A Letter From Michelle: The Floral Cardigans
A Letter From Michelle
With a print, everything depends on what goes under it.
On the plain top that makes a bold cardigan work, the six things I look for before a knit goes on the rack, and why these seventeen are $59.95.
“It’s beautiful, but I could never wear it.” I hear that at the counter every fall, usually from a woman holding the brightest thing on the rack. It is almost never true.
What she is picturing is the print as an outfit — something she would have to build around, and answer for.
It is not that. A cardigan goes over what you already own, and the plain top and jeans she would have worn anyway are exactly what a print needs under it.
So the question was never whether she can wear a print. It is which one she would actually keep looking at.
Six things I would not give up on.
Seventeen prints, and underneath them one cardigan
Every one of them is the same cardigan: a relaxed, hip-length shape with a full-length zipper, ribbed collar and cuffs and a banded hem, in a soft knit that drapes rather than clings. So the fitting happens once. After that you are not shopping for a cardigan at all — you are choosing which one you want to look at.
“I ordered Imogene and Wrenna together because I liked both prints for different reasons. The leaves on Imogene appealed to me for everyday wear, while Wrenna reminded me of a flower garden. I wear both with plain tops, so getting dressed is still easy.”
Phyllis J., DubuqueLet the cardigan do the dressing up
Almost every woman who writes to us describes the same outfit underneath: a plain top and jeans. That is not a limitation, it is the mechanism: one piece carrying the color means nothing else has to, so you stop assembling outfits and start putting a cardigan over what you own — a smaller decision, and a better result.
“The Augusta is such a cheerful mix of flowers and color. I’ve been wearing it open over a white top and letting the cardigan do the dressing up.”
Bonnie F., PrescottThe spread is wider than a rack of florals usually is
This is where a collection like this normally disappoints: seventeen prints that turn out to be versions of the same bunch of flowers. Not here. Painted leaves on cream. Orange poppies and cornflowers on oatmeal. A watercolor gradient from yellow shoulders to deep blue at the hem. Tropical lilies on lime green. Beyond those: roses, thistles, dandelions, hearts, a zigzag stripe and a desert horse.
“I ended up with Imogene, Wrenna, and Sidonie, all for my own closet. Imogene was my first choice because I liked the watercolor-style leaves. Wrenna has the garden flowers I’m always drawn to. Sidonie was the adventurous pick—the green background and big colorful blooms are a change for me. I wear that one with my darkest jeans and a simple top. It’s been fun having a few different patterns to choose from.”
Virginia N., ManhattanA print is not a color option
Here is what is true of a rack of prints and not of plain cardigans. A plain knit comes in eight colors, so if the one you wanted has gone you take the next shade and lose nothing. A print is not a shade. It is one cardigan with one picture on it, and there is no second version in another color — what is left is not that cardigan, it is a different cardigan.
“I chose the Wrenna for those orange poppies and little blue flowers. The oatmeal background goes well with the neutral pants I already own. Having side pockets is a nice bonus.”
Peggy C., KalamazooIt zips, and that is not the same as buttons
Every one closes with a full-length zipper and a gold-tone pull, which is a different proposition from buttons. You set a zipper where you like and move it by the inch as the day turns: open on the porch at seven, closed by the time you walk back to the car. And it runs up into a ribbed stand collar, so all the way closed there is something at your neck rather than a gap.
“The Imogene’s leaf print is what caught my eye. Looks lovely over a navy tee with jeans.”
Maureen L., DoverS through 3XL, and the one thing I would rather tell you here
One price across all six sizes, and the fit is relaxed and true to size — so take what you usually take, and go up one if you will wear something under it. Settle that before you choose, because it is the same answer for all seventeen. And I would rather say it here than let you find it on the tag: they all wash at home, but the exact instruction varies between prints, so follow the one that comes with yours.
“I don’t usually wear much green, but the Sidonie won me over. The orange and purple flowers make it feel different from anything else in my closet. I wore it with dark jeans to meet a friend for lunch. The relaxed fit suits me, and I like where it ends at my hips. Happy I took a chance on the brighter one.”
Arlene W., Winston-SalemThese seventeen, against what you have been buying
| Most $60 cardigans | These seventeen | |
|---|---|---|
| How you chose it | It went with everything | You picked a picture you wanted to look at |
| Underneath | Has to carry the outfit | A plain top is enough |
| The zipper | A short half-zip, or no zip at all | Full-length, with a gold-tone pull you can find without looking |
| The choice | Three prints, if that | Seventeen, from the restrained to the loud |
| Washing | Depends what you bought | At home, no dry cleaner |
| Sizing | Prints stop at XL, often | S through 3XL, every size the same price |
Why we are clearing them now
All seventeen were $299.95, and that number was for a print that runs across the body and down both sleeves, a full-length zipper, ribbing at the collar, cuffs and hem, and a knit that drapes. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money for a cardigan. 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 every one of them is going out at a fifth of what it was.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. A patterned cardigan is the piece that does the dressing up when nothing underneath it is doing any. This is the one you buy before the morning you want it, not on the morning itself. And if the one you cannot stop looking at turns out to be the one you wear most, then $59.95 was never the point.
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$299.95$59.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 80%
- Seventeen prints, from restrained to bold
- One cut across all of them — work out your size once
- A full-length zipper with a polished pull
- Ribbed collar, cuffs and banded hem
- A relaxed, hip-length shape with room for a layer
- A soft knit that drapes rather than clings
- True to size, S through 3XL, every size the same price
- Washes at home — follow the care note on your print
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
One more thing, and then I will let you look.
Go and find the plain top you wear more than any other — the one that ends up on the chair, not the hanger. Think about the last three times you wore it out, and what you put over it.
If the answer is a coat, or nothing, that is the whole problem, and it was never the top.
So run that test on whichever of these you choose, the day the box arrives. Put it over that same top and look. If it does not lift it, send it back within thirty days and we will refund you.
With love and gratitude,
— Michelle · The Hayes Family Hamptons
PICK YOUR PRINT — $59.95 →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.