A Letter From Michelle: The Sunflower Collection
A Letter From Michelle
Nobody dresses for an ordinary Tuesday. And most of a life is ordinary Tuesdays.
On the six things I looked for before these came into the shop, how they compare to what you have been buying, and why the hoodies and sweaters on the rail start at $59.95 for our twentieth year.
A customer wrote to me this spring and said something I have not been able to put down since. She is retired. She does not need dressy clothes very often anymore. But she still likes having something pretty to put on for an ordinary day.
I am Michelle, and my husband and I opened this shop twenty years ago with one idea: that a woman should not have to choose between comfortable and beautiful. What she was describing is the exact place that idea usually gets quietly abandoned.
Because by a certain age there are two wardrobes in most closets. There is the good half — kept for occasions, worn four times a year, some of it still in the dry cleaner’s plastic. And there is the everything-else half, which is what she actually lives in: soft, gray, unremarkable, chosen on the understanding that nobody is looking.
Then the occasions get rarer and the everything-else half gets bigger, and one day a woman notices she has spent years dressing for an audience that stopped turning up, while all the ordinary Tuesdays went by in a fleece.
I never accepted that a woman had to choose.
This is a rail of twelve pieces built on one refusal — that comfortable has to mean invisible. There were six things I looked for.
A patchwork-look print that brings every color to life.
This is the first thing I check, because it is where a cheap pattern gives itself away. A muddy print passes from six feet away; up close it never does. Here the patchwork-look print is crisp — rings around the sun, long bands of color running out along each ray, every color brought to life. It is why these read as considered pieces rather than as loud patterns, and it is why they survive being looked at closely.
“Wore my Mira yesterday for errands and then kept it on at home. Comfortable enough for both, and I really like the patchwork print. My daughter asked where I found it.”
Elaine B., MadisonCotton, comfortable all day
The hoodies are cotton. I asked for cotton because a layer worn over everything is a layer that touches a woman all day — at the wrist, at the back of the neck, at the collarbone. Cotton takes a body’s warmth and gives it back without the static and the faint plastic feel a poly fleece has by the second hour.
“The Amanda is soft and roomy through the middle, which I appreciate. Pretty colors, too. Very happy with this one.”
Janice R., KnoxvilleTwelve pieces, one idea — so she is not stuck with a hood
This was the part I was most careful about. A hood is wonderful in a wind and a nuisance under a seatbelt, and a woman who likes the artwork should not have to accept the hood to get it. So the rail runs across the whole idea: pullover hoods, one that zips top to bottom, knit sweaters with no hood at all, and a pair of turtlenecks for when the neck is the cold part. Same argument, different collars. She picks the one that suits how she actually spends a day.
“My first order was the Amanda hoodie. A week later I went back for the Mireille sweater because I wanted something without a hood as well. I’ve already worn both several times. I’m retired now and don’t need dressy clothes very often, but I still like having something pretty to put on for an ordinary day.”
Marilyn T., Fort CollinsCut relaxed on purpose, and sized properly
A relaxed cut is not a shortcut — it is a decision to fit the woman rather than ask the woman to fit it. These hang easy through the middle and give room without hanging off anybody like something borrowed. The print hoodies run XS through 5XL. The knit sweaters and turtlenecks stop a little sooner, most of them at 3XL or 4XL, and I would rather tell you that here than let you find it at the size picker.
“I wasn’t sure the Amanda would be too colorful for me. Most of my closet is navy or gray. Wore it to lunch with a friend and felt perfectly comfortable in it, not overdressed or like I was trying too hard. The relaxed fit helps. I’m glad I tried something different.”
Beverly S., LancasterEnough color that it goes with what is already in the closet
This sounds backwards, so let me explain it. A garment in one strong color has to be matched. A garment carrying orange, purple, green, blue and gold at once has already made its peace with everything — it sits over navy, over black, over khaki, over the same jeans she has worn all week. It is the loudest thing in the closet and the easiest to place, and those two facts are the same fact. That is also why a woman who has told herself she is not a color person tends to be fine in one of these the moment it is on.
“The autumn colors in the Mireille sweater are right up my alley. Just add jeans and I’m ready to go.”
Denise H., AshevilleIt goes in the machine
I will not stock a piece a woman has to protect. These wash at home — a gentle cycle in the machine, no dry cleaner, and hung to dry rather than tumbled, which is all a print like this asks of anybody. The color holds, and it takes no more thought than the fleece it is replacing. That is what keeps a thing at the front of the closet instead of quietly retired to around-the-house wear by November.
“I went back and forth between Amanda and Mira and finally ordered both. Apparently my closet needed a little color! I’ve been wearing them with the same jeans I always wear, but getting dressed feels a little less boring now.”
Deborah W., Grand RapidsThese, against what you have been buying
| The usual cheerful layer | These | |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | A print laid flat on the cloth | A patchwork-look print, crisp up close |
| Fabric | Poly fleece, static by hour two | Cotton, comfortable all day |
| Neck | A hood whether you wanted one or not | Hoods, a zip, plain knits, turtlenecks |
| Care | Dry clean only, on a label she ignores | Machine on gentle, hung to dry |
| Sizes | Runs to XL, if you are lucky | To 5XL on the print hoodies |
I refuse to sell a woman something that asks her to look tired in order to be comfortable. That is the whole reason this rail is in the shop.
Why we are clearing them now
These were $164.95 and $299.95 and the numbers in between, and those were for a patchwork-look print quilted right through, a relaxed cut that runs to 5XL on the print hoodies, a hood on the pieces that want one and none on the pieces that do not, and a wash you can do at home. A good deal of making for a layer most makers treat as an afterthought. But the shop turns twenty this year, and my daughters Julie and Amy are both at the counter most days now, which is not a thing I let myself expect when we started. We wanted to hand something back to the women who have kept our doors open since 2006, so the whole rail is going out at between a fifth and a little over a third of what it was.
And the honest reasoning. A woman does not stop wanting to look like herself at sixty. She simply stops being offered anything but gray, and she is expected to find that sensible. I never have, and I am not going to start now.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,369+ reviews
$164.95 – $299.95From $59.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 64% to 80%
- A patchwork-look print that brings every color to life
- Cotton, comfortable all day
- Hoods, a full zip, plain knits and turtlenecks
- Cut relaxed — to 5XL on the print hoodies
- Machine wash on gentle, hung to dry · no dry cleaning
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Hoodies and sweaters from $59.95
I think often about that customer and her ordinary day. She was not asking for an occasion. She was asking for permission to bother, on a morning when nobody was coming over and nothing in particular was happening.
She did not need it from me. But if she did, she has it.
Take your time, find the one you will love wearing all season, and if anything isn’t quite right, we’re always here to help.
Go and have a look at the rail, and pick the one you keep going back to.
— Michelle · The Hayes Family Hamptons
SEE THE SUNFLOWER COLLECTION — FROM $59.95 →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.