A Letter From Beatrice · Founder of Beatrice & Rose

New York · August 2026 · 5 min read

I Have Made Summer Tops for 27 Years. The Zamma Is the One I Am Proudest Of — and the One I Reach For Myself.

On the six things I changed when I made our 100% linen Zamma top, how it compares to the tops you have been buying, and why it is on sale now.

I am Beatrice, and I started Beatrice & Rose twenty-seven years ago, in a small shop in New York, with my daughter Rose. In all that time we have made a great many summer tops. The Zamma is the one I am proudest of.

It is the one I reach for myself on the hottest days. It is the one women stop each other about in the grocery store parking lot. And of everything in our summer collection, it is the piece I most wanted to write to you about.

I should tell you why I made it in the first place. For years I watched the same thing happen to women our age. The summer tops made for us fell into two piles. The first looked lovely on the hanger and felt like a sauna the moment the heat found you. The second felt comfortable and made you look like you had given up. I never accepted that a woman had to choose between the two. The Zamma is my answer, and I argued for six things when I made it — usually with a supplier who wanted me to do the cheaper thing instead.

1. Real 100% linen that breathes.

Not a blend, and not the polyester they sell you as “linen look”. The real thing, woven to breathe, so it stays cool when the heat sits heavy and softens like a good cotton sheet the more you wash it.

★★★★★“It is the only top I can wear in the worst of the summer without feeling sticky by lunchtime.”Carol R., Charleston SC

2. An open collar and one wooden button.

I wanted a neckline that flatters without fuss. A soft open collar that sits right on a real neck, and a single large wooden button — the small detail that turns a plain top into something women ask you about.

★★★★★“I get stopped about that one little wooden button more than anything else I own.”Diane M., Savannah GA

3. Sleeves that cover the tops of your arms.

Without adding a single degree of warmth, and made to roll softly to the elbow on the days you want them shorter. It is the thing women my age thank me for most.

★★★★★“Finally, sleeves that cover the tops of my arms and still keep me cool. I have it in three colors now.”Pauline L., Naples FL

The Zamma, against the tops you have been buying

You can find a summer top for sixty dollars almost anywhere. I know, because before I made the Zamma I bought a great many of them, trying to find the one that did not let me down by lunchtime. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.

I refuse to make a summer top that asks a woman to choose between staying cool and looking like herself. That is the whole reason the Zamma exists.

Why the Zamma is on sale now

After twenty-seven years, Rose and I have decided to close our doors for good. The whole summer collection is going with us, the Zamma included. It is now $59.95, from $299.75, and when you take more than one color the discount stacks further, up to 30 percent on top.

I will be plain about it. At this price we are barely making a cent on it. I am telling you because it is true, and because once these are gone, they are gone for good. There is no plan, and no way, to bring them back.

If twenty-seven years of running this little boutique has taught me anything, it is that a woman who tries the Zamma once usually comes back for another color. I would rather these go to women who will wear them than sit folded in a box.

Folded and ready to go out. Wrapped by hand, the way every order has left us.

It is the top I am proudest of in twenty-seven 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. 4.7 stars across more than 3,800 women. If you have ever wanted a summer top that keeps you cool without clinging, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while the colors are still in stock.

— Beatrice

This is a personal letter from the founder of Beatrice & Rose. Prices and availability are accurate while stock lasts.