I wanted a hat that was useful without looking like I was leading a nature walk. I wanted something feminine. Stylish. Elegant. But not precious. I wanted a sun hat I could actually live with. So I designed one.
For years, I wanted to make a beautiful beach and pool towel. Simple enough, right?
No. Apparently, making the towel I had in my mind required five years, several fabric rabbit holes, and one husband who refused to sit on a floral towel at the beach. Refused.
Not casually. Not mildly. Refused as if a hydrangea towel might damage his 62-year-old image beyond repair.
The funny part is, he didn’t exactly come out and say, “Heidi, I will not sit on your pretty floral towel.” That would have been too easy. Instead, we took the scenic route. A very long scenic route. With nearly 50 fabric samples.
At first, I wanted a printed cotton terry towel. Beautiful, soft, classic. The kind of towel I grew up using at the beach and around the pool.
But printing on cotton terry is surprisingly hard to do well. Porthault make it look easy and beautiful, but they also have French artisans that have been doing this sort of thing for generations. I do not, sadly, have a 100-year-old towel factory in France waiting by the phone for me.
So I tried everything.
And I mean everything.
For a while, I went down the microfiber rabbit hole. Those towels print beautifully. Perfect color, perfect pattern, very cooperative. The problem is, I don’t like the way they feel.
Microfiber, miracle fiber, performance fiber — whatever we are calling it this week — it just doesn’t feel like the beach towel I want to wrap myself in.
I tried blends. 90/10. 80/20. 70/30. 60/40. Cotton mixed with this, cotton mixed with that. It was exhausting, and eventually I came to my senses.
I needed real cotton.
I grew up on cotton towels. I like cotton towels. I trust cotton towels. And when I’m wet and sandy and trying to feel like a human again, I want a towel that feels like a towel.
But not one of those giant, overstuffed towels that weighs as much as a toddler and takes until Labor Day to dry.
Some beach towels have gotten too fat.
There, I said it.
They are soft, yes, but also enormous, bulky, and dramatic. They take up half the beach bag, stay wet forever, and make you feel like you packed a small sofa.
Who decided we needed that level of towel at the beach?
We don’t.
A beach towel should be soft and absorbent, but it should also be easy to carry, easy to pack, and able to dry without 60 minutes on high in the dryer, all by itself!
And while we’re discussing towel trends, I know Turkish towels are very chic.
I love how they look. I really do.
I just don’t want to dry myself off with one.
So after five years, too many samples, and a husband quietly staging a floral-towel protest, I finally made the towel I wanted.
It is 100% long-staple cotton, so it feels soft and comfortable. It is absorbent, but not too thick. It packs more easily, dries more easily, and does not require a L.L. Bean duffle bag to bring it to the beach.
And then came the marriage-saving part.
One side has our beautiful Hydrangea print.
The other side has handsome blue stripes.
Or, as we may say privately, the “backside” has stripes. Please do not tell my husband.
This means the floral people get their pretty. The stripe people get their stripes. Everybody gets a soft cotton towel that looks good at the beach, by the pool, on a boat, or tossed over a lounge chair.
It is the keep-everybody-happy towel.
Beautiful on one side. Classic on the backside. Soft, useful, packable, and ready for summer.
Honestly, it may be the most diplomatic thing I’ve ever designed.
PS. DM me on Instagram @heidicareydesign and join my Design Diary and get a sneak peak on my summer adventures.
