Soft and easy, and it actually flatters — which sweatshirts never did

I had given up on sweatshirts doing anything for my shape. They were comfortable and shapeless, and that was that.

By Carol Hadley · Fairhope, AlabamaPosted September 2026 · 4 min read

For years the choice was the same one. If I wanted to be comfortable, I put on something soft and shapeless and accepted that I looked like I had given up. If I wanted to look like I had made an effort, I put on something that pinched.

That trade-off had quietly taken over my whole autumn wardrobe. The soft things lived on the sofa. The nice things stayed on the hanger, waiting for an occasion that never came.

Then my daughter turned up in this one and I did not believe her when she told me what it was. It looked like something from a boutique. It is a sweatshirt. I have not taken mine off since.

We are a small family shop here in Fairhope, Alabama, running since 1984. The sweatshirt is called the Talia, and these are the handful of things we refused to compromise on.

1.A relaxed cut that skims

It is cut relaxed and oversized so it drapes softly and skims the middle instead of clinging, and the asymmetric pointed hem falls in a way that genuinely flatters. You get the comfort you want and a shape you are happy with, from the one thing you used to think you had to hide in.

2.The collar does what a scarf used to

The cold always settles in the neck first, and a scarf is forever slipping and needing fixing. This has a tall funnel collar that folds softly around the neck and keeps the chill off, like a scarf built right in, with none of the fuss. Soft against the skin, warm on a cool morning, and one less thing to fumble with on the way out the door.

3.It looks far more expensive than it was

That is the design. The buttons run down on the diagonal instead of straight, the collar folds over itself, and the hem comes to a soft point at one side. Small things, but together they read as considered and quietly expensive — the sort of thing you would expect from a boutique rather than something you pull on to go to the shop. Nobody has guessed it is a sweatshirt yet.

4.A full sleeve that covers the arm

Somewhere in your late fifties the arms change, the way arms do, and half the wardrobe quietly goes out of use. This has a full-length sleeve that covers the whole arm in the same soft fabric as the rest. Covered exactly where you want it, and nothing heavy to carry about.

5.It goes straight in the machine

There is no babying it and no dry cleaning. It is a cozy sweatshirt fabric that only gets softer with wear, and it goes straight in the machine and comes out ready to put back on. So you reach for it constantly, and it always looks good.

6.It comes in real sizes, S to 3XL

Cut relaxed on purpose. If you are between sizes, take the smaller one — there is plenty of room through the body already.

The usual sweatshirt vs. the Talia

Why we're clearing it now

We priced the Talia at $149.95 when it launched. But for America's 250th Anniversary, we wanted to give something back to the women who keep our doors open — so every one is going out at a fraction of that.

Every order leaves Fairhope folded in a kraft paper mailer with a handwritten note from one of us tucked on top. It is a small thing. We have found the small things are the ones people remember.

I do not usually write things like this. But I spent years believing comfortable and put-together were two different piles of clothes. This is the one thing that proved me wrong.

If that sounds like you, I hope you get yours before it clears.

— Carol Hadley · Fairhope, AL

The Hadley Family is a small family-run shop. Prices and availability shown are current at the time of writing.