Checking In With Our Founder

Greetings from my secret garden! Which is the unofficial name of the outdoor space that I somehow managed to snag at my new NYC apartment — a coup if there ever was one. Lucky for me, the wifi easily reaches out here so on WFH days you can generally find me doing everything I can to keep my laptop from overheating (yes, I even own one of those computer tents…) so I can stay outside and tan while I work. 

So much has been happening at Revelle HQ, not to mention the world, that I honestly don’t even know how to dive into today’s newsletter. The truth is that we don’t often feel the need to make grand proclamations at Revelle because our values are so deeply ingrained in how we operate every day. Our mission is so intertwined with who we are that we hope our values are apparent each and every time you interact with us — whether it be on our site, through social media, or running into me at the Soho House rooftop in NYC (yes, I am pretty much always trying to work on my tan). 

But this past week has been such an affront on women’s lives — and bodies — that I can’t imagine writing this update about anything else. 

When I started building Revelle, I quickly realized that the issue of inconsistent clothing sizing goes far beyond the technology of fit and the (woefully inadequate and frustrating) size chart. Fit means something different to every woman, and no simple technology could ever account for the complexities of women’s opinions on how they want their own clothes to fit. That’s because those opinions go beyond each individual woman. We as women are on the receiving end of an endless barrage of external voices telling us how we’re supposed to feel, how we’re supposed to look, how we’re supposed to act… and to pretend that those voices don’t influence how we think about ourselves when we get dressed every morning would be comically naive. 

So at Revelle we’re already on constant alert, doing what little we can to fight against diet culture, misogyny, ridiculously outdated standards of beauty… you name it. We want you to know that this one tiny company is doing what it can to help you feel as if your body is yours to control — to dress how you want and to feel beautiful in your own skin. 

This week, we were delivered a stark reminder that women’s bodies have never been viewed as our own. But rather as objects to be used and discussed and disregarded by others. The Supreme Court’s decision to take away a woman’s agency over her own body represents precisely the larger forces that we at Revelle try to fight every day.

We may be focused on fashion, but we will continue to do everything we can to chip away at these influences bit by bit until women can truly say that we feel comfortable, at home, and in control of our bodies every day. 

There are so many things we’re excited to be building at Revelle right now — we’ll be unveiling an entirely new site in the coming weeks, as a matter of fact — but I can wait to give you more details on that in the next newsletter, because this time around it feels far more important to use the time to remind you just who we are and why we’re here. 

Sending love and strength. 

Xoxox, J