A Letter From a Reader: The Thalia (Elaine)
At 62, I Spent Years Adjusting My Dress Through Every Lunch. This One I Forgot I Had On.
Me in the back garden, in the white one. Peter took it, so forgive the framing.
I have never written one of these before, and I nearly did not. But I have told the story to enough friends now that writing it down seemed easier than saying it again.
The problem with most dresses, I have found, is where they decide to hold on. Right across the middle, usually. And then you spend the whole lunch tugging at it, pulling it away from your stomach every time you sit down, and wishing you had worn the trousers after all.
I had a wardrobe full of dresses like that. Nice enough on the hanger. Hard work by the second cup of tea. So, slowly, without ever really deciding to, I stopped wearing them.
Then my sister turned up in a white dress
It was at a long lunch by the water, and Wendy, who is 66 and very particular about clothes, did not adjust her dress once all afternoon. I noticed, because I was adjusting mine.
She told me it was the Thalia, from a small Australian boutique called Portsea Boutique. A relaxed shift that falls straight from a pleated V neckline to just above the knee, and skims the middle instead of following it. Soft draped sleeves that let the air through but still cover the top of the arm. Nothing complicated. Just a dress that somebody had clearly thought about.
The morning the second one arrived. I went for the green this time.
I ordered the white that evening, before I could talk myself out of it.
→ See the Thalia dressWhat happened at lunch
I wore it for the first time to lunch at the pier with Wendy and two friends from my walking group. Over my head, sandals on, out the door. That was the whole routine.
Two people asked me where it was from before the menus came. But that was not the part that stayed with me.
The part that stayed with me was that I sat down, and stood up, and sat down again, and never once reached for the fabric across my middle. Nothing clung when the heat came up. Nothing stuck when I sat. For the first time in years I forgot what I was wearing, in the best possible way.
It looks like a dress you chose on purpose. It feels like the one you forget you have on.
Three things I have learned since
One. The neckline does the work. The deep V with its three pleated lines draws the eye up to the face and the collarbone, so the shape of the dress does the flattering and you do not have to think about it.
The three pleated lines at the neckline. Wendy says this is what makes it look expensive.
Two. The sleeves matter more than I expected. They are soft and draped, open enough to let the air through on a hot afternoon, but they cover the tops of the arms, which for a lot of us is the difference between wearing a dress and not.
Draped sleeves that cover the top of the arm and still let the breeze in.
Three. It is easy to live with. It washes easily, hangs dry overnight and is ready again by morning. It goes to the markets, to lunch, to a Sunday barbecue, and it is just as happy under a cardigan in the evening.
A soft, light fabric with a little weight to it, so it hangs rather than clings.
The end of the rail, after all the navy and black. It is the one I reach for now.
About the price
I will be honest, the price made me suspicious more than anything.
The Thalia is A$76.95. It was A$256.95.
My first thought was that there had to be a catch, because you can pay a great deal more than that on the high street for something that looks lovely on the hanger and awful on you. There is no catch that I have found. It is a small boutique selling directly, and they are clearing the summer stock.
It comes in six colours, white, black, pink, orange, bright green and military green, in sizes 8 to 20. And the offer works across the whole shop: two items take 15 percent off your order, and it climbs from there, up to 30 percent.
→ See the Thalia dressWhat I would tell you if we were friends
If you and I were having a cup of tea and you asked me, this is what I would say.
If you have spent the last few years tugging at your dress through every lunch, or reaching for the trousers because it is simply easier, it is worth ten minutes of an evening to have a look.
Not because a dress fixes anything. It does not. But there is a small, quiet pleasure in forgetting what you are wearing because it just works, and I had forgotten what that felt like.
The white and the military green are already almost gone, and the middle sizes go first, so if yours is there I would not sit on it.
— Elaine
The Thalia
- Pleated V neckline that draws the eye up
- Relaxed shift that skims the middle instead of clinging
- Draped sleeves that cover the upper arm
- Six colours, sizes 8 to 20
- Free tracked delivery & 30-day returns
Stack and save: buy 2 save 15%, buy more and save up to 30%.
See if your size is still in stock