Orly Clothing: Five Autumn Pieces From The New Delivery
Orly clothing sits at the easy end of what we carry: casual pieces in good colours and prints, cut to fit a range of shapes, at a price most people can decide on in the shop rather than going home to think about it. The autumn delivery has landed. The two faux fur gilets are the pieces we expect to go first.
At a glance
- Two cropped faux fur gilets, one black and one taupe, both zipped and sleeveless
- A leopard heart tee that wears far plainer than it sounds
- Oat sleeveless roll neck, cut deliberately wide at the armhole to go over a shirt
- Brown newsprint mesh top, a layering piece rather than a standalone
- North American label, fifty years old, sizes S to XL across most of the range
- Why Orly clothing is on the rail
- The two faux fur gilets
- Prints that stay wearable
- The sleeveless roll neck
- Fit, sizing and what to try first
Why Orly clothing is on the rail
Not every customer walks in wanting a heritage label or a statement piece. Quite often the ask is narrower than that: something in an interesting colour, comfortable enough to wear all day, that does not cost enough to agonise over. Orly has been answering that for fifty years.
What we get from it is fit we can rely on across a size run, and patterns designed by people who have clearly watched how a print behaves on a moving body rather than on a flat sample. That sounds like a small thing. It is the difference between a print you wear twice and one you keep reaching for. The full range is on our Orly collection page.
The two faux fur gilets
Both are the same cut in two colourways, and the cut is the reason to try them. They stop at the natural waist, so nothing bulks up over a longer top or a skirt. The pile has real density to it, closer to shearling than to the thin flat fur that mats after a season.
The black one is the safer buy and will get worn from October onwards over almost anything. The taupe is the more interesting piece. It is a warm sand somewhere between camel and cream, and it lifts black and denim instead of disappearing into them. There is no collar on either, which means a roll neck sits underneath without a fight.
A silver zip runs the full front and that is the only hardware on the garment. Sleeveless through the arm, so this is a layering piece first and a warm one second. Both come in S to XL. See them alongside the rest of our jackets and outer layers.
Prints that stay wearable
The leopard heart tee is the one people misjudge from the description. It is a single large leopard-print heart on plain ivory cotton, sketched around with doodles, and the plainness of everything else is what holds it together. Straight crew neck, short sleeve, hem a touch longer at the back. It goes under a gilet without any argument.
The brown mesh top is a different job entirely. Torn newsprint and posters printed across fine stretch mesh in tan, sand and rust, which from across a room reads as texture and only resolves into type when you are close. It is sheer, so it wants something underneath or over the top. We have been putting it under the taupe gilet in the shop.
The sleeveless roll neck
Really this is a knitted tabard. The oat marl body falls straight from a dropped shoulder and the armhole is cut deep on purpose, so it goes over a shirt or a long-sleeve tee without pulling anywhere across the back.
The collar stands up rather than flopping, which is the detail that stops it looking like a jumper someone cut the sleeves off. Ribbed panels at the side seam bring it in a little at the waist, and the side splits mean it sits over trousers instead of clinging to them. Longer at the back than the front.
Wear it over a crisp white shirt with the cuffs showing. That is the version that sells it. It sits well with the rest of our knitwear too, and only S and M are left.
Fit, sizing and what to try first
Orly runs S to XL and the fit is relaxed by design, not by accident. The tops sit close enough to layer under something without bunching. The knitwear and the gilets are cut with room in them.
If you are between sizes, take the smaller one in the tops and the mesh, and stay with your usual in the gilets, since you will want a jumper underneath by November. Start with the taupe gilet if you are only trying one thing. It is the piece that changes what you already own rather than adding to it.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy Orly clothing in the UK?
We stock Orly clothing at Experience Boutique on Fleet High Street in Hampshire, and the range is on our website as well. We are an independent boutique, so we take the pieces from each Orly collection that suit the women we actually dress rather than buying the range wholesale. If you would rather see the fabric and try the fit before deciding, the current season is on the rail in the shop and we are happy to talk sizes with you.
How does Orly sizing run?
Orly is sized S to XL rather than in UK numbers, and the cut is relaxed across the range. In our experience the tops are true to size with enough room to layer, and the knitwear and gilets have a little more ease built in. If you fall between two sizes, take the smaller one in the tops and the mesh styles. On the gilets we would stay with your usual size, because most people end up wearing a jumper underneath once it turns properly cold.
Are the Orly faux fur gilets warm enough for winter?
They are a layering piece rather than a coat. The pile is dense and genuinely soft, so a gilet over a roll neck handles a dry autumn day comfortably, but it is sleeveless and unlined at the arm, which means it is not a substitute for a proper winter coat in January. The way most of our customers wear them is over a knit indoors and under a coat outdoors, which is also why the cropped length matters.
What is the Orly brand known for?
Orly is a North American label that has been making contemporary casual womenswear for around fifty years. It is known for colour blocking, stripes and bold prints in comfortable, easy-wear fabrics, and for keeping the fit consistent across a range of body shapes. The brand produces autumn and spring collections each year. What it does that is harder than it looks is deliver pattern-led clothing at a moderate price without the fit or the fabric giving the price away.
How should I wash a faux fur gilet?
Follow the care label on the garment, which is the only guide that accounts for the specific fabric mix. As a general rule faux fur does best with as little washing as possible: air it rather than washing it after a few wears, spot clean where you can, and use a cool gentle cycle only when it genuinely needs it. Dry it flat and away from direct heat, then shake the pile out once it is dry. Radiators and tumble dryers are what flatten a pile permanently.
Written by Emma Molyneux
Emma opened Experience Boutique on Fleet High Street in 1996 and has run it for thirty years. Her daughter Laura now handles the buying, across more than forty European and international womenswear labels.
