A Letter From the Founder: The Iris Linen Top (Mel)
Every summer top I owned let me down by lunchtime. So I had this one made instead.
On the six things I would not compromise on when we made our 100% linen Iris top, how it compares to the tops you have been buying, and why the first run is going out at A$64.95.
Mel · Founder of Portsea Boutique · 5 min read
Elaine, one of our customers, on her verandah in Hervey Bay in the white Iris.
The Iris is the top I had made so that would stop happening. It is the one I reach for on the hot days, and of everything we are bringing in for this summer, it is the piece I most wanted to write to you about properly, rather than just putting a photograph of it in front of you.
I should tell you what I was arguing against, because it explains the whole thing. The summer tops made for women our age fall into two piles. The first looks lovely on the hanger and behaves like a plastic bag the moment the temperature gets past twenty-eight. Polyester, mostly, sold to you under a word like “linen-look”. The second is genuinely comfortable and makes you look like you have stopped trying.
I never accepted that an Australian woman has to choose between the two. Our summers are harder than the ones these tops are designed for. The Iris is my answer, and there were six things I insisted on, usually against a supplier who wanted me to do the cheaper thing instead.
1 Real 100% linen that breathes.
Not a blend, and not the polyester they sell you as linen-look. The real thing, woven to breathe, so it stays cool when the heat sits heavy and softens like a good cotton sheet the more you wash it.
It’s one of the few tops I can comfortably wear on really hot summer days without feeling sticky by lunchtime.
Carol R. · Brisbane
Real linen, woven to move the heat away from you instead of holding it against your skin.
2 An open collar and one wooden button.
I wanted a neckline that flatters without fuss. A soft open collar that sits right on a real neck, and a single large wooden button — the small detail that turns a plain top into something women ask you about.
I’ve had more compliments on that little wooden button than I expected. It’s such a simple detail, but it makes the top look that bit nicer.
Diane M. · Gold Coast3 Sleeves that cover the tops of your arms.
Without adding a single degree of warmth, and made to roll softly to the elbow on the days you want them shorter. Everyone is oddly coy about this one, so I will be direct: a great many women stop wearing sleeveless tops long before they stop wanting to feel cool. Almost nobody designs for that.
Finally, sleeves that cover the tops of my arms without making me feel hot. I liked the first one so much I ended up ordering another two colours.
Patricia L. · Adelaide
The navy one, at the window of the shop the week it came in.
Loose where you want it loose, so the air moves underneath, instead of grabbing the one part of you that you would rather it left alone. Cut generously through the body and released at the hip, which is why it works over trousers rather than needing to be tucked.
It falls nicely over the part of my tummy I’m most conscious of instead of clinging to it. That’s probably what I love most about it.
Linda K. · Newcastle5 Colours that do not go see-through in our sun.
Australian light is not European light. A white top that is perfectly decent elsewhere is transparent here at two in the afternoon, and you generally find out from a photograph afterwards. I have been caught by that, and I was not going to let it happen to you, least of all in the white.
I’m always a little nervous ordering light-coloured tops online because some can be quite see-through. I was pleasantly surprised with this one and felt comfortable wearing it outside in the sun.
Janet S. · Hervey Bay6 Six soft colours that go with what you own.
White, beige, black, red, green and navy, each chosen to sit with the trousers and jeans already in your wardrobe, so the Iris earns its place from the first day rather than waiting for you to buy something to go with it.
I started with the beige and later went back for two more colours. They’re so easy to wear with jeans, linen trousers or shorts that I get a lot of use out of them.
Maureen T. · Geelong
Green and natural, folded on my kitchen table with the morning coffee.
You can find a summer top for sixty dollars almost anywhere. I know, because I bought a great many of them first.
Most A$60 summer tops
A blend, or polyester sold as linen-look
Clings the moment the heat comes up
Bare arms, or sleeves that add warmth
Goes see-through in bright sun
Grabs at the middle
A colour that matches nothing you own
The Iris
Real 100% linen that actually breathes
Skims, and lets the air move underneath
Sleeves that cover, with no extra heat
Opaque, even in full Australian sun
Released at the hip, worn untucked
Six colours built around your wardrobe
I refuse to sell a summer top that asks a woman to choose between staying cool and looking like herself. That is the whole reason the Iris exists.
Why the first run is A$64.95
The Iris is new here. This is the first shipment we have brought into Australia, and it has landed at the front of the season rather than the middle of it. The hot weather is still a few months off, which is exactly why the price is what it is. I would rather it went out now, to women who will have it hanging ready, than sit in a warehouse while I wait for the weather to make my argument for me.
I will be plain about it. The margin at this price is thin, and it is thin deliberately. I would rather introduce the Iris to you properly, at a price that makes it easy to try, than advertise it at the price I would eventually like to charge and hope you take my word for it. That is the whole of the bet I am placing by writing you this letter.
A$64.95Was A$139.00
Six colours, sizes AU 10 to AU 24. Full measurements are on the product page.
It is the top I would put in your hands myself. I would rather it go to women who will wear it all summer than sit in a box waiting for the price to make sense.
If you have ever wanted a summer top that keeps you cool without clinging, this is the one I would recommend — and it is a far better thing to have hanging in the wardrobe before the first hot week than to go looking for in January, when every good one has gone.
— Mel
The Iris — Relaxed V-Neck Linen Top
- 100% pure linen, breathable and never clinging
- Open collar with a single wooden button detail
- Sleeves that cover the arms, and roll to the elbow
- Six colours, sizes AU 10 to AU 24
- 30 day returns
Save 53% on the first run, with free shipping Australia-wide. White, beige and green are almost sold out.