When Susan Dumas turned forty, she threw away all of her pants. No more waistbands that fit one day and pinched the next. No more worrying about whether skinny or boot-cut jeans were in style. Since then, she has worn the one thing that makes her truly happy: vintage caftans in eye-popping colors and patterns. Little did she know that her uniform would lead to a beloved business, a community of fellow vintage lovers, and a cameo of sorts on HBO’s The White Lotus.
Dumas lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb where women tend to look impeccably put together, even in tennis skirts at the post office. But in a field of designer clothing and status bags, Dumas stands out like a wildflower in her breezy and bold finds. “Caftans are the great unifier of the world,” she says. “Yesterday at the grocery store, three people told me my ‘dress’ was beautiful. One was a lady who worked there, one was a frazzled young mother, and the other was an elderly man on an electric scooter.”
A lifelong vintage fan, Dumas’s first caftan experience came decades earlier, when she unearthed one with a red-and-white psychedelic print in a pile of hand-me-downs from the 1960s and ’70s. “I put it on, and the heavens were singing. There was so much fabric it should’ve been unflattering, but I felt like I was floating,” she says. “I found the caftan, and I was not looking back.”
Today, her ever-expanding wardrobe includes metallic caftans for black-tie events, casual front-zips, silk button-front designs, and Mexican couture styles by designers like Josefa Ibarra. They are full of personality but practical, too. “It’s hot in the South, and we appreciate as much cool breeze as we can get,” she says. “We want to be appropriate, but we also want to be comfortable. A good caftan can take us from the lake dock to dinner with just a little lipstick.”
Over the past fifteen years, Dumas has amassed a huge vintage collection and a following of women who also embrace the caftan lifestyle. “I think Southerners are drawn to originals,” she says. “What is more original than wearing a caftan while everyone else wears what they have been told is in fashion?” Twice a year she holds epic clothing sales at her home, attracting shoppers from well beyond Birmingham, even though she promotes the events only through Instagram and word of mouth.
Her basement doubles as a boutique with fitting rooms and racks upon racks of clothes in all sizes, each with a hand-labeled tag noting the designer and year. You won’t find any garments with holes or weird smells, either. “When I get a caftan in the mail, I know it will need some sort of repair, stain fighting, and cleaning,” she says. “It’s my mission to keep these iconic pieces around to live another life.”
The sales have the giddy vibe of a sleepover, with strangers swapping dresses, friends cheering each other on as they model their finds, and Dumas’s Labrador, Captain, weaving between the legs of shoppers. “Vintage people are my people, and I always have renewed faith in the human race after each show,” Dumas says. “I’ve picked out each piece one by one, and I love seeing them fly out into the world.”
A few pieces flew all the way to the set of The White Lotus, the over-the-top dramedy about wealthy vacationers at lavish resorts and the staff who serve them. The third season, set at a beachfront property in Thailand, was the ideal backdrop for a fancy caftan. After hearing about Dumas, costume designer Alex Boviard reached out for help, especially in dressing the character of Victoria Ratliff, the loopy Southern matriarch played by Parker Posey.
“I was sending enormous boxes to Los Angeles. She sent me exact measurements of the actresses down to their ankle sizes, and I pulled things for her,” Dumas says. “Then Alex told me the show featured a family from the South, and she wanted advice on what real Southerners would wear.” Dumas let her in on some “truly Southern things” like white cotton nightgowns and Southern Tide polo shirts, and even sent photos of her friends. “The most excited I have ever been was when Alex sent me a photo of Parker Posey, and she was in one of my pieces,” she says. “It was surreal seeing something from my basement on an actress from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
Dumas still loves the thrill of the hunt and is continually looking for her next favorite piece. Although she sources many pieces on the internet, her sales are in-person only. “People always ask why I don’t ship or sell online,” she says. “It is because a caftan is a feeling. You have to try it on and feel invincible. Then you know it’s yours.”
