A Letter From a Reader: The Korus (Eleanor, Founder)
A Letter From Eleanor · Founder of Sanibel Boutique
Sanibel Island, Florida · September 2026
I Have Dressed Women for 22 Years. The Korus Is the Knit I Made for the Weeks Between a Tee and a Sweater.
On the six things I insisted on when I made our Korus knit top, why I made it in every size from S to 5XL, and why it is clearing now as we move online.
I am Eleanor, and I started Sanibel Boutique 22 years ago, in a small shop a few streets back from the water on Sanibel Island. Every year around this time the same woman walks into my shop. The mornings have turned cool, she is tired of shivering in a tee, and not ready to sweat through a sweater by lunchtime. She wants the top in between.
The Korus is the top I finally made for her. It is the one I pull on over a tee when I open up in the morning, and of everything we are clearing as we close the island shop and move online, it is the piece I most wanted to write to you about.
The fall knits made for women our age come in two piles. The first is heavy, scratchy at the neck, and has you sweating the moment you step into a warm store. The second is thin and clingy and grabs the one part of you that you would rather it left alone. I never accepted that a woman had to choose. The Korus is my answer, and I argued for six things when I made it, usually with a supplier who wanted to do the cheaper thing instead.
A light, airy knit, not a heavy one.
Open enough that air moves through it. Warm enough for a cool morning on the porch, never so warm that you are peeling it off in the grocery store. Soft against the skin, with none of the itch at the neck.
"I wore it on a cool morning and straight through a warm afternoon and never once felt too hot. No other knit I own does that."
A wide, soft neckline that flatters.
Wide enough to be pretty, close enough to stay put on the shoulder. It sits nicely over a tee or a camisole on the cold days, and on its own the rest of the time.
"The neckline is so flattering. It does not slip off my shoulder and it looks lovely with a tee underneath."
Three quarter sleeves with a soft ribbed cuff.
They cover the tops of your arms, the part most of us want covered, and stop at the forearm, so they never trail in the sink. Push them up for the dishes and the cuff holds them there.
"Finally, sleeves that cover the tops of my arms and stay out of the way when I cook. I have it in two colors now."
A relaxed cut that skims, and never clings.
Loose through the body and easy through the shoulders, so it drapes instead of grabbing the middle. A soft ribbed band at the hem sits at the hip instead of riding up when you reach for something.
"It skims straight over the middle I am self conscious about. Put together and comfortable at the same time."
Every size from S to 5XL, at the same price.
This was the hill I was prepared to die on. A good top should not stop at XL, and it should not cost more past it. The woman in a 3XL deserves the same top, at the same price, as the woman in a small.
"I am a 2XL and it fits beautifully, no pulling anywhere. Thank you for making it in my size."
Six colors that go with what you own.
Sand, gray, black, blue, red and green, each chosen to sit with the jeans and the pants already in your closet, so the Korus earns its place from the first day. The sand and the gray are the two women come back for, and the gray is already thin in the bigger sizes.
"I started with the sand and went back for the gray. They go with everything I own."
The Korus, against the fall knits you have been buying
You can find a fall knit for sixty dollars almost anywhere, and one like this runs well past eighty at Talbots or Chico's. I bought a great many of them before I made the Korus. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Heavy, and you are sweating by noon
Scratchy at the neck
Long sleeves that trail in everything
Clings to the middle, or rides up
Stops at XL, or costs more past it
Light, open knit that lets the air move
Soft, wide neckline, no itch
Three quarter sleeves with a ribbed cuff
Skims the body, ribbed hem stays put
Every size from S to 5XL, same price
I refuse to make a fall top that asks a woman to choose between warm in the morning and comfortable in the afternoon. That is the whole reason the Korus exists.
Why the Korus is clearing now
We are closing the island shop and moving Sanibel Boutique online. The fall pieces I ordered back in the spring are arriving into a shop that is closing, so they are clearing straight out of the boxes, the Korus with them. It is now $63.95, from $129.95. Take two colors and the pair comes to $108.95 at checkout, the discount is taken off automatically, and it stacks further the more you take, up to 30 percent on top.
I will be plain about it. At this price we are barely covering our costs on it. I am telling you because it is true, and because once we hand back the keys, this price goes with the shop. There is no plan to bring it back.
If twenty two years of running this little shop has taught me anything, it is that a woman who tries the Korus once comes back for another color. That is the quiet bet I am placing in writing you this letter at $63.95.
I now own the sand and the gray. I have barely reached for anything else since the mornings turned cool. Warm enough at eight, comfortable at two, and I always get a compliment.
Folded and ready to go out. Wrapped by hand, the way every order has left this shop for 22 years.
It is the top I am proudest of in 22 years. I would rather it go to women who will wear it than sit folded in a box.
The reviews say the same things I have, over and over. 4.8 stars across 847 women. If you have ever wanted a knit that keeps you comfortable from the cool morning right through the afternoon, without clinging, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while the colors are still in stock.
— Eleanor
The Korus Cozy Knit Top
- Light, airy knit that never overheats, never clings
- Three quarter sleeves with a soft ribbed cuff
- Every size from S to 5XL, six colors
- Free shipping & 30 day money back guarantee
Stack and save: buy 2 save 15%, so two colors come to $108.95 at checkout. Buy more and save up to 30% extra.
See if your size is still in stock