I Went Back for One More Summer Dress. I Came Home With Three, and I Have Not Worn Shorts Since.

A second note from Elaine, on the three dresses most women end up buying from the Portsea summer collection, and why she stopped saving them for best.

By Elaine • Hervey Bay, Queensland

Posted October 2026 • 5 min read

The Sadie, the morning it arrived.

I am 62, and for most of my life summer has meant the same thing: shorts, a loose top, and a nice dress hanging in the wardrobe that I was saving for something.

A few of you wrote to me after my last letter, so here is the update. I went back to Portsea Boutique for one more dress. I came home with three.

I did not plan it that way. I opened the summer collection to look at one dress, and I noticed something I had not noticed before. Three of the dresses kept coming up again and again. When I asked about it, I was told those three are simply the ones most women end up buying. So I did what I always do. I read every word about each of them, and then I ordered the three.

The Sadie, the one everyone buys first

The Sadie is the one I would tell you to start with. It is a soft white dress with a scatter of pink and lilac wildflowers, a little tie at the waist, and sleeves that cover the tops of my arms without making me hot.

The first morning I wore it, Peter looked up from the paper and asked if we were going somewhere. We were going to the shops. That is the whole point of it. It looks like you made an effort, and you did not.

What matters most to me is still the room around the middle. The Sadie falls from just under the bust and skims past the tummy and hips. I sat through a long lunch in it and never once had to tug at anything.

It looks like you made an effort, and you did not. That is the whole point of it.

The Georgia. My sister Wendy asked for the link before the entrees came out.

The Georgia, for the days you want a bit more colour

The Georgia is the bolder one: big warm roses on a soft green and gold background, with a flowing hem that moves when you walk. I wore it to lunch with my sister Wendy, who is 66 and very direct about clothes.

She did not say it was lovely. She asked for the link. From Wendy, that is better.

The Opal, the one I reach for without thinking

The Opal is the easiest of the three. Bright little wildflowers on white, short sleeves, a pleated front that sits away from the body, and real pockets. I wear it after the morning walk with Teddy, to coffee, and to the library on my volunteer morning.

My daughter Emma saw it on our Sunday video call and said, “Mum, that's much nicer than the things you normally buy.” I am choosing to take that as a compliment.

The Opal, with pockets. Coffee after the walk, then straight on to the shops.

And the rest of the collection

There are more than twenty dresses in the summer collection, and they are all cut the same easy way: loose through the body, proper sleeves or a flattering neckline, and a length that works with flat sandals. If the three above are not quite you, have a look through the others. A friend from my walking group went for the blue stripe with the buttons down the side, and she has not taken it off since.

All three, the afternoon they arrived. Every one of them cut loose through the body.

Now, about the price

The Sadie is A$84.95 at the moment, down from A$339.95, and the Georgia and the Opal are A$79.95, down from A$319.95. Portsea Boutique is clearing its summer collection as the shop moves online, and the prices will not stay like this.

And the discount stacks across the whole collection. Buy two and you save an extra 15 percent, three saves 20 percent, four saves 25 percent, and five saves 30 percent. It comes off automatically at checkout. Three dresses cost me less than one dress usually does at the shops in town.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If we were having coffee after the morning walk, I would tell you to stop saving the nice dress for best. Best never comes. Tuesday does.

I would tell you to start with the Sadie, because it is the one everybody buys first for a reason.

And I would tell you to order two or three at once, partly for the discount and mostly because you will be back for the others anyway. I was.

While the sizes are still in stock.

— Elaine