FINALLY, A JACKET AS WARM AS IT IS PRETTY.
On the Melvaris — florals on the outside, a thick teddy-soft fleece lining on the inside from hood to hem, a zipper that runs right to the chin, and real pockets for cold hands.
I am 64 years old, and I had come to accept that a jacket could be genuinely warm or genuinely pretty, but never both. My warm layers have always been practical to a fault — plain colors, plain shapes, nothing you would call pretty — while the pretty things only ever came out on days when the weather did not matter. What I wanted was one jacket that did the early walk on a cold Charleston morning without me looking like I had dressed for a hike, and then headed straight to coffee with the girls.
It wore on me more than I let on. I had started to feel a little invisible in my own clothes.
Then a woman in my garden club here in Charleston kept turning up in the same floral jacket, looking comfortable and quietly put-together at the same time. I finally asked her. She laughed and told me to read June & Louise's letter first, so I am going to let their words carry it, because they say it better than I could.
1THE SECRET IS WHAT'S INSIDE.
We lined the entire Melvaris in thick teddy-soft fleece, the kind your hand keeps going back to. Unzip it and that is where the warmth comes from — a lining that wraps the body, the back of the neck and the head all at once. We did not line half of it. We lined all of it, hood included. Hand it to a friend and watch: she touches the inside first, every time.
2FROM ACROSS THE STREET, IT READS AS A PRETTY JACKET.
We covered the outside of the Melvaris in a soft botanical print, in three colors — White (a soft cream), Dark Blue and Orange — so that from across the street it reads as a pretty jacket, not a piece of survival gear. The warmth stays our secret. The print is what people see. One customer had two women at the coffee shop ask about it in one week; both reached for the lining and let out the same little "ooh".
3IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE IT SHOULD BE THIS WARM.
We built the Melvaris for real warmth — the kind that handles frost on the windshield without a scarf — not the kind that looks the part and leaves you shivering by the mailbox. The walk at seven, the grocery run at nine, coffee with the girls at ten: one morning, three stops, and no change of outfit. Warm enough for the cold morning, pretty enough for coffee with the girls. Nobody who passes you on the sidewalk would guess. That is exactly how we wanted it.
4ZIPPED TO THE CHIN, HOOD UP WHEN THE RAIN STARTS.
We ran the zipper right up to the chin, so there is no gap at the throat for the cold to find, and we gave the Melvaris a real hood — lined in the same teddy-soft fleece — for when a shower catches you halfway down the block. Flip it up and keep walking. Zipped and hooded, you are warm to the chin without a scarf or a hat. Nothing to tuck, nothing to wrap, nothing to go back for.
5REAL POCKETS, BECAUSE YOUR HANDS GET COLD FIRST.
We put real pockets on the Melvaris — deep enough for the whole hand, with room left over for keys, a tissue and whatever a grandchild hands you to carry. Not the shallow, decorative kind that sends you back inside for a purse. Gloves forgotten by the door, fingers stinging by the end of the driveway — the hands go first. Hands in, shoulders down, and the walk becomes something you look forward to instead of something you get through.
6ONE JACKET INSTEAD OF TWO — AND IT FITS THE WOMAN.
We made the Melvaris to replace both the warm-but-ugly jacket and the pretty-but-useless one, so you stop choosing between them at the door. We gave it room through the body and shoulders — a flattering, feminine fit that never pulls — in sizes S to 5XL, though the middle sizes are always the first to sell out. If the fit is off, it goes back within 30 days, no hassle. One hook now, and it is always the same one.
THE MELVARIS, AGAINST THE JACKETS YOU'VE BEEN BUYING
| Typical jacket | The Melvaris | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Pretty, but useless in the cold | Real warmth, no scarf needed |
| Look | Warm, but looks like survival gear | Florals — pretty from across the street |
| Hood | Missing, or thin and unlined | Teddy-lined, up when the rain starts |
| Pockets | Shallow, for show | Deep pockets for cold hands |
| Sizing | Runs small, stops at XL | S–5XL, roomy, never tight |
- Pretty, but useless in the cold
- Warm, but looks like survival gear
- Missing, or thin and unlined
- Shallow, for show
- Runs small, stops at XL
- Real warmth, no scarf needed
- Florals — pretty from across the street
- Teddy-lined, up when the rain starts
- Deep pockets for cold hands
- S–5XL, roomy, never tight
WHY THEY'RE CLEARING IT NOW
They priced the Melvaris at $199.95, and it became their bestseller this fall at that price. But June & Louise turn 25 this year, and the women behind the shop wanted to give something back — so every jacket is going out at less than a third of that.
I ordered mine that evening. It arrived a few days later, folded in tissue in a kraft box with a June & Louise Charleston card inside. I have reached for it more than anything else in my closet since.
Melvaris | Floral Fleece Jacket
- Entire lining in thick teddy-soft fleece — hood included
- Soft botanical print outside — a pretty jacket, not survival gear
- Real warmth — frost on the windshield, no scarf needed
- Zipper to the chin, fleece-lined hood, deep pockets for cold hands
- Three colors · Sizes S–5XL · Free UPS shipping · Easy 30-Day Returns
The Melvaris Floral Fleece Jacket · $59.95 while sizes last
Buy 2 get 10%, buy 3 get 15%, buy 4 get 20%, buy 5 get an extra 25% off. When it's gone, it's gone.
I do not usually write things like this. But my closet had split into “warm” and “pretty” with nothing in between, and I had spent too many cold mornings choosing one and apologizing for the other — until this one jacket quietly made the choice disappear. If that sounds like you, I hope you find your size before it clears.
— Eliza Pinckney · Charleston, SC
SEE THE MELVARIS JACKET — $59.95 →This is a personal account from a June & Louise customer. Eliza was not paid to write it. · June & Louise · Fashion · 24/7 Customer Service · Free UPS shipping · Easy 30-Day Returns.