Sloane on the striped dress she makes for women who gave up on summer occasions
A Letter From Sloane · Founder of Sloane & Pearl
Brooklyn · July 2026
Sloane on the striped dress she makes for women who gave up on summer occasions
If you have quietly stopped buying yourself anything new for the wedding, the dinner, the Saturday lunch, this is the dress I built for you.
I have watched so many of you stop shopping for yourselves. Not because you do not care. Because nothing on the rack feels like the woman you are now. So I made the Bertha Striped Breeze Dress for the women who gave up on summer occasions, and I priced it so you could finally say yes to yourself.
Most of you stopped buying for yourself somewhere around fifty. The mirror stopped feeling friendly. The dressing room stopped feeling worth the trip. You learned to reach for the same three things, and you quietly decided that was fine.
I built this dress for the woman who has been settling. The one who RSVPd yes to the July wedding and then thought, I will just wear the navy thing again. The one who skipped the photo at her niece's graduation. The one who cancels on dinners because getting dressed stopped being worth it.
It is a soft, breathable striped dress in earthy green and mustard, with a V-neckline that flatters without trying, and a flowy shape that forgives a real body on a warm afternoon. It looks like something, without looking like you tried.
I am clearing the rest of this season's batch to make room for the next round. That is why the price is what it is, and I would rather you know that than have me pretend otherwise.
A cloth that actually breathes
I refused to ship a summer dress that sticks to you at a backyard table. The Bertha is a soft, lightweight weave that lets the air through on a July afternoon. I picked it because it holds its shape wash after wash, so it still looks like a dress in September.
"I wore it to an outdoor shower in eighty-degree heat and forgot I was in a dress."
Stripes that look like a garden, not a uniform
I chose earthy green and mustard stripes because quiet, natural colors photograph well in daylight and look calm next to other women at a table. They go with the sandals you already own, the denim jacket on the back of your chair, the earrings you forgot you had.
"My sister said it looked like something from a garden party, in the nicest way."
A V-neckline that flatters and forgives
I cut the neckline myself because most summer dresses either button up to the chin or plunge. This one sits in the flattering middle, frames a real collarbone, and never feels like you are trying too hard.
"I have a long neck that dresses usually swallow. This one showed it without showing anything else."
A flowy shape that moves with a real body
I made it relaxed on purpose, because most of my customers are tired of being pinched. It skims, it does not cling, and it does not need a special bra to behave itself through dinner and dessert.
"I sat through a whole wedding dinner and never once thought about my stomach."
A dress you can wear two ways in one weekend
I wanted it to do the Saturday farmer's run with flat sandals and then the Sunday lunch with a low heel and a linen jacket, with no outfit change in between. The weight of the cloth carries it either way.
"I wore it to brunch with sneakers and then to my book club in the same dress. Nobody blinked."
A wash-and-wear cloth for a real closet
I refused to sell a dress that needed special handling. The Bertha goes in the machine, comes out soft, and keeps its shape. You can hang it in your own closet and forget about it until the next invitation arrives.
"I have washed it three times. It still looks new. I have had cardigans twice as expensive that I cannot say that about."
The Bertha, against the summer occasion dresses you have been buying
Clingy polyester that traps every breeze
Stripes that look like a school uniform
Necklines that either choke or plunge
Price tags that make you put it back
Dry-clean-only fabric for a backyard wedding
A breathable cloth you can actually sit outside in
Earthy green and mustard that look calm in photos
A flattering V that frames without showing
A clearance price that lets you say yes to yourself
Machine-washable and ready to hang back in your own closet
I wore it to an outdoor shower in eighty-degree heat and forgot I was in a dress.
Why this dress is priced the way it is
Every July, I clear out the season's batch to make room for the next round I am working on. This year is our Anniversary Sale, and the Bertha is part of that honest clearance. It is the same dress I have been selling all spring, in the same Brooklyn shop I have run since 2002, at a lower number because the season is turning and I need the rack space.
There is a real and human reason behind the price, and I would rather tell you than have you wonder.
I would rather see this dress on fifty new women this summer than have it sit in a box until next year.
I RSVPd yes to a summer wedding for the first time in three years. My husband said I looked like myself again. I cried in the kitchen.
From a small Brooklyn shop to your front door, with care.
I started Sloane & Pearl in Brooklyn in 2002. We are a small shop. The rating on our little corner of the internet sits at 4.8 stars across 842 reviews, and most of those reviews begin with some version of, I stopped shopping for myself years ago.
If you have been one of those women, the dress is here. It is on the rack, it is on sale for the honest reason I named above, and it would mean a great deal to me to see it on you.
Thanks for reading a note this long. I know your time is yours again.
If this sounds like you, the dress is here
- Bertha Striped Breeze Dress, in earthy green and mustard stripes
- Soft, breathable cloth with a flattering V-neckline and flowy shape
- Sized for real bodies, machine washable, ready for the next invitation
- On clearance as part of our Anniversary Sale, while the season's batch lasts
- Backed by our 30-day money-back promise, no story required
The Bertha, against the summer occasion dresses you have been buying, costs less than most department-store versions that ask you to dry clean them, and it comes from a real shop with 4.8 stars across 842 reviews and a 30-day money-back promise.
See if your size is still hereAbout the writer. Sloane founded Sloane & Pearl in Brooklyn in 2002. She writes the notes that go into every parcel, and she is the one who decides what makes the rack.
Clearance pricing is part of our Anniversary Sale and reflects end-of-season inventory. Sizes and colors are limited to what is left in this season's batch.