A Letter From Michelle — The Elyon
A Letter From Michelle
You are not tired of getting dressed. You are tired of the waistband.
On the two dresses you are usually offered and why both of them are wrong, where this one keeps its shape, the six things I would not compromise on, and why the Elyon is $64.95.
Think of the last time you sat down to lunch and shifted in your chair. Not because of the chair.
A dress ought to be the obvious answer to that, and for most women it is not, because the two you are offered are both wrong. One clings everywhere you would rather it did not. The other hangs off you like a bag — and by October the whole rack of them has gone brown and gray besides.
So look at where this one keeps its shape. All of it is at the top: a stand collar and three buttons. From the shoulder down it is left alone, and there is no waistband on it anywhere.
Six things I would not compromise on.
There is no waistband on it anywhere
No seam at the middle, nothing gathered, nothing to fasten. It falls straight from the shoulder and the first thing that touches you after that is the ribbed band at the hem. So nothing digs in when you sit down, nothing needs pulling up when you stand, and there is nothing to think about all afternoon.
“I’m 68 and appreciate a dress that doesn’t cling to my stomach. This has a nice straight shape, and the length is just right for wearing with knee-high boots.”
Carol B., RoanokeThe collar is the only structure, and you set its height
A stand collar with three buttons on a short placket. They are not how you get into it — this goes over your head like any sweater dress — they are how you decide how high it sits. Buttoned to the top on a cold morning, one or two undone by the afternoon. That is also why a loose dress does not read as shapeless here: the eye goes to the collar, level with your face.
“The three buttons at the neckline are what caught my attention. I like wearing the collar slightly open. Makes an ordinary sweater dress look a little more interesting.”
Diane W., LancasterThe sleeve gathers above a deep ribbed cuff
The cuff is a proper band, several inches of close rib, with the sleeve blousing softly above it. So the sleeve has room through the arm — which is the part most women want and rarely get — without the excess ending up over your hands while you are eating. Push them up and they stay pushed up.
“I especially like the ribbed cuffs and the way the sleeves gather a bit above them. The higher collar is nice for cooler mornings too. It’s a simple dress with some lovely details.”
Judith K., WenatcheeBelow the knee, and exactly where depends on you
It is cut as a midi, and on the women photographed here it lands a few inches below the knee, with the back a little longer than the front. If you are tall it will sit nearer the knee, and I would rather say so than let you guess from a photograph. Either way it is the length that works with a boot, which is what keeps it a dress and not a long sweater.
“I wore the orange one with brown boots to lunch with my sister. Such a pretty fall color, especially with a little gold jewelry.”
Marjorie T., AshevilleFive colors, and you are not obliged to take the quiet one
Orange, Red, Yellow, Black and Beige. The black and the beige are there because some days that is genuinely what you want, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. But three of the five are not quiet, and that is the part October usually refuses to sell you. The knit, the collar, the cuffs and the pockets are identical on every one.
“That orange is gorgeous!! I usually stick to beige and navy, but my daughter convinced me to try something brighter. So glad I listened to her 😊”
Elaine M., GreenvilleSeven sizes, two pockets, and one outfit instead of three
XS through 3XL, every size the same price, and cut loose, so take the size you usually take. There are two pockets set into the side seams, deep enough that your hands actually live in them. And because it is one piece there is no top to find, no pants to match and nothing to tuck, which is most of what you are really buying.
“Bought this for our weekend trip to Vermont. Wore it sightseeing with flat boots and again to dinner with a scarf. Didn’t have to pack another outfit!”
Patricia L., Saratoga SpringsThe Elyon, against what else $65 buys
| Most $65 sweater dresses | The Elyon | |
|---|---|---|
| The waist | A seam or a tie, and you feel it by dessert | Nothing at all — it falls straight from the shoulder |
| The neck | A plain round neck, and that is the design | A stand collar with three buttons that set its height |
| The cuffs | Tight ribbing, or no cuff worth the name | Deep ribs, with the sleeve blousing softly above them |
| Pockets | Rarely, and never deep enough to use | Two, set into the side seams and deep enough for both hands |
| The color | Brown, gray or black, because it is October | Orange, Red and Yellow, as well as Black and Beige |
| Sizing | Stops at XL, if you are lucky | XS through 3XL, every size at the same price |
Why we are clearing them out now
The Elyon was $169.95, and that number was for a textured knit cut straight from the shoulder with no waist seam in it, a stand collar on a buttoned placket, deep ribbed cuffs with the sleeve gathered above them, two pockets set into the side seams and a ribbed hem that sits lower at the back. That is a good deal of finishing on a dress most makers would have sent out plain. But the store turns twenty this year, and my daughters Julie and Amy are both 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 those doors open, so it is going out at a little over a third of what it was.
And the honest reasoning. There is an age at which you stop being willing to be uncomfortable all day in order to look a particular way, and nobody warns you it is coming. This is the dress for the other side of that. At $64.95 it does not have to be the only one.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,369+ reviews
$169.95$64.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 62%
- No waist seam — it falls straight from the shoulder
- A stand collar with three buttons that set its height
- Deep ribbed cuffs, with the sleeve gathered above them
- Two pockets set into the side seams
- A ribbed hem, sitting lower at the back
- Midi length — below the knee on most women
- Orange, Red, Yellow, Black and Beige
- Sizes XS through 3XL, every size the same price
- Shape retaining and easy care
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every color and every size the same price · while sizes last
One more thing, and then I will let you go.
Go and put on the dress you own but never wear, then sit down in a dining chair for a full minute.
If you adjusted something, it was the waistband or the seam across your middle. It was never you.
Do the same with the Elyon the day the box arrives. If you adjust anything at all, send it back within thirty days and we will refund you.
Go and pick your color.
With love and gratitude,
— Michelle · The Hayes Family Hamptons
PICK YOUR COLOR — $64.95 →This is a personal letter from Michelle Hayes, co-founder of The Hayes Family Hamptons. Customer reviews are quoted as written. · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.