At 62, the jumper that is closer to a painting than a pattern
At 62, the jumper that is closer to a painting than a pattern
Six things the Alice gets right that a jumper with a picture stuck on the front gets wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a jumper. What I have done is spend a good many winters in navy, grey and a sensible black, brightening the whole business up with a scarf when I remembered, and taking the scarf off again by eleven because it had worked its way round to the back of my neck. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found a jumper that does the decorating for her, saying so.
The one I am writing about is called the Alice, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. When the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
A deep petrol blue turtleneck with a great bunch of flowers across the front. At 62. Read on.
Here is what I had got wrong about jumpers like this. I assumed anything with flowers on it would be a picture printed onto the front, the sort that cracks after three washes and always looks slightly stuck on. That is why I had spent years avoiding them and reaching for the navy instead, and then feeling perfectly invisible from October to March.
I thought I had a choice between plain and dull, or bright and a bit cheap. It had not occurred to me there was a third thing.
The Alice is that third thing, and having worn it more days than not since it arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it came. The colours are brighter in the flesh than on the screen, which is not usually the way round.
THE FLOWERS ARE IN THE KNIT, NOT PRINTED ON
This is the whole thing. Get up close and you can see the stitches making the petals, the coral and the pink and that lovely butter yellow worked into the fabric itself, with green leaves and little pale blue sprigs around them. It is embroidery, not a picture stuck on top. It is the difference between a jumper somebody designed and a jumper somebody printed, and you can see it from across a room.
Up close. You can see the stitches making the petals.
I expected a print and it is properly worked into the knit. Much nicer quality than I imagined for the money.
Maureen H., HucknallTHE COLLAR KEEPS THE DRAUGHT OFF
It is a proper turtleneck with a tall, chunky ribbed collar, so the cold cannot get down the back of my neck the way it does with a crew neck. It also does that thing a high neck does at our age, which is to draw the eye up and make everything look a bit longer and neater. And because the collar is doing the work, I do not need a scarf indoors at all.
The collar is lovely and high without being tight. I have not needed a scarf in the house since it arrived.
Pauline R., SouthwellIT SKIMS RATHER THAN CLINGS
It is cut relaxed with a dropped shoulder, so it sits easily over the middle instead of gripping it, and there is room to move your arms without the whole thing riding up. Comfortable and covered, and still neat enough that it does not look like you are wearing something of your husband's.
At the table with a cup of tea. Roomy where you want it, neat where it counts.
Lovely relaxed fit that skims over my tummy. I took my usual size and it is exactly right.
Denise C., KimberleyTHE CUFFS AND HEM HOLD THEIR SHAPE
The cuffs are ribbed in a coral that picks up the flowers, and the hem is ribbed too, so the jumper keeps its shape rather than dropping and going baggy by the afternoon. I push the sleeves up to do the washing up and they stay where I put them, and it has come out of the wash looking the same as it went in.
Washed beautifully, no bobbling and no stretching at the cuffs. The coral cuffs are a lovely touch.
Sheila B., BinghamIT GOES UNDER A COAT WITHOUT THE BULK
It is a fine knit rather than a great thick one, so it slides under my winter coat without that stuffed feeling round the shoulders, and it does not make the sleeves of my coat feel tight. That is half the battle from October onwards, and it means the jumper actually gets worn out of the house rather than just around it.
On the wardrobe door, ready for the morning. It is the first thing I reach for now.
Fine enough to wear under my coat without feeling stuffed in, which most of my jumpers are not.
Val M., CarltonHONEST SIZES, UK 8/10 RIGHT UP TO A 20/22
The sizes run from a UK 8/10 all the way up to a 20/22, in the same relaxed cut, which is not something you can say about most things this pretty. Whatever size you take, you get the same flowers and the same collar, rather than a shrunken version of the picture on somebody else's jumper. And the Alice is one of a whole collection of these, all different, if the flowers are not quite your thing.
So pleased it comes in my size and the flowers are just as generous on it. Ordered a second for my sister.
Jean W., StaplefordThe Alice, against the jumpers you have been buying
You can find a jumper with flowers on it almost anywhere at this time of year. I know, because I have picked a few up and put them straight back down. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
A picture stuck on the front
Cracks and fades after a few washes
Reads as novelty rather than nice
A crew neck that lets the draught in
Thick, so it fights with your coat
Flowers worked into the knit itself
Ribbed cuffs and hem that keep their shape
Looks designed, not printed
A tall ribbed collar that keeps the cold out
Fine enough to go under a coat
About the price
The Alice is £36.95 at the moment. It was £74.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes go first and once the autumn stock has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and weeks of wearing it, I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded and put away, which lasted until Thursday.
If your winter jumpers are all navy and grey and you have been meaning to do something about it for about four years, I would start here. Not because a jumper changes anything. But there is something in catching sight of yourself in the hall mirror on an ordinary Tuesday and thinking, that is rather lovely, that I had stopped expecting. Go and have a look while your size is still there.
Caroline
ALICE | Soft Turtleneck Sweater
- Flowers embroidered into the knit, not printed on
- Tall ribbed turtleneck collar
- Coral ribbed cuffs and a ribbed hem that hold their shape
- Relaxed cut that skims rather than clings
- Fine enough to layer under a coat
- UK 8/10 (S) to UK 20/22 (4XL)
- Part of a whole collection of designs
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now, half price. The middle sizes go first.