Fabric & care

The three things on every label

United States law requires every textile garment sold here to state its fibre content, its care instructions and its country of origin. We treat that as a floor, not a target, and we publish all three on the product page as well as on the label.

• Fibre content is given by percentage, by weight, in descending order. Where a shell and a lining differ they are listed separately. A blend is written out — “55% Linen, 45% Viscose” — and never as an unquantified “linen blend”, because a linen blend can be 12% linen.
• Care is the full instruction: cycle, temperature, drying method and ironing. If a piece needs a mesh bag or must be dried flat, that is part of the instruction and it is stated.
• Country of origin is where the garment was assembled. Our pieces are made in Portugal, India, Vietnam, China, Turkey, Indonesia, Peru, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and each page says which. We do not claim United States manufacture for any piece in this catalogue, because none of it would meet the Federal Trade Commission’s standard for that claim.

A piece missing any of those three is not shown on this website at all. That rule is enforced in code — the storefront filters it out before a page can be built.

We also publish fabric weight in grams per square metre on every garment. It is the single most useful number for judging how a warm-weather dress will behave, and almost nobody prints it.

Nothing we sell contains real fur, and we do not use exotic skins. Nothing in the catalogue is made from an animal material subject to an import restriction.

Lining, and why it is separate from opacity

Opacity is how much light passes through a cloth. Lining is whether there is a second layer behind it. They are related but they are not the same fact, and collapsing them is how a customer ends up surprised.

• Fully lined — a second layer runs from shoulder to hem.
• Partially lined (bodice only) — a second layer through the bodice only. The skirt is a single layer, and its opacity grade is the one that matters.
• Unlined — no second layer anywhere. An unlined piece can still be opaque if the cloth is dense enough, and several of ours are.

How the opacity grade itself is arrived at, under a fixed backlight rig, is set out on the photography page.

Care symbols

• Tub with a number — machine wash at that temperature in °C. A bar under the tub means a reduced-action cycle; two bars means delicate.
• Tub with a hand — hand wash only, at 30 °C or below.
• Crossed-out tub — do not wash. Dry clean or spot clean only.
• Triangle — bleach permitted. Crossed out means no bleach, and that is most of our catalogue.
• Square with a circle — tumble dry. One dot is low heat, two is medium. Crossed out means line dry or dry flat.
• Iron — one dot up to 110 °C, two up to 150 °C, three up to 200 °C. Crossed out means do not iron, which applies to our pleated and sequinned pieces.
• Circle — professional cleaning. A P means standard solvent; a crossed-out circle means it cannot be dry cleaned.

Pieces that crease

Linen and crisp cottons crease. There is no finish that prevents it and we are not going to describe any of these as though there were. These 14 pieces will show fold lines in normal wear:

• Linen Maxi Dress — 100% Linen.
• Halter Neck Maxi — 68% Viscose, 32% Linen.
• Tiered Cotton Maxi — 100% Cotton.
• Wrap Dress Linen-Blend — 55% Linen, 45% Viscose.
• A-Line Tea Dress — 100% Cotton.
• Square-Neck Midi — Shell 97% Cotton 3% Elastane, Lining 100% Cotton.
• Satin Slip Maxi — 100% Polyester.
• One-Shoulder Maxi — Shell 95% Polyester 5% Elastane, Lining 100% Polyester.
• Two-Piece Set Midi — 70% Viscose, 30% Linen.
• Poplin Shirt Dress Short — 100% Cotton.
• Knit Midi Everyday — 80% Viscose, 17% Polyester, 3% Elastane.
• Linen Shirt Dress Short — 100% Linen.
• Linen Overshirt — 100% Linen.
• Fabric Belt Set of 2 — Shell 100% Cotton, backing 100% Polyester, buckle zinc alloy.

Pieces that show marks

Satins, sateens, fine knits and anything embellished record what happens to them. These 7 pieces are worth knowing about before an evening out:

• Sleeveless Column Maxi — Sateen picks up a shine at the seat after a long seated stretch; it brushes out.
• Satin Slip Maxi — Satin shows water marks, creases and snags, and they stay visible. This is a fabric that records the evening.
• Embellished Midi — Sequins snag on rough surfaces and on jewellery. Individual sequins can come loose over time.
• Denim Midi Dress — Indigo transfers onto pale bags and pale seats for the first few wears. Wash it once before a light-coloured car.
• Kaftan Cover-Up — Voile snags on rough surfaces and on jewellery.
• Light Knit Shrug — Fine gauge. It snags on rings and on rough chair backs.
• Fabric Belt Set of 2 — The buckle is a zinc alloy and can mark pale cloth if it is pulled tight over a long day.

Pieces that cannot go in a machine

13 pieces need hand washing or professional cleaning. None of them is described anywhere on this site as low-maintenance, because they are not.

• Slip Dress Bias-Cut — hand wash only. Hand wash cold, dry flat, cool iron on the reverse.
• Pleated Chiffon Midi — hand wash only. Hand wash cold, hang to dry, do not iron the pleats.
• Satin Slip Maxi — hand wash only. Hand wash cold, dry flat away from heat, cool iron on the reverse only.
• Cutout Waist Maxi — hand wash only. Hand wash cold, line dry, cool iron on the reverse.
• Embellished Midi — hand wash only. Hand wash cold inside out, dry flat, do not iron, do not tumble dry.
• Cowl-Neck Slip — hand wash only. Hand wash cold, dry flat, cool iron on the reverse.
• Column Gown Ankle — dry clean only. Dry clean only.
• Crochet Cardigan Open — hand wash only. Hand wash cold, dry flat, do not wring, do not tumble dry.
• Wide-Brim Sun Hat — hand wash only. Spot clean only. Reshape by hand and air dry.
• Fabric Belt Set of 2 — hand wash only. Spot clean only. Do not machine wash.
• Destination Wedding Guest Set — hand wash only. Varies by piece. Pleated Chiffon Midi is hand wash only; Linen Overshirt is machine washable; Fabric Belt Set is spot clean only. Each piece ships with its own care label.
• Resort Week Capsule — hand wash only. Varies by piece. Cotton Gauze Midi, Knit Midi Everyday and Linen Overshirt are machine washable; Cowl-Neck Slip is hand wash only. Each piece ships with its own care label.
• The Occasion Trio — hand wash only. Varies by piece. Cap-Sleeve Fit-and-Flare and Knit Midi Everyday are machine washable; Column Gown Ankle is dry clean only. Each piece ships with its own care label.

California Proposition 65

California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 requires a warning where a product can expose someone to a listed chemical above the threshold. Metal fittings and decorative trims are the components in apparel most likely to be affected, so we assess every one.

3 pieces carry a Proposition 65 warning, shown in full on the product page before the piece can be added to a bag:

• Embellished Midi — warning applies to the decorative trim.
• Fabric Belt Set of 2 — warning applies to the metal buckle.
• Destination Wedding Guest Set — warning applies to the decorative trim.

Where a piece carries a warning, the same wording is printed on the packaging. Further information is at www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

Keeping a piece well

• Wash less than you think. Airing a linen dress overnight does more than a wash cycle and costs it nothing.
• Wash cold and inside out. Almost all colour loss in a warm-weather dress comes from heat and from agitation against a zip.
• Line dry in shade. Direct sun bleaches a coral or a terracotta faster than any detergent.
• Dry knits and bias cuts flat. Hanging either while wet stretches it permanently on one side.
• Never tumble dry a shirred or smocked panel. Heat destroys the elastic in it and the panel does not come back.
• Store long dresses folded over a padded hanger rather than hanging from thin straps.