At 62, the cosy oversized jumper that still looks like me
At 62, the cosy oversized jumper that still looks like me
Six things that make the Barbara the perfect jumper for autumn, 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 in my life. What I have is a wardrobe of jumpers that made me choose, every autumn, between the fitted ones that clung to my middle and showed every bit I would rather they did not, and the big roomy ones that swamped me and left me looking like I had thrown a sack over my head. Warm and comfortable, yes, but never quite right. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found a cosy jumper that is roomy and still looks like her, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Barbara, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a soft, chunky oversized jumper with a little ribbed mock neck, and mine is a deep forest green, just the thing for autumn. 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.
I pulled it on over my jeans that first cold morning and, for once, I was cosy and covered and still looked like I had made an effort. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is the little bind every autumn used to bring. A fitted jumper clung everywhere I did not want it to, and I would spend the day tugging it away from my middle. A big oversized one was comfortable at last, but it hung off me like a sack and made me look twice my width and half my effort. I wanted cosy and roomy without looking frumpy, and I had rather decided you could not have both.
The fitted jumpers clung to my middle, and the roomy ones swamped me. This one is properly relaxed and still, somehow, looks intentional.
The Barbara is the first jumper I have owned that is genuinely roomy and cosy and still looks pulled-together, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. So soft and chunky, and such a warm, lovely colour for autumn.
A ROOMY, RELAXED FIT, NOTHING TIGHT OR CLINGY
This is the heart of it. It is cut properly relaxed and roomy, so there is nothing tight or clingy anywhere, no pulling across the middle, no tugging it away from myself all day. It simply sits softly and comfortably, with room to move and room to breathe. For anyone who has given up on jumpers because the fitted ones cling, this alone is a relief.
The soft mock neck and the chunky textured knit. Cosy, roomy, and lovely to touch.
So roomy and comfortable, nothing clings to my middle at all. I can move and breathe and I am cosy all day. Wonderful.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT DRAPES AND SKIMS, IT DOES NOT SWAMP
Here is the surprise. Roomy usually means swamped, but this one is cut so that it drapes and skims softly over the middle rather than hanging off me like a sack. The way it sits across the shoulder makes it look intentional and considered, so instead of looking twice my width I look pulled-together. Cosy and roomy, and still smart. That is the trick I never thought I would find.
It is roomy but it does not swamp me, it actually looks smart and deliberate. My daughter asked to borrow it. Says it all.
Margaret E., SouthwellA SOFT, CHUNKY KNIT THAT LOOKS QUALITY
The knit itself is soft and chunky, with a lovely textured stitch that catches the light and gives it a bit of depth, so it looks far dearer than it is. It is warm without being heavy, cosy on a cold morning, and the texture is what lifts it from an ordinary jumper to one people ask you about. It simply looks and feels like a quality thing.
The knit is gorgeous, so soft and that lovely texture. It looks like it cost three times what it did. I am thrilled with it.
Dorothy S., BeestonA MOCK NECK THAT KEEPS YOU COSY
There is a little ribbed mock neck that stands up softly at the throat, so it keeps my neck cosy and keeps the draught off on a cold day, without the tight, closed-in feeling of a full polo neck. It is just the right amount of neck, warm and easy, and it frames the face nicely too. On a chilly autumn morning it is exactly what you want.
The soft mock neck and the relaxed drape. Cosy at the neck, easy through the body.
The mock neck is lovely and cosy but not tight or stuffy like a polo. Keeps the draught off a treat. So comfortable.
Pauline H., ArnoldIT THROWS OVER EVERYTHING
It goes over everything, my jeans for the shops, my trousers for lunch, my leggings on a lazy day, even a skirt if I am making an effort, and it always looks right. I can dress it down or dress it up, and it pulls the whole outfit together without a thought. It has quietly become the first thing I reach for now the mornings have turned cold.
Over the chair, ready to pull on. The first thing I reach for on a cold morning.
It goes with everything I own, jeans, trousers, a skirt. I reach for it every morning now. Cosy and easy and always right.
Eileen T., NewarkSIX LOVELY AUTUMN COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
It comes in six lovely autumn colours, my deep forest green and a warm brown, a red, a khaki, a purple and a black, so there is a shade to suit and warm everyone. And the sizing runs honestly from a small up to a 3XL, cut relaxed so it sits well whatever your figure. I have the green for now, and I am rather tempted by the brown for the winter as well.
Such a lovely choice of autumn colours, and it goes up to my size and still drapes beautifully. So pleased I have ordered the brown too.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Barbara, against the jumper that clings or swamps
You can have a drawer full of jumpers and still spend the autumn choosing between clinging and frumpy. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Fitted ones cling to your middle
Roomy ones swamp you like a sack
You tug at it all day
Cosy or smart, never both
Warm but never quite right
Roomy and relaxed, nothing clings
Drapes and skims, it does not swamp
Sits softly, no tugging
Cosy and smart at once
Warm, roomy and still looks like you
About the price
The Barbara is £33.95 at the moment. It was £68.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes and the popular colours are the first to go, and with the autumn sale on they are going quickly, so once a size or a colour 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 for a jumper this soft and this flattering, I have found nothing wrong with 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 away, ready for the next cold autumn morning that wants cosy without frumpy.
If you feel the cold this autumn but every cosy jumper leaves you choosing between clinging and frumpy, this is the jumper I would hand you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
BARBARA | RELAXED OVERSIZED SWEATER
- A roomy, relaxed fit, nothing tight or clingy
- Drapes and skims rather than swamps, looks intentional
- A soft, chunky textured knit that looks quality
- A ribbed mock neck that keeps your neck cosy
- Throws over jeans, trousers, leggings or a skirt
- Six lovely autumn colours, honest sizes S to 3XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes and popular colours go first.