A Letter From a Reader: The Keely, Julissa and Sapphire (Elaine, 10 nov)
Every summer I melt in the wrong dress. This year I found three I actually reach for, and I wanted to tell you why.
Six things three easy midi dresses get right that years of black, polyester and tight waistbands got wrong.
Elaine · Hervey Bay, Queensland · 5 min read
Hervey Bay in a hot week is not kind to a woman of 62. By ten in the morning the air sits on you like a wet towel, and for years my answer was the same black jersey dress, because black hides everything, and the same cardigan over the top, because my mother taught me never to show the tops of my arms. I was cooking in it. Then, at the Sunday markets on the esplanade, my neighbour Bev walked past me in a soft pale dress covered in pink roses, sleeves to just below the elbow, looking for all the world like she had just stepped out of the shower.
Bev is 66 and she does not suffer in silence, so when I asked her how on earth she was so cool, she told me. The dress was the Keely, from Portsea Boutique, a small Australian boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I ordered one that night. Then I went back for the Julissa, because of the pockets, and the Sapphire, because Peter said the blue one would be lovely for dinners out. I wrote to the boutique to tell them why I kept all three, and they asked if they could put my letter up for other women to read. So here it is, the six things these get right.
Summer dresses for a woman our age, if you have looked lately, come in two piles. The first pile is the safe one, black or navy jersey that clings in the heat and shows every mark, the kind of dress you wear because nobody will look at it. The second pile is the young one, short and tight and made of something that sticks to you by lunchtime, which looks lovely on the girl in the photograph and like a punishment on the rest of us.
A dress you hide in, or a dress you sweat in. I stopped accepting that those were the only choices, and Bev at the markets was the proof.
The Sapphire on the wardrobe door, hat and sandals ready for dinner on the esplanade.
Soft prints that look fresh, not loud
This is the thing I would tell you if I only had a minute. The Keely has big soft pink roses on a pale aqua that looks cool just to look at. The Julissa is covered in soft round dots of pink, yellow, green and lilac, like confetti on a white tablecloth. The Sapphire is a mosaic of little blue and green shapes that catches the light like the bay on a still morning. None of them is black, and none of them shouts. On Bev the Keely looked like she had been somewhere lovely, not like she was trying too hard.
I usually stick to navy, but the pink roses on Keely are lovely. A little colour without feeling too dressed up.
Margaret L., GeelongRoom to move, and nothing clings
The other half of the trick is the shape. The Julissa rests at the shoulders and swings gently out from there, skimming the waist and hips instead of gripping them. The Keely has one gathered seam under the bust and a loose, relaxed skirt that moves when you walk. The Sapphire has a soft smocked waist that gives you a shape without pinching after lunch. In all three, the air gets in, which is the whole point in February.
The Julissa up close, with the pocket. You can see how light the fabric is.
I don’t like dresses that cling around my tummy. This style gives me room to move and still looks pretty.
Denise W., BallaratArms covered, without a cardigan
The Keely has three-quarter sleeves that stop just below the elbow. The Julissa has soft short sleeves that sit right over the tops of the arms. The Sapphire has light fluttery sleeves that cover without hugging. That covers the bits I have been quietly hiding for twenty years, but it does not look like you are hiding anything, and for the first time in years I left the cardigan at home.
Me in my Keely on the esplanade path a week later. Peter took this one, and I was not even pink in the face.
The sleeves are just right for me. I like keeping my upper arms covered without needing to throw on a cardigan.
Pamela R., AdelaideLight and breathable, even in the afternoon heat
The Keely is a soft cotton, the Julissa feels feather light and the Sapphire is floaty enough to catch any breeze off the water. I wore the Julissa to Bev’s for afternoon tea on a 34-degree day and forgot I had it on. The Julissa goes in the machine and comes out without needing an iron, which at my age is not a small thing.
The Julissa, folded on the kitchen table the morning it came, next to my tea and the mangoes from the markets.
I wanted something light for warm afternoons. The Julissa feels lovely without being too fussy, exactly my kind of summer dress.
Christine B., NewcastleDeep pockets in the Julissa, which I did not know I needed
The Julissa has deep hidden pockets with reinforced seams, so they do not sag. At the markets I had my phone in one and my glasses in the other, with both hands free for the mangoes. Meanwhile Bev was holding her basket and my handbag while I paid, and I decided the next one I bought would have pockets too.
I love having pockets for my phone and glasses. It’s such a small thing, but it makes wearing a dress so much easier.
Susan M., BendigoReal sizes, and twenty-odd designs to choose from
The Keely comes from S right up to 5XL, the Julissa from S to 3XL and the Sapphire from S to 2XL, all cut for real women rather than for the girl in the photograph. The three of them are only a start. The spring collection runs to about twenty-three easy dresses, and I spent an evening on the sofa choosing while Peter watched the cricket. Bev is already on her second.
It’s nice finding pretty summer dresses in a good range of sizes. The different prints make choosing just one quite difficult!
Valerie H., HobartThe Keely, the Julissa and the Sapphire, against the dresses I had been buying
You can buy a summer dress almost anywhere. I know, because I have owned most of them, and given the rest to the op shop. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Black or navy that soaks up the heat
Fabric that clings by lunchtime
Tight in all the wrong places
A cardigan over the top, all summer
Nobody has ever asked where you got it
Soft roses, confetti dots and sea-blue mosaic
Light cotton and floaty fabrics that let the air in
Loose, easy shapes that skim instead of grip
Sleeves that cover the tops of the arms
Asked about at the Sunday markets
About the price
I will be straightforward about the price, because it was the thing that made me suspicious. The Keely is A$87.95, and it was A$293.95. The Sapphire is A$94.95, and it was A$379.95. The Julissa is A$98.95, and it was A$329.95.
The boutique says the spring sale price is about making room for the summer stock, selling directly, with no middleman taking a cut. That is their arithmetic, not mine. What I can tell you is that I have paid more than that for a black dress I could not wait to take off, and I bought three of these.
If you have spent every summer cooking in black because somebody once told you to cover up, this is the dress I would hand you instead.
— Elaine
The Keely, Julissa & Sapphire Spring Dresses
- Keely: big soft roses on pale aqua, A$87.95
- Sapphire: blue and green mosaic, A$94.95 (was A$379.95)
- Julissa: confetti dots, deep pockets, A$98.95 (was A$329.95)
- Loose, easy shapes that do not cling
- Sleeves that cover the tops of the arms
- Free delivery across Australia
Spring sale on now. The middle sizes are already going.