At 62, I used to run upstairs to change every time the doorbell went
At 62, I used to run upstairs to change every time the doorbell went
Six things the Celinda gets right that my mad dash up the stairs never did, 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. But I will tell you what used to happen in my house. The doorbell would go, and I would be halfway up the stairs before I had even looked out of the window. Off came the old T-shirt I had been pottering about in, on went something respectable, and by the time I got back down the parcel man had gone and left a card. So this is not a review. It is a woman who has stopped running up the stairs, saying so.
What I found is from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is called the Celinda, a soft knitted hoodie with an easy oversized shape, a hood, long drawstrings and wide sleeves that stop just past the elbow. Mine is a lovely deep chocolate brown. 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.
No more dash up the stairs. Read on.
Here is how it happens, and I suspect it happens to most of us. At home we wear what is comfortable, an old top, a cardigan with a button missing, and we look fine to ourselves. Then somebody knocks, a neighbour, the vicar, my son's mother-in-law dropping something off, and all at once we see ourselves through their eyes.
I did not need to dress up more at home. I needed one thing I could pull on and look like I meant it.
The Celinda is the first thing I have owned that goes straight over whatever I have on and leaves me looking put together, and having worn it most days since it arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The afternoon it came. The brown is richer than it looked on my phone.
It goes straight over what I have on
There is nothing to fasten. It pulls on over my T-shirt in one go, the shape is loose and easy, and in the time it takes to get to the door I look dressed. My white T-shirt just shows at the neck and the hem, and somehow that looks like I planned it.
I put it on over whatever I am wearing and I look smart in seconds.
Maureen B., MapperleyA hoodie that looks chosen, not borrowed
It has the ease of a hoodie, the soft hood and the long drawstrings, but it is a fine knit rather than sporty sweatshirt stuff, so it looks like something a grown woman picked out on purpose. Nobody at my door has ever looked at it and thought I was off to the gym.
On the wardrobe door, where it lives now. Ready before I am.
Comfortable as a hoodie but it looks lovely. My daughter wants one now.
Linda K., BulwellSleeves that stay out of the way
The sleeves are wide and stop just past the elbow, with a deep ribbed cuff. When I am putting the kettle on for whoever has turned up, there is nothing trailing in the teapot and nothing to keep pushing back.
The kettle on for a visitor. Nothing dangling in the tea.
Love the length of the sleeves. Never in the way when I am cooking.
Gillian A., RuddingtonIt falls nicely over jeans
It is relaxed and oversized, with a ribbed hem and little splits at the sides, so it skims over the top of my jeans instead of clinging. It is lovely with trousers or leggings too, and I never find myself tugging it down.
On the bedroom door. You can see the little splits at the sides.
Hangs beautifully over my jeans and does not cling anywhere.
Denise H., StaplefordA colour that goes with everything
The brown is deep and rich, like a conker, and it goes with my jeans, my cream T-shirts and my camel coat without me having to think. In this grey light at the end of October it looks just right.
The brown is gorgeous. Goes with everything in my wardrobe.
Carol S., BeestonTen colours, and proper sizes
Mine is the brown, but it comes in ten colours, from black, grey and navy to khaki, green, blue, pink, purple and red. They come in sizes UK 8/10 right up to UK 24/26.
Bought the brown, then went back for the navy. Generous fit too.
Valerie L., CliftonThis, against my dash up the stairs
Most of us have a top we would rather nobody saw us in, and a mad scramble we do when the bell goes. I know, because I had both. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Up the stairs to change
Cardigan buttons done up wrong
Sporty tops that looked like the gym
Sleeves in the washing up
Tops that clung over my jeans
Pulled on at the door
Nothing to fasten
A soft knit that looks chosen
Sleeves just past the elbow
Falls loose over jeans
About the price
The Celinda is £35.95 at the moment. It was £72.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with the cold weather starting the middle sizes are going first, and once this batch has gone it can be a long 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 after weeks of wearing it, I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I went back for a second one. 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.
If you are still running up the stairs every time the doorbell goes, I would start here. Not because you need more jumpers, but because you deserve to open your own front door feeling like yourself. Go and have a look while your size is still there.
Caroline
CELINDA | Oversized Knitted Hoodie
- Soft knit with a pleasant, smooth feel
- Relaxed oversized shape with a casual hood
- Long drawstrings and a V-neck
- Wide sleeves that stop just past the elbow
- Ribbed hem with little side splits
- Ten colours, UK 8/10 to UK 24/26
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The sale is on now, half price. The middle sizes are going first.