothing else: no bag over the shoulder, no strap to move when she takes the coat off, nothing to leave behind on the back of a chair. I have never understood why so many makers treat a pocket as decoration.
“My granddaughter noticed the cat on my Tabitha before I even had it zipped! It’s fun, cozy, and the pockets are actually deep enough for my phone.”
Nancy P., Madison“Soft coastal colors, a comfortable fit, and pockets that hold more than a tissue—finally! My Paloma has become my everyday coat.”
Joan H., PortlandLong enough to cover, and it never grips at the middle
It falls past the hip, which is where a coat stops being a jacket and starts actually covering her. And it hangs straight down the front rather than being drawn in anywhere, so there is nothing gripping at the middle and nothing to arrange. A woman should be able to put a coat on over whatever she is already wearing and not have to think about what that does to her shape. Every one of them zips, top to hem, so she closes it when the wind gets up and leaves it open when it does not — and that is her decision to make each morning rather than mine.
“My Savannah feels like being wrapped in a favorite handmade blanket. It covers past my hips, but the shape still feels easy and flattering.”
Diane C., Grand Rapids“The colors in the Tallulah remind me of an old woven blanket I’ve always loved. Comfortable, roomy through the middle, and so easy to throw on.”
Carol J., Santa FeTwelve of them, cut generous, S through 4XL
They are true to size and cut generous on purpose — to fit the woman rather than asking the woman to fit them. One piece of advice I would give across the counter: if you like a thick sweater underneath, take one size up. A winter coat that will not close over a sweater is a spring coat wearing the wrong label. Seven sizes, S through 4XL, and every one of the twelve at the same price — which means the choice in front of you is only ever about which picture you want, and never about what it costs.
“I now own three—Cassandra, Delilah, and Marina. Same comfortable fit, three completely different moods, and not one boring winter coat among them.”
Teresa G., Milwaukee“I was tired of choosing between black and beige winter coats. The Seraphina brightens everything up, even when I’m only wearing jeans underneath.”
Janet M., PittsburghThese, against the coat in your hall closet
| The usual winter coat | These | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Warm because it is thick | Fleece-lined collar to hem and through the sleeves |
| Weight | You can feel it by four o’clock | Half the burden on the shoulders |
| Hood | None, or thin and unlined | Roomy, fleece-lined, drawstring |
| Pockets | Shallow, so you carry a bag | Two deep, at the hip |
| The front | Black, navy, or a darker black | Twelve different pictures |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | S through 4XL, one price |
I refuse to sell a woman six more winters of a coat chosen for how little it says. That is the whole reason this rail is in the shop.
Why we’re clearing them now
These are $399.95 to $549.95 on the rail, which is what a coat finished this way goes for — lined the whole way through, a hood lined to match, and a picture on the back that somebody actually drew. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money. But the shop turns twenty this year, and my daughters Julie and Amy are beside me at the counter most days now, which is not something I let myself count on in 2006. We wanted to mark it by handing something back to the women who kept our door open, so the whole rail is going out at up to 80% off.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. A coat is the one thing a woman wears over everything else she owns, so it is the piece people actually see, and it is the piece she keeps for years. If it is the one you reach for every day for the next five winters, then $109.95 was never really the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,369+ reviews
$549.95$109.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save up to 80%
- Twelve pictures — patchwork print, tapestry print, folk art, a painted cat
- Brushed fleece lining, collar to hem and through the sleeves
- A roomy fleece-lined hood with a drawstring
- A full-length zipper, top to hem
- Two deep front pockets at the hip
- Falls past the hip, and never grips at the middle
- True to size · S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL · every coat, one price
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every coat the same price
Twenty years behind this counter and I can usually tell which coat a woman will buy before she can. It is never the one she looks at longest.
It is the one she comes back to. She works her way down the rail, settles sensibly on something quiet, and then her eye goes back up the line to the one she saw first. That is the tell, and it has almost nothing to do with the coat and everything to do with her giving herself permission.
Go and see which one you keep coming back to.
— Michelle · The Hayes Family Hamptons
SEE THE BOHEMIAN COATS — $109.95 →This is a personal letter from Michelle Hayes, co-founder of The Hayes Family Hamptons. Customer reviews are quoted as written. · US family brand since 2006 · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.