Five Questions for Nell About the Sienna
“I wanted a summer dress a woman could stop thinking about.”
Nell has been dressing women in Stowe, Vermont since 1987. We asked her about the Sienna.
The Sienna, in Marine blue.
What were you actually trying to fix?
The same thing women tell me across the counter every summer. They want to wear a dress and they end up in something loose and shapeless instead, because everything else grips exactly where they would rather it did not. So they spend the afternoon adjusting, or they simply do not wear the dress. I wanted one you could put on in the morning and then genuinely forget about.
It hits at just the right place. I can wear it to the shops or to dinner and feel right either way.
Janet S., Bonita Springs
How does it skim rather than cling?
It is cut to fall away from the middle instead of following it. There is real give through the body, but enough weight in the cloth that it keeps its shape as the day goes on — that second part is what most dresses at this price get wrong. Loose is easy. Loose and still holding its line at four in the afternoon is the difficult bit.
Absolutely love this dress. It falls beautifully without clinging around my middle, which is exactly what I was looking for. The fabric feels soft and light, and I felt comfortable in it all afternoon.Margaret L., Burlington
Is it hot to wear?
No, and that was deliberate. The weave is open enough that warm air passes through rather than sitting against your skin. On a genuinely hot afternoon that is the whole difference. The sleeves roll up when the sun is high and roll back down when the evening turns — so it is one dress from a bright morning through to a cool evening, rather than two.
Beautiful fit, light and comfortable, and it doesn’t cling. I feel wonderful in it.Susan M., Montpelier, VT
Who did you make it for?
Women who have been quietly told for twenty years that the choice is a tent or something cut for someone half their age. I have never accepted that. It runs S through 3XL at one price, because I have never understood charging a woman more for the body she has. And the floral is fresh without trying too hard — sandals for the day, gold jewellery if you want it to be more than that.
Marine blue, Heavens blue, Black, White and Yellow. The two blues are nearly gone.
I’m a little fuller around the middle, and the fit is so flattering without feeling tight. My usual size fits perfectly.Linda R., Stowe, VT
The Sienna, against the dresses you have been buying
You can find a floral summer dress for seventy-five dollars almost anywhere. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Most $70 summer dresses
- Follows the middle instead of falling away from it
- A dense weave that holds the heat against you
- Bare arms, or sleeves that add warmth
- Loses its line by the afternoon
- Larger sizes cost more, when they exist
The Sienna
- Falls away from the middle and skims over it
- An airy weave that lets warm air pass through
- Sleeves that roll up, and roll back down
- Enough weight to hold its shape all day
- S to 3XL, every size one price
I refuse to sell a summer dress that asks a woman to choose between being comfortable and looking like herself. That is the whole reason the Sienna exists.
And why is it $69.95?
Because this has been a hard year. Costs have gone up on everything a small shop touches — the making, the shipping, the rent on a corner we have held since 1987 — and three sisters do not have a quiet quarter anywhere to absorb that. So we took seventy percent off the whole shop and called it the Revival Sale, for the plain reason of keeping the door with our names on it open for a fortieth year.
We are close to our cost at this price. I am telling you that because it is true, and because when the sale is over the price goes back.
— Nell
Nell, Nora & Nina · Stowe, Vermont, since 1987
- Flowing cut that skims over the middle
- Light, airy weave for warm days
- Roll-up sleeves for morning through evening
- Five colours, sizes S–3XL, all one price
- Buy 2 and 10% more comes off — up to 25%
Free UPS shipping · 30-day returns
Prices and availability accurate at the time of publication, while Revival Sale stock lasts.